- Aug 20, 2021
- 413
- 704
I'm getting ready for my first KCBS competition, backyard division. I'm pretty happy with how my ribs are turning out, this past weekend was my first attempt at making the chicken pillows the judges seem to like. I cut the knuckles off both ends of the thigh bones, trimmed up the thighs and skin to be quite rectangular, scraped as much fat off of the skin as I could, injected with chicken broth, rubbed with Bub and Mutha's Honey and Heat, and smoked on my WSM over 2 lumps cherry, one lump hickory.
For this cook, I tried the mini-loaf pan method, putting two tsp broth and a pat of butter in the bottom of each mini loaf cavity, then fitting the thighs in skin side down. After 1:35 at about 260 F, I carefully turned the thighs skin side up, added another chunk of cherry, and smoked for an additional 1:20 before removing the thighs (the internal temp had exceeded target, it was about 197 F). I mixed filtered pan drippings with a chipotle porter BBQ sauce, and dipped each thigh before returning it to the smoker for 10 minutes to set the sauce.
The appearance was pretty good, though I see on a couple of the thighs the skin didn't fully cover the meat, and by the time I served the glaze had dried out more and lost that sheen. Still, I was fairly happy with the way they looked. The skin, however, was not bite-through. It was very tender, but tended to pull off of the thigh in one piece.
I need to work on the flavor profile, they were kinda bland, and a bit dry. I know I need to shorten the cook time next time. I also need to punch up the injection; plain chicken broth was too....plain. There wasn't much smoke taste at all, not surprising since only one side at a time was exposed to the smoke in the loaf pan. I'm thinking about smoking them skin side up on the rack for 30 minutes next time, then transferring them into the loaf pan to set the shape. Finally I need to use a bolder BBQ sauce.
I'm open to any and all suggestions from the Smoking Meat Forums brain trust!
For this cook, I tried the mini-loaf pan method, putting two tsp broth and a pat of butter in the bottom of each mini loaf cavity, then fitting the thighs in skin side down. After 1:35 at about 260 F, I carefully turned the thighs skin side up, added another chunk of cherry, and smoked for an additional 1:20 before removing the thighs (the internal temp had exceeded target, it was about 197 F). I mixed filtered pan drippings with a chipotle porter BBQ sauce, and dipped each thigh before returning it to the smoker for 10 minutes to set the sauce.
The appearance was pretty good, though I see on a couple of the thighs the skin didn't fully cover the meat, and by the time I served the glaze had dried out more and lost that sheen. Still, I was fairly happy with the way they looked. The skin, however, was not bite-through. It was very tender, but tended to pull off of the thigh in one piece.
I need to work on the flavor profile, they were kinda bland, and a bit dry. I know I need to shorten the cook time next time. I also need to punch up the injection; plain chicken broth was too....plain. There wasn't much smoke taste at all, not surprising since only one side at a time was exposed to the smoke in the loaf pan. I'm thinking about smoking them skin side up on the rack for 30 minutes next time, then transferring them into the loaf pan to set the shape. Finally I need to use a bolder BBQ sauce.
I'm open to any and all suggestions from the Smoking Meat Forums brain trust!