Another Chicken Question - First KCBS Comp

Right on Q said:
Since we are talking temps, what temp do you take your chicken too? :becky:
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You'll never believe this, but here it goes, I've never temped my chicken. I cook it on time and change the times to achieve the taste,tenderness I want.

A wild guess would be 195-200*:shocked:
 
I've had pieces that needed to be near 190 before i thought the were the tenderness they needed to be. Like all meat, it can be a bit different every time.

I've never seen blood in the 170 range but 165 certainly can have a bone that is still bloody around it.
 
I concur that like most other meats it depends on the type of chicken that you are using. I like chicken thighs at 165 - however I too worry about judges thinking they are not cooked as they are juicy/moist. As a judge I usually find many chicken thighs over cooked. So do some test runs with the type of chicken you are using, remembering that brining or injecting will change the moisture content of the finished product. I usually aim for above 170 and have not had a problem. Also be careful when you cut the knuckles off about the bone marrow (red stuff) remaining in the chicken if you don't brine. Remember the Pit Wars where Michael got DQ'd for some red bone marrow and the judges thought it was under cooked?
 
RubLover said:
Remember the Pit Wars where Michael got DQ'd for some red bone marrow and the judges thought it was under cooked?
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The incident that you are referring to was not a case of bone marrow, but the juices turning a white paper towel pink or red. This was not just observed by a judge, but also by the REP. Michael was just attempting to save face on camera.
 
bbq.tom said:
The incident that you are referring to was not a case of bone marrow, but the juices turning a white paper towel pink or red. This was not just observed by a judge, but also by the REP. Michael was just attempting to save face on camera.
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Yep. Prior to turn in on that episode it was known that he was struggling to get his chicken done. He turned in undercooked chicken. I personally don't know any teams turning in 165 thighs and winning. Maybe the expensive organic chicken you can do that with? Never used that stuff before. I just know that overs beat unders especially in chicken
 
JeffR said:
Do you do well at that temp?
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I have eight top 5's out of 19 contests, which include 4 wins. Might just be there is not many chicken cooks in the Midwest.:p

Seriously guys, you must understand, there is a system that I use and changing any part of it will produce different results. At times I have struggled with it until I learned more about all the variables.
 
Still just a real newbie here but I'm pretty sure there is no blood in chicken thighs or any part of the bird after it's been bled when harvested. That we often think of blood when we cook steaks, chicken etc is actually myoglobin which is a protein found in the muscle of the animal. And chicken thigh does have a higher amount of myoglobin than white meat. This is one reason it takes longer to cook and it's a little more forgiving when over cooked oppose to white meat.
 
rreidiii said:
Still just a real newbie here but I'm pretty sure there is no blood in chicken thighs or any part of the bird after it's been bled when harvested.
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There's usually a big gnarly vein in a chicken thigh, which may or may not have blood in it. Some pull them, some don't bother. When a blood-filled vein gets ruptured, it creates some pretty icky staining in the meat, and we just don't bother with one like that because the possibility of it disturbing a judge isn't worth it.
 
rreidiii said:
Still just a real newbie here but I'm pretty sure there is no blood in chicken thighs or any part of the bird after it's been bled when harvested. That we often think of blood when we cook steaks, chicken etc is actually myoglobin which is a protein found in the muscle of the animal. And chicken thigh does have a higher amount of myoglobin than white meat. This is one reason it takes longer to cook and it's a little more forgiving when over cooked oppose to white meat.
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Either way if the juices don't run clear you are gonna get a DQ
 
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