Chicken cook gone wierd ?


 
John Bridgman

John Bridgman

TVWBB Super Fan
So.. it was supposed to be a typical "smoke up some chicken for meals, salads etc..." cook. Done it a few times.

Big batch of boneless skinless thighs, marinated all day in premade jerk seasoning (Grace extra hot) then cooked indirect on a Performer with a lid temp of 275-300. I unroll the BSTs so they're flat on the grill, typically takes maybe an hour and a quarter. Only variable this time was using more jerk seasoning to get decent coverage, maybe 3/4 of a jar (yes I will start making my own jerk paste tomorrow).

Checked the temperature occasionally, re-arranged them once for even cooking, kept the lid closed the rest of the time to avoid losing heat.

After an hour they seemed totally undercooked; wasn't sure if I had over-marinated them and turned to mush but really seemed undercooked. Tried again after another hour (2 hours total), starting to firm up a bit but still like undercooked fish in texture.

My guess is either wind coming up when I'm not there, bad recollection of previous cook times, or temp spiking up high during previous cooks and not noticing. I suppose I can just cook one BST over direct coals and see what happens - that should resolve the "did I over marinade ?" question.

Just looking for quick opinions -- with grill temp estimated at 200-225 (lid temp 250-300 on a Performer) what should cook time be for unrolled boneless skinless thighs ? I guess could be slower cook because I have more jerk seasoning on the outside but...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Bridgman:
Big batch of boneless skinless thighs, cooked indirect on a Performer with a lid temp of 275-300. I unroll the BSTs so they're flat on the grill, typically takes maybe an hour and a quarter. Only variable this time was using more jerk seasoning to get decent coverage, maybe 3/4 of a jar (yes I will start making my own jerk paste tomorrow).

Checked the temperature occasionally, re-arranged them once for even cooking, kept the lid closed the rest of the time to avoid losing heat.

After an hour they seemed totally undercooked; wasn't sure if I had over-marinated them and turned to mush but really seemed undercooked. Tried again after another hour (2 hours total), starting to firm up a bit but still like undercooked fish in texture.

My guess is either wind coming up when I'm not there, bad recollection of previous cook times, or temp spiking up high during previous cooks and not noticing. I suppose I can just cook one BST over direct coals and see what happens - that should resolve the "did I over marinade ?" question.

Just looking for quick opinions -- with grill temp estimated at 200-225 (lid temp 250-300 on a Performer) what should cook time be for unrolled boneless skinless thighs ? I guess could be slower cook because I have more jerk seasoning on the outside but... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Big batch, maybe over crowded, not enough circulation? Indirect 200-225 would be about right for the grate temp. Maybe just too much cold meat to start and it really knocked down your temps for a good bit. I'm not a big fan of indirect cooking so not much help to you.
 
man that type of chicken usually cooks up quick. i usually just direct cook them. takes about 1/2 at most. maybe over marinated ?
 
Thanks all. Looks like the correct answer was "all of the above".

This was definitely more chicken than I normally put on the grill at once, and I am increasingly sure that temperatures may have been over 350F at times during previous cooks.

I cooked one of the BSTs over direct but the coals were getting low and the results were unequivocal -- meat firmed up but remained rubbery, flakey and kinda grey.

Seems like overall the temps were too low and I essentially ended up cold smoking. I have gone through a recent spate of cheap thermometer failures so wasn't able to do the most obvious diagnostic.

Next time I'll try direct. Unrolled BSTs are pretty thin anyways.
 
What were the ingredients of the jerk paste? I have marinated chicken for too long before and have come out with a mushy unpleasant texture. My marinade had vinegar in it. Now if my marinade has anything acidic I don't marinade any longer than 1 hour.
 
Don't think it was the marinade. I did a couple batches of Grace and Walkers Wood marinated chicken although it was mixed parts with skin not just boneless thighs on the WSM. "High Grilling". Basically meaning grilling on the WSM top or middle racks with the water pan removed. I don't think the temps went over 300 for most of the cook. Meat was packed pretty tight on the racks as well.

The chicken was not in the marinade though for more than 8 hours.

Jerk Marinade on the WSM
 
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