Greetings from a newbie. I am interested in using my Weber 18.5" Smokey Mountain with the Stoker temperature controller in KCBS competitions (ala Harry Soo and Slap Yo Daddy).

I have a plan for the chicken category: boneless skinless thighs brined (in standard salt/sugar brine), rubbed, sauced, and cooked in oval metal molds (to give each one an even cooking and identical appearance).

I have read various discussions on skin vs. skinless, but not much on bone vs. boneless. Is there a significant reason to keep the bones in?

Any other critiques of the plan? I'd like hear that if it's a dumb idea before I pursue it in earnest...

Thank you!

This is what most winners in chicken are doing:

Competition Chicken

TYVM!

MarkF: Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Personally, I would opt for the bone-in. I like the built-in handle and the back-yard vibe!

good luck and be sure to report back. chicken is a tough category to be consistent at.

and keep in mind that the cupcake chicken was mentioned merely a technique to improve the appearance of the thighs by making them similar in size. appearance is a small part of a kcbs score. for someone who competes as often as mixon and has probably ironed out his flavor profile, appearance is something to dwell on.

work on your flavor profile and your cooking technique. Taste and tenderness are more likely to get you call. Appearance might be the difference between 1 and 2, but it wont get you in the top 10 if it doesn't taste good.

Thanks for the link, Mark. That is quite a process. I'd like to give it a try. Boning the thigh looks like a real pain, though! And I'd like to forgo the tub of Parkay, if possible. Perhaps brining is an acceptable substitute?

That is a lot of work.

One aspect of the method in the link above that puzzles me is this: the smoke can only penetrate the meat while the meat is somewhat cold (that is, at the beginning of the cooking). In the above method, isn't the chicken sitting in margarine for most of when the smoke flavor should be entering the meat? Does this reduce smoke flavor?

It seems like it makes more sense to smoke (dry) first to get the smoke flavor in, and then braise (in margarine, BBQ sauce, or a combo) later to add those flavors and moisture.

Thoughts?

quote:

One aspect of the method in the link above that puzzles me is this: the smoke can only penetrate the meat while the meat is somewhat cold (that is, at the beginning of the cooking). In the above method, isn't the chicken sitting in margarine for most of when the smoke flavor should be entering the meat? Does this reduce smoke flavor?

It seems like it makes more sense to smoke (dry) first to get the smoke flavor in, and then braise (in margarine, BBQ sauce, or a combo) later to add those flavors and moisture.

Thoughts?

have you ever competed?

competition bbq is not really about bbq, it is weird that way. something you learn really quickly is that judges mark down bbq that tastes of smoke. we got a "too smokey" comment on chicken that had only been cooked over cleanly burning charcoal (no wood at all). figure that one out.

I suspect that's why Harry Soo does well with a stoker on his wsm. the added O2 from the fan keeps his burn exceptionally clean and he can produce a nice tasting product. but that's just a guess (I'm sure his recipes are good too) and what the heck do I know? _

Thanks for the reply, JB. To answer your query: I have not competed. I am looking forward to a spring/summer 2010 of BBQ, including taking the KCBS judging class, judging a few comps, assisting some other teams in a few comps, and then entering myself. I am spending the long, cold NH winter getting to know my equipment (WSM+Stoker) and working on my chicken recipe/technique.

quote:

Thanks for the reply, JB. To answer your query: I have not competed. I am looking forward to a spring/summer 2010 of BBQ, including taking the KCBS judging class, judging a few comps, assisting some other teams in a few comps, and then entering myself. I am spending the long, cold NH winter getting to know my equipment (WSM+Stoker) and working on my chicken recipe/technique.

how are your other recipes?

I have worked on ribs. I love my flavor profile and am working on technique. I feel like I'm ready to jump into a comp with those.

And now I am turning to chicken. I am really happy with my rub/sauce and am trying to figure out how to get the skin better.

That's it so far!

quote:

I have worked on ribs. I love my flavor profile and am working on technique. I feel like I'm ready to jump into a comp with those.

And now I am turning to chicken. I am really happy with my rub/sauce and am trying to figure out how to get the skin better.

That's it so far!

well, if competitions are something you want to do then my advice is to jump in asap. You'll learn 75% of what you need to do at your first comp, and its stuff you can't really learn without competing.

If you're goal is to compete around New England, then I wish you luck. There's tons of teams up there and a few like to come out my way to kick our asses, I can only imagine how intense the comps are up your way.

skin's a tough nut. I think you're getting call if you can get skin that doesn't come off in one piece with the first bite, as long as taste and meat moisture are good too. we hit it once and got a call, and haven't been able to recreate the recipe/method since. I got a couple of ideas up my sleeve to try this winter.

If you're running one wsm, you may want to mod your technique for a kettle. you'll want your butt and brisket on the wsm, and hopefully off with enough time to get your ribs done.

OK Mark, I tried out your method and I have to say that it came out really well. Even my wife who HATES dark meat liked it a bunch. I used my competition rub and sauce and simply used your prep method. That skin was completely bite-through and even borderline crispy. Hope you don't mind if I use it in my next comp!

I need to work on getting all of the thighs a uniform size. I also wrecked a couple of them getting them out of the butter and onto the grill.

That said. I've been in several competitions, cooked more times at home that I can even remember and never has cutting/trimming meat ever bothered me. However, when I was scraping the fat off that skin I thought I was going to have to stop to go barf. That was disgusting. I never thought for a moment that there was that much fat in chicken skin. Yuck! Guess I'll have to practice it a bunch more times to get used to it.

Russ

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Sylvester:
...I need to work on getting all of the thighs a uniform size.
Russ

Easy. Trim them at home before the contest. I do mine on Thursday night and then vacuseal them. I can take up to 2 hours easily trimming and prepping and I do that at home where I have A/C, a cold beverage and no pressure of the fun you get when you get on site.

Doing it this way, we keep the meat we trim off (and we trim off a lot) and freeze it for chicken and dumplings.