Smoking Chicken thighs and legs

[shea1973]

Later on today I was planing on Smoking some chicken thighs and legs.  I figured they shouldn't take to long, about 2 hours maybe 3 at about 225?  So is that about right or would it take a litttle longer?

 

[s2k9k]

Yea 2-3 hours is about right. You can bump the temp though for chicken, it doesn't really need to go low and slow. I cook chicken at 275-300, it helps get the skin crispier. 

 

[budrunner]

Thanks, I'm smoking thighs and legs tomorrow for Father's Day and was looking up times and temps.

 

[red dog]

Yea 2-3 hours is about right. You can bump the temp though for chicken, it doesn't really need to go low and slow. I cook chicken at 275-300, it helps get the skin crispier. 

 +1 on this. I use the higher temps on chicken also. They get done quicker and you won't get rubbery skin.

 

[ecto1]

Yea 2-3 hours is about right. You can bump the temp though for chicken, it doesn't really need to go low and slow. I cook chicken at 275-300, it helps get the skin crispier. 

I agree and thighs are hard to dry out so the high temp has very little downside.

 

[shea1973]

Okay I smoked them for about 2 1/2 hours.  The taste was good, however it was on the dry side with no juice at all.  

 

[jrod62]

Looks good from here. I put butter/garlic mix under the skin that will help a lot with keeping it from drying out.
and not over cooking them. Take them off at 175. Did you brine them ? Cheff JJ has a great brine that I use.

 

[mdboatbum]

2 and a half hours seems long, especially if you were at a higher temp. As previously stated, legs and thighs are hard to overcook, even if you don't brine. Did you check the internal temp of the meat? Let us know what you did start to finish and someone can try and pinpoint where you went wrong. Sorry it didn't work out perfectly, but that's part of the process. In the future, for NEARLY fool proof thighs, try brining them for a couple hours. Then smoke at 300˚-325˚. Start checking your internal temp at about 60 minutes. When it hits 165˚(usually 90-110 minutes for me and my smoker, ymmv), take them off the smoker, cover with foil and let 'em rest for 10-15 minutes. They should carry over to 170˚-175˚ and be nice and juicy. If you want to go all out, you can peel the skin back and scrape the fat off the underside with a spoon before they hit the smoker. While the skin's peeled back, you can also apply your rub to the exposed meat. Replace the skin, smoke and enjoy.

The most important thing here is COOK TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. TIME IS IRRELEVANT AS EVERY SMOKER AND EVERY PIECE OF MEAT IS DIFFERENT.

 

[smokinhusker]

Look good and you got great advice.

 

[shea1973]

No I did not brine the chicken pieces, was thinking because it was not a whole chicken  I didn't have to brine them.  But will do it next time.  Also I did not check the eternal temperature.  Don't know why I didn't and went on just time in the Smoker alone?  Anyway, mistakes learned and will do different next time!

 

[michelle h]

i use a spray bottle with half and half apple juice and water, and spray them every 15 min thru the smoking process and i have never had a dry thigh yet!