First attempt at competition style thighs

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russmn

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Apr 14, 2016
424
143
First attempt-Competition chicken thighs

Removed all skin.
Removed all fat from skin trimmed all extra fat
Injected with chicken stock
Let sit in the fridge for 30 min

Rubbed with salt pepper garlic powder paprika ceyanne pepper only on the tops

Panned them

Put squeeze parkay butter on top

Smoked at 275 with cherry wood until internal temp was 172

Combined 1 part honey BBQ with 1/2 part apple cider vinegar with 1/2 part chicken stock. Brought to a boil then let cool to warm temp.

Dunked chicken in glaze placing on a cooling rack

Returned to the smoker for 20 min. To set the sauce

Rest for 5 min then serve

 
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It was a family favorite! With that said I don't think it was BBQ comp perfect. My sauce came out thinner then I would have liked for competition BBQ. Also wasn't sweet enough . The light amount of heat was about perfect in my opinion. But as far as what me and my family like it was perfect ! I also couldn't clip my bone ends like I wanted to. I'm right handed and It's in a cast! Making this a tough cook.
 
Leeks pretty great! How did the skin turn out? Bite through or pull off? Been working on my own, but just cant quite get it bite through like comp stuff no matter what ive tried so far. Still haven't tried the Parkay on top, that's my next attempt
 
Removing the skin and using a filet knife to remove the fat from the skin is the key ! I've tried every other way with no success
 
I did another round of chicken today !
 
Looking good. I have tried a few times to make but I need to pull the skin off the next time and try it that way I do have a question did the bottom sides get soggy sitting in the pan the whole time? And one more question when you put the sauce on did you put back in the pan or just on the rack.
 
After the sauce I put on a rack and back on the smoker. No pan ... honestly I thought it would get soggy my self but it didn't! Removing the skin is the golden ticket! If you can fillet a fish u can do it! Makes the skin paper thin. It's not like you are loosing all the goodness that you get from skin either. Very happy with a pan, fat removed from skin, squeeze parkay and temps of 275 to 300. My sauce on the other hand well still working on it
 
Yeah, ive been removing and scraping the skin (which is a nasty messy job BTW), but as you did, others have suggested the butter on top to help. Im also gonna try "meat glue" this weekend instead of toothpicks, cause about half rip out when I do the picks.
Im also gonna try an experiment this weekend which is to try and render the fat off the back of the sin, thus making it easier to remove, and starting the cook on the skin.... This may be a terrible idea, but I have it in my mind to try it.

Basically, im just gonna take a torch, and torch the fat side of the skin for a few minutes and see if it does anything... Ill let you know how it goes. Perhaps it'll be a new tool for the old box.
 
First thing, those are absolutely beautiful chicken thighs, Russ!
Please bear with me because I don't know anything about competitions. The first thing I read is that the skin is removed; then I hear about scraping the skins, then bite through. Are you cleaning the skins and then re-attaching?
The glaze sounds great, I just don't understand all the skin talk. Is it removed or not?
Please be patient...

Dan
 
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