Finally got my first smoke behind me with a batch of chicken thighs. Followed a recipe I found on here for brine and for smoke. My wife and I both thought they were very good, I was surprised at how juicy they were, I mean they were full of juice. Both of us thought they were a little salty, she has to watch her salt intake so we don't use a lot of salt on anything. Maybe next time I would either cut down the amount of salt in the brine or the brine time. I did about 6 hours in the brine, maybe too much for thighs.
I did not try to crisp the skin as neither one of us eat it so it wasn't an issue. I did do a little BBQ sauce but only put it on the side. My wife prefers it without and I like a little...
I would do thighs again for sure.
Smoke time 2 1/2 hours, tried to keep smoker at 225 with the ET 732. That seemed very difficult at first but after about an hour into it everything seemed to stabilize. I found quite a discrepancy in the temp showing on my MES 30 which is a gen:1 but that too seemed to stabilize after a time.
I think filling the water pan with sand, doing a longer preheat, and not worrying about it staying within a few degrees will make it easier next time. (felt a little intimidated)
Thanks to those who offered help going towards my first smoke.
Picture of left over thighs!
I did not try to crisp the skin as neither one of us eat it so it wasn't an issue. I did do a little BBQ sauce but only put it on the side. My wife prefers it without and I like a little...
I would do thighs again for sure.
Smoke time 2 1/2 hours, tried to keep smoker at 225 with the ET 732. That seemed very difficult at first but after about an hour into it everything seemed to stabilize. I found quite a discrepancy in the temp showing on my MES 30 which is a gen:1 but that too seemed to stabilize after a time.
I think filling the water pan with sand, doing a longer preheat, and not worrying about it staying within a few degrees will make it easier next time. (felt a little intimidated)
Thanks to those who offered help going towards my first smoke.
Picture of left over thighs!