Competition chicken help!?

Rusty Kettle said:

20 mins per leg to prep a decent lollipop. When we did lollipops I prepped 20 of them at 20 mins each one. I had 20 every time I practiced. It got old. The tendons and pin bone have to be removed. You leave them and you run a huge risk. You may or May not get hit. I never leave them. I switched to thighs this year for my sanity. At least what little sanity I have left lol but I may go back. 20 mins per leg is a bit tedious. They are amazing if you get it right. You accidentally pop the bone out and you start over. It seems like the meat tightens up around it but take a bite and chicken blob comes off. To be safe ditch the ones the bone comes out of.
I won't give away all my secrets for lollipops but I will say this imo if you don't remove the tendons and pin bone you are playing with fire. Grab a New clean pair of needle nose pliers and remove them. Otherwise imo stick to thighs.
I may go back to lollipops but I really don't enjoy lollipops. I enjoy eating them but I hate prep. Prep is the reason I am trying to get away from them. Thighs are less tedious.

Click to expand...

WOW :shocked:. I do lollipops and it has never taken me that long. I have prepped lollipops at a contest and it only takes me 70 minutes to prep 16 legs. I also remove the tendons and pin bone. One of the reasons I switched to this is because thighs took me too long (although I did get faster with thighs as time went on).

Rusty Kettle said:

20 mins per leg to prep a decent lollipop. When we did lollipops I prepped 20 of them at 20 mins each one. I had 20 every time I practiced. It got old. The tendons and pin bone have to be removed. You leave them and you run a huge risk. You may or May not get hit. I never leave them. I switched to thighs this year for my sanity. At least what little sanity I have left lol but I may go back. 20 mins per leg is a bit tedious. They are amazing if you get it right. You accidentally pop the bone out and you start over. It seems like the meat tightens up around it but take a bite and chicken blob comes off. To be safe ditch the ones the bone comes out of.
I won't give away all my secrets for lollipops but I will say this imo if you don't remove the tendons and pin bone you are playing with fire. Grab a New clean pair of needle nose pliers and remove them. Otherwise imo stick to thighs.
I may go back to lollipops but I really don't enjoy lollipops. I enjoy eating them but I hate prep. Prep is the reason I am trying to get away from them. Thighs are less tedious.

Click to expand...

If it took me 20 min per leg, I would QUIT cooking chicken PERIOD!!!

Lol. Its called being obsessed. I just trim 8 thighs and I am done now. Still when I couldn't get bite through skin legs were easiest for me. It was tedious but good results. I may experiment with it again down the road but not until the kids are bigger.
Its always been said I over analyse everything. So yes it is completely absurd. Its kind of weird having a lot more room now. I was going to keep the 14.5" for ribs but 3 fires to manage is a pita so I added a second cooking rack to my uds and eliminated the 14.5" WSM. Now I am using a 22.5" WSM for brisket and pork and the uds for Chicken and ribs. I only need to cook two racks of ribs now instead of four and I can cook them flat instead of in a cramped rib rack.
I am hoping to ditch the WSM by next year in favor of an insulated cabinet smoker. I had a bit of problem buying one recently as all the in stock ones were damaged in shipping. Now I may be waiting a long time. Oh well I will get one eventually. Not sure what brand yet. I had one picked and I am probably not getting the original one I picked now. I did send an email to the company and we'll if they respond well then I will buy from and if not I am just going to save for a bigger one and different brand.

Right on Q said:

Care to give us any tips on how your thighs work so well for the judges? :becky::tape:

Click to expand...

Nailing tenderness/doneness and a good, middle of the road flavor. My thighs aren't trimmed anywhere near perfect. And only real butter on the chicken! Lol

Diva Q's Sweet & Sassy Chicken Lollipops Recipe: [ame]http://youtu.be/TTDUfuwZ87g[/ame]


I learned it from her. Keep in mind she is leaving chit out. There are a few secrets I learned in her class but you work with this as a starting point and you may figure it out. I just don't want publish her secrets. Good Luck!

aimcat said:

Can you guys help me with the process for legs? I want to maybe give them a shot tonight and see how they turn out.

Click to expand...

Again. lollipops are to tough to start with.

Legs how to:
Pull the skin down towards the bone. Find the thick ligament by the knuckle. Use a boning knife to get underneath it and start cutting it out by moving the knife up the underside of the ligament towards the opposite end of the leg. once cut, gently pull the ligament out. You may have to make another cut if you didn't get to where it needed.

Better clear out some server space, this could turn into another 'Rusty' thread.

hooray a rusty beat down!
DUBBAGA gets the first ceremonial whack! He earned it with putting up with my chit!
If he wants to do it let him do it. What's it hurt to let him try?
I could be wrong but I don't think he asked if he should do it. He asked how. So I answer with a how to video.
I love lollipops done right. To be honest though doing them right imo is a nightmare. The divaQ video is by far the best direction you can start with imo.
Best of luck with them. Remember if the bone breaks when you cut the knuckle throw it out. Busted up chipped bones look like chit. Foil the bones or the smoke turns them black and that looks bad.

Rusty Kettle said:

hooray a rusty beat down!
DUBBAGA gets the first ceremonial whack!

Click to expand...

Can't rush this rare and exciting opportunity. Must contemplate how best to proceed...