First Cook RT1250, Lemon and Herb Grilled Chicken

[chilerelleno]

First cook on the my new RT1250, I did some Lemon and Herb Chicken Thighs with Pommes Fondant.

Fondant Potatoes aka Pommes Fondant

Fondant Potatoes aka Pommes Fondant For best results Fondant potatoes are done with large starchy potato like Russet or Idaho. The starches soak up the butter and broth yielding a smooth creamy texture inside full savory goodness. Peel the taters and cut them into rough cylinders with flat...

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I whipped up a combo of herbs and spices and let the thighs brine in it and some fresh lemon juice/zest for several hours.
During that time I prepped my taters and got the grill up to temp, 400°.
I put the thighs on and let them go for 40 minutes, then checked on the thighs, doused them with lemon juice and temped them.
Turned the heat up to 500° and flipped the thighs skin down.
Ten minutes later I doused them again with fresh lemon juice.
During these periods I was cooking the potatoes.
Got the chicken up to temp 180° and pulled them, the spuds were ready just a few minutes later.
Called the family for dinner and got out of the way with my own plate.

As you can see in the pics, the chicken skin got a nice crisp on it.
I used RecTeq's Ultimate Blend pellets and everybody liked the light smoke it gave at the higher temps.
It was raining pretty good during most of the cook and the RecTeq didn't budge on it's temp.
First cook down and done, I'm happy with it so far.

 

[pineywoods]

Looks awesome how'd you like the RecTeq's performance

 

[tbern]

Great looking first cook!

 

[DRKsmoking]

Pretty machine and awesome batch of food there John

Looks like the Recteq did you well
That chicken is just fantastic

David

 

[Texas Cookin']

Glad you are happy with it. Good looking chicken. I’ve had my Traeger for about 5 years. I’ve considered a rec for my next one because of the higher temps. Traeger only gets up to about 430.

 

[clifish]

Looks awesome Chili, that 1250 looks huge!

 

[Texas Cookin']

Wait. Where is the pellet hopper on this bad boy?

 

[civilsmoker]

Very nice chiler! I’m betting you have a huge smile with that performance, those spuds look perfect too! My I wish you many more happy future cooks on the RT!

 

[chilerelleno]

Looks awesome how'd you like the RecTeq's performance

I like it a lot.
Fires right up, comes up to temp very quickly and holds it.
In today's rains it kept it's temp steady.
The ability to smoke low-n-slow or hot-n-fast and grill and sear foods is a major plus.

 

[chilerelleno]

Wait. Where is the pellet hopper on this bad boy?

The hopper is on the back side of the cooking chamber.

 

[chilerelleno]

Great looking first cook!

Thanks!

Pretty machine and awesome batch of food there John

Looks like the Recteq did you well
That chicken is just fantastic

David

Thank you.
Yes, it did well in adverse conditions.

Very nice chiler! I’m betting you have a huge smile with that performance, those spuds look perfect too! My I wish you many more happy future cooks on the RT!

Yes I did, appreciate it.

 

[Bigtank]

You will really like the RecTeq, I've been verry pleased with mine.

 

[chilerelleno]

Glad you are happy with it. Good looking chicken. I’ve had my Traeger for about 5 years. I’ve considered a rec for my next one because of the higher temps. Traeger only gets up to about 430.

Me too and thank you.
I was really looking for higher temps, this RT1250 almost hit 800° on Full burn.

Looks awesome Chili, that 1250 looks huge!

Gratsi!
I actually thought it looked smallish and almost had buyers remorse.
But with two large racks it is plenty large enough for me.
Bet I could do four briskets at once.

I honestly do wish that I'd been able to afford the RT2500.
But it'd be a bit of overkill for my needs.

 

[jcam222]

Looks great! Congrats on the new cooker

 

[yankee2bbq]

Nice!
Looks good!

 

[chilerelleno]

Looks great! Congrats on the new cooker

Nice!
Looks good!

Thanks guys!

 

[Brokenhandle]

That's a heck of a smoker and even better looking meal! Great job!

Ryan

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Great looking cook Chile. Glad you're liking your Rec Tec.

 

[forktender]

Damn, that looks amazing.
I do have a question though, did you make a mistake in your post, or do you like extreemly well done chicken?

"Got the chicken up to temp 180° and pulled them."

I never cook chicken past 162*, because the carry-over brings it up to 164 to165'ish

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Excellent meal there, Chile. Thighs are our favorite and I've done those potatoes a couple of times, really love them...