Chicken Thighs

I never do well when cooking chiken pieces, I feel your pain. If i have to cook chicken and can not convince the wife to do it, on the grill, or pull out the little deep fryer.

How long till you have to perfect your technique?

Jeff
I cook thighs at 250 or slightly higher, they stay on till I get the color I want, the internal normally will range from 170 to 175. At that point they go into a pan of sauce skink down for about one hour. During this part of the cook the skin tenderizes (not crispy). They come out of the pan of sauce and go back onto the grates to set the glaze.
The sauce is a mixture of sauce, some hot sauce, honey, cayenne, pineapple juice and a couple of pats of butter.
You end up with great looking skin that is nice and shinny. The skin you can get a clean bite without having to crisp it up.

Re: RE: Chicken Thighs

Jeff_in_KC said:

Thanks, Jim... GREAT ideas! Can't wait to give it another shot using that method. I assume that pan of sauce needs to be over charcoal at contests, huh?

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Jim is real busy and has left the Forum for tonight.
On his behalf--"YES--in the smoker still" during the pan/sauce phase.

TIM

Jeff,
Jim's recipie is very similar to what Chad and I do now.
It will score well if done correctly.
But, Jim has done this for years and we have for over a year.
This type of cooking technique has many variables.
Easy to get unreliable results till you "work up to it" and develop your own version and reliability. You will die in Comp if you are not consistant :wink:

May I suggest you establish a "base-line" of taste and texture, then move forward in complexity as you learn?
Thighs are cheap, cook times are short, and they are predictable. Easy to practice, even after "work"!

Try this to start:
Marinade some thighs in Italian Dressing for 3 hours.
Put the WSM at 240-260 degrees using KingsFord and some small wood chunks. Pecan, Oak, Cherry, Apple, and other small chunks all work fine.

Put the Chickie Thighs on the grate, skin side up, and cook for 3 hours at 240-260. Or use 275-300 for 2.5 hours. It don't matter.

Leave the darn lid closed--do not peek--do not spray--do not mop--do not go off and do other things and ignore the temp :lol:

At 3 hours (or 2.5 hours)--remove the thighs carefully (do not mess up the skin--use the sides to lift).
Apply a light coat of your favorite sauce and let sit for 15 minutes.

Sample and enjoy :lol:

We have placed well in highly competetive fields doing nothing more that this!
Now, we are doing the more complex panning technique and using advanced flavors.
But, this is to "move up" a point or two--not to get a basic product started :twisted:
And, as it gets more complex, it gets easier to screw up--believe me

Do it simple--get a base line taste and texture--then modify one item at a time till you get where you want to go :lol:
FWIW.

TIM

Tim
I've cooked thighs and breast that way for a number of years, the reason for the switch to the pan tecnique is to be sure to get the skin tender. Like any cooking technique the more you practice the more you can build on the overall recipe. Great advice.

Jeff;

Jim and Tim are giving you the kind of information that is actually discussed around the cookers and cook offs. We're ALL looking for the "secret" to chicken skin. The chicken meat is pretty forgiving - the skin is the problem.

You have to treat the pieces gently - we never use tongs during a cookoff.

And, you have to watch the color of the chicken - Jim, again, mentioned something that is "different" from the backyard cook - we check the color and take action - we KNOW we can finish the meat on time - but the color may develope differently from cooker to cooker (slightly different convection, different humidity, outside temps causing the cooker to fluctuate) - we KNOW our chicken will be done in 2.5 - 3 hours. We kNOW what our cooker temp is (and we check the chicken internal with a instant read) and so we shoot for the skin color and adjust everything else around that!!

Jeff,

You better get practicing if you're still planning on winning the American Royal!!

Good advice here. We cook our chicken on a weber (kettle) for the first hour or so - until we get the color we are looking for. Then we do as Jim mentioned and put itin a covered 1/2 pan with sauce. We do ours skin up but get the same results - soft tender skin you can bite through. Too many people try to get crisp skin - you don't need it and usually end up making it too dark.

I think that's a much more realistic goal. Finishing in the top 100 is a serious accomplishment. But hey, anything can happen. See you there!

drbbq said:

I think that's a much more realistic goal. Finishing in the top 100 is a serious accomplishment. But hey, anything can happen. See you there!

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I'd go as far as saying the top 150........

U remember me saying that at Charleston, there were 63 teams, with 41 of them being state or grand champions? My guess there will be at least a 100 that were GC, RS, or state champs at the AR.....

The few that I had room for turned out good. I used the 3-2-1 method, no brining at all, just a rub. They were tasty the next day.

Jeff if nobody else believes in him the Heavweight Boxing Champ of the world believes in himself. If you don't think positive, and believe in yourself nobody will. Stay in the right frame of mind, practice your art and go for what you know. The Brethren will be behind you all the way. "You Can Do It!"

OK - I am not a moderator of this forum, don't want to be, but if I was this thread would move directly to Q-Talk where the original inquiry belongs. It wasn't until the 4th post that we snuck the term 'contest' in, and frankly, just like the inquiry on spices, belongs in Q-Talk. Equal or attention will be given to the thread there. If the topic matter was something like the following I could see it here in this forum:

1. How Can I Maximize Scoring on Chicken Thighs (luv the sound of that one huh?)
2. What Do Judges Look for on the Cook's Thighs 8)

I guarantee you if I posted either of these in the Q Talk section, I'd have several people telling me they belonged in the Competition forum.

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I disagree Tommy.. .I'm not looking for how to do them in my back yard.

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Not so. You asked how to cook chicken thighs better because you were not pleased with what you did. That is Q-Talk - we get posts like that every week of the year Jeff and NO we don't move that stuff to Competition. It wasn't until later did you change the topic to ask how you would do it for a 'contest'. So just be more specific when placing a title on your posts. I gave you examples of how you could properly title your thread to avoid a move.