Quick Saturday Smoke QVIEW

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venture

Smoking Guru
Original poster
OTBS Member
Aug 1, 2008
6,948
73
Central California
I usually grill chix thighs, but Saturday I decided to fire up a quick smoke.

Thighs marinated in Yoshida's Original kicked up with brandy, red pepper flakes, sesame oil, minced garlic and onion, Worsty, and mirin:

f6583786_RONPQ001.jpg


Meat on at 264 deg. and immediately boosted to the 300 range(meat went on when an extra chimney of R.O. lump was ready). Ambients 95deg, very light breeze. No meat probe for these, used my Taylor instant read stick.  TBS not visible to camera, credit the AMNS with maple and cherry along with a couple of dried corn cobs on the fire for good measure:



Plated. Thighs pulled at 175 internal. Glaze and color indicating the sugars in the Yoshida's and the mirin.  Baked potato with butter, parm and fresh ground pepper, green beans with butter and garlic-almond slivers:



The money shot:

5defda96_RONPQ006.jpg


Skin was sufficiently crispy and the smoke flavor present but very light. Next time I will use a stronger wood for such a short smoke.

Thanks for looking.

R.I.P. ronp
 
Merv,

Looks delicious, nice and moist, did you brine too or just marinate?  I have everything except the Yoshida's, do you mind giving the quantities and how long?

Also those string beans look good, is that sliced almonds and what did you season them with, ...I like my veggies.

Gene
 
Nice Job Merv!!!!

Great looking Thighs you got!!   WoooWooo!!

Nice plated BearView too!!!

Much nicer than the thighs I got here------------>>>
e87a6a63_AttachedMessagePart.gif


Thanks,

Bear
 
Yum! Did you put any sauce on before you pulled them, or is that the residue from the yoshida? They look so good, I could eat the image on the screen!!!

I'm doing some right now!!
 
Thanks all.  Coming from the likes of you, those comments are truly appreciated!

Gene, the alternative recipe I PM'ed you will be very similar without the use of Yoshida's, which may not be available to you.  If you don't get the glaze you like, just up the sugar, mirin, or both. You could even use a lesser amount of light corn syrup which will give you the glaze at less cost, but with a different flavor profile as compared to the mirin.

Sonnyhad, I basted them with some of the marinade about half way into the cook.  That has to be done early enough in the cook to be safe, as the marinade is contaminated with the raw meat unless it is first brought to a boil after removing the raw meat. Always be safe!

I wouldn't recommend this as a sauce because it is a very strong marinade and you would not like the flavor unless it was actually cooked on the meat.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
Venture,

They look great... but I do have a question.  The last few times I smoked leg quarters, breasts, ect, the skin on the chicken is not coming out crispy!  I'm not sure why though, the chicken is fall off the bone tender but the skin is not crispy!  The temp I'm smoking at is between 225 and 250. Cant figure it out, any advice?
 
In general chix does not benefit from low and slow to the extent that some other meats or cuts do.  When done low and slow, a common complaint is rubbery skin.  When I smoke whole chix, most of them are pulled and frozen for later use and the skin is discarded.  In this smoke, I put the chix pieces on at 264 degrees when I had an extra chimney of coals already hot.  I immediately added the extra coals and the chix cooked at the 300 deg range.  The skin was much crispier this way because of smoking at the higher heat.  Another way is to throw your pieces on a hot grill for a short time after the smoke is complete. Note that when cooking pieces at higher temps there is less time for exposure to the smoke, so stronger woods would be of help.  Some people have reported success when slathering it with mayo prior to smoking.  I haven't tried that yet and it would not have been appropriate for this recipe anyway.  Hope this helps.  Others might even check in with their ideas for you too!

Good luck and good smoking.
 
Thanks for the advice... I am going to be doing some leg quarters this weekend and will kick the temp up a notch (275 to 300) to see what happens!  I havent posted any pics since joining this site, but over the past year I have had reallly good luck with Fatty's,, pork butts, and briskets!  It was getting a bit aggrevating because all of that is coming out really good and chicken seems to be kickin my a$$!  Thanks again for the help... 
 
Yes.  It just galls me when new grillers or new smokers think they just have to start off with ribs or chix.  Actually, ribs and chix are pretty darn tricky until you get the hang of it.  You are certainly not alone my friend.

Also, when using the higher temps on smaller chix pieces, you really have to stay on top of your internal temps so as to crisp the skin, but not dry out the meat.

I will look forward to seeing you post up your future efforts!  I know you will find that magic combo that will work for you.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
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