my fav chicken to smoke is thighs

[upsman]

Man love smoking some chicken thighs. I start out by buying a family pack that are usually a really good price and rinse and while rinsing off cut the excess fat and skin leaving enough to cover the thigh meat. after rinsing i don't pat dry i just shake the excess water off and lay in a baking sheet until all are cleaned and trimmed. once they are cleaned and trimmed and on the pan take one can of tony Chachere's cajun seasoning and a good bottle of chicken rub and coat first under skin with chicken rub and then turn skin side down and cover all with tony chachere's cajun seasoning and that's it nothing else. first pic no flash second pic with flash.

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• upsman
• Aug 15, 2012

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• upsman
• Aug 15, 2012

since this is a quick smoke 3 hours total time i go heavy on the apple chips in the bottom of the pan and 3 chunks of apple wood over the chips yeah very smoky for the first hour but it tapers off as it smokes and i don't add anymore and man the apple, cajun, chicken rub flavors just explode when you take a bite! 

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• upsman
• Aug 15, 2012

 i could eat these 5 days a week Hehehehehe! they only make it two just being me :) such a great item to use in so many ways after one night of eating them plain off the bone to taking the meat and rolling up in tortillas with other good stuff to chicken and yellow saffrin rice, chicken gumbo the list goes on. them ole youtube pit boys ain't got nothin on me even though they are fun to watch Hehehehe!

 

[upsman]

i do advise discarding the skins and not eating those. they soak up the most of the smoke and and are not cooked to crisp up but just to hold in the moisture and the rub underneath to soak into the chicken meat. next time i do them which will be soon i will try and remember to add a pic with the skin removed and the rub underneath and how it pasted up which i also remove before eating the thighs.

 

[scarbelly]

They look tasty to me. If the skin is not done you can always crisp it on the grill for a couple of minutes 

 

[upsman]

Thank You Scarbelly! true on the skins but i just don't care to eat them more smoke than i care to eat.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Too bad the Skin get's too smokey to eat. They look great!...JJ

 

[bryce]

I'm going to have to get in the thigh game soon. Looking at these thigh pictures recently really has me excited to try some.

 

[upsman]

Chef Jimmyj not to bad at all really don't care to eat chicken skins but you give me an ideal on some fresh pork skins though just before they are done frying take them out and smoke some of them a little bit man oh man some fire hot smoked up fried pork skins sonny jim Hehehe! 

Bryce man you been missing out big time sure hope you give them thighs a try. you wont be dissappointed at all a little tip put a dry bowl under the thighs as they cook to catch the drippings and you will hear the sizzle from the drip but just when you about stop hearing a sizzle drip the thighs are done.

 

[bryce]

Bryce man you been missing out big time sure hope you give them thighs a try. you wont be dissappointed at all a little tip put a dry bowl under the thighs as they cook to catch the drippings and you will hear the sizzle from the drip but just when you about stop hearing a sizzle drip the thighs are done.

 Awesome, thanks upsman! I'm going for it on Saturday. I'll pick some up tomorrow (Friday) after work and get them prepped. Then into the smoker for a few hours.....oh yeah!

 

[procraft]

Looking forward to trying some thighs.. Bought some that were on sale yesterday. Will be throwing them on the smoker one afternoon this coming week.
 

 

[bryce]

Looking forward to trying some thighs.. Bought some that were on sale yesterday. Will be throwing them on the smoker one afternoon this coming week.
 

 They're awesome procraft. Well worth the time it takes to de-bone and whatnot. Fantastic flavor and they cook fast. Almost a grill/smoke combo cook.

 

[procraft]

I am going to be giving it a shot sometime this week. I am curious why debone them? I would think leaving the bone in would add to the flavor?

 

[diesel]

You guys that are new to thighs need to use Myron Mixon's recipe.  He uses a cupcake pan.

Link:http://www.oprah.com/food/Myron-Mixons-World-Famous-Cupcake-Chicken

You don't have to follow the recipe to an exact if you don't want to.  I used grape jelly instead of the blackberry preserves. 

It is good.  I never did thighs until making this recipe.

 

[bryce]

Wow, pretty intense recipe and thought overall. Thanks for the link and info. It sounds amazing to be sure!

 

[weberlamp]

Procraft...You dont have to debone, you are correct in that it will add more flavor with the bone, I think it comes down to personal pref, I have done it both ways and they are good either way.  Thighs are hard to dry out so you will usually end up with a moist piece of meat either way....good luck

 

[smokinhusker]

Wow those look great! We love smoked thighs and leg quarters

 

[procraft]

Procraft...You dont have to debone, you are correct in that it will add more flavor with the bone, I think it comes down to personal pref, I have done it both ways and they are good either way.  Thighs are hard to dry out so you will usually end up with a moist piece of meat either way....good luck

Have not had the time to do any during the week, but I am planning on smoking some tomorrow evening.

I plan on smoking some thighs and some leg quarters then finishing them up on the grill. What temp do they need to be at, 175?

 

[smokin shelby]

Wow those look great! We love smoked thighs and leg quarters

I love leg quarters, probably my favorite part of a yard bird to fix for a meal. Cheap, flavorful, juicy, and easy to cook. Being a beginner, I haven't smoked any yet but I plan to after I do some more reading on here for some pointers.

 

[cooknhogz]

De boning thighs is fast and ez. Ive done them both ways and the bone in my opinion doesn't add that much flavor

 

[hurriken]

Does Myron Mixons method keep the skin crispy? I'm trying to figure out the purpose of the cupcake pan.
 

 

[zahlgren]

I think the muffin pan is mainly for shape and looks.