Calling Skin-on Chicken Thigh Experts, Need Some Help


 

LarryR

TVWBB Diamond Member
Hoping to get some help on not burning my darn chicken thighs. I now eat Keto (high fat/low carb diet) and I've been leaving the skin on my chicken thighs vs. removing the skin like I have for years. Problem is I burn the darn things every dang time from the flair-ups. I'm cooking on a 2 year old Genesis and I've been placing the thighs in two rows between the three burners and cooking indirectly. Even on low last night I came out to flaming thighs last night.

The one time I tried cooking with only the two outer burners on they thighs took forever. These are weeknight cooks so I need to be done in 30 minutes like when I was doing skinless thighs.

Anyone have this mastered on a Genesis? Thanks in advance!
 
Larry I don't have a gasser but my BIL swears by the two minute drill on his genisis.
Start low and flip every 2 minutes and slowly bring the temps up.
Best skin he says and usually take around 35 mins.

Tim
 
Larry I don't have a gasser but my BIL swears by the two minute drill on his genisis.
Start low and flip every 2 minutes and slowly bring the temps up.
Best skin he says and usually take around 35 mins.

Tim
Interesting, so does he actually stand there for the entire 35 minutes? Direct or in-direct? Med, high heat? I realize you may not know the answers to these questions.
 
I'll get back to you Larry because he did describe that to me before and I'll get more details.
I did try that method on my OTG with thighs, obviously with charcoal its harder to control temps but flipping them every two minutes seemed to reduce flair ups as the skin rendered more evenly.

Tim
 
You have the left-right burner orientation and a warming rack (~3.5" above regular grates) on the back, right?

Set your thighs on the warming rack, and put your front (closest to you) burner on high, the middle on medium, and the back burner off. You can leave the back burner on but when that skin starts dripping it can catch on fire. This config gets me ~550F in my Silver B.

I'd leave them like this for 15-20 minutes, & then flip if you like & let them go for another 15-20 minutes.

Do you have a smoke tube yet? put some chips or pellets in it and sit it under your grates across the burner tubes - the smoke adds a nice color in addition to the flavor.
 
I cook a lot of thighs, always with the skin on.
I do not use a Genesis, but a charcoal kettle, but still, this may help.

I use a couple of different methods:
1- Cook with the lid on, indirect, till the chicken is done.Then move to direct heat and crisp the skin
2- Cook them without the lid, moving them from direct to indirect and back when necessary
3- On the rotisserie, sometimes pushed on the spikes and now also in my new rotisserie basket.
 
@Clint, I have the front to back burners. My old Genesis had the left to right orientation.

Thanks for all the ideas, I'll report back my results.
 
Interesting, so does he actually stand there for the entire 35 minutes? Direct or in-direct? Med, high heat? I realize you may not know the answers to these questions.

Ok I got the rundown. Preheat the grill for 10 mins, brush the grates and turn it down to low. Add the thighs, skin side down, direct, and flip them every two minutes.
When you notice good rendering you can slowly up the temps slightly, prolly every 10 mins.
Usually takes him 30 mins and he does hang out drinking a beer, and a timer he sets for 2 mins. ( for the flip not the beer) :)

Tim
 
I do high heat, indirect on the Performer. 450+ Skin never touches the grate - I just rotate a few times during the cook to ensure even cooking.
 
Cooking chicken on a performer is easy as the lid will keep the fat from causing flare ups,a gas grill for the most part will have to be baby sitted from start to finish and I have had a lot of grills and it's always been the same.there are a few gas grills that wont catch fire but they cook more like a oven imo.
 
Ok I got the rundown. Preheat the grill for 10 mins, brush the grates and turn it down to low. Add the thighs, skin side down, direct, and flip them every two minutes.
When you notice good rendering you can slowly up the temps slightly, prolly every 10 mins.
Usually takes him 30 mins and he does hang out drinking a beer, and a timer he sets for 2 mins. ( for the flip not the beer) :)

Tim

Thank doG it's not for the beer. At that rate, the beer might get warm and spoil. :) :)
 
I do buffalo chicken wings (skin on) on my Genesis 1000. I control the heat to around 350 - 400 degrees and cook them for about 35 minutes flipping them after about 20 minutes. Then I pull them off, coat them in the buffalo sauce and put them back on high ~550-600 for 10 to 15 more minutes. I get small flare ups, but nothing bad and have never "burned" any of my wings. I don't know if the deep cook box and 13 flavorizer bars help keep the flare ups down, but it works for me. I suggest you buy a remote thermometer to keep track of the cook box air temps. If a flare up does occur, it will send the temps soaring and set off the alarm on the thermometer. I use the Thermoworks Smoke. It has dual probes. One for the cook box air temp and one for the internal meat temp. And it has the remote display, so you can go sit indoors and still monitor the temps.

http://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke?tw=VWB&chan=TVWBB

There are others that do the same thing as well.

Oh, I have also done two rotisserie chickens with skin on and a 12lb turkey with skin on with no flare ups.
 
Just curious are you saucing these or adding any type of rub that contains sugar or brining in a a brine that contains sugar? Or are these plain thighs?
 
If you are asking me about the wings, I first put them on with NO seasoning, brine or sauce. Straight from the grocery store package to the grill (quick rinse in water of course). Then I grill them exactly as stated above. The buffalo sauce has spices and quite a bit of butter in it though, but I don't put that on until the last ten minutes or so.
 
Chicken thighs with skin is one of my favorite things to grill. I remove the bone first and marinate in italian dressing overnight and then grill them on my Weber Q1200. The skin always comes out crispy without being burned. The skin is my favorite part and tastes better than bacon. I think it's the babyQ that makes them always come out so perfect. Always a family favorite.
 
I've done it by working a small, sharp knife around the bone and peeling the meat away. And I agree that Italian dressing makes a great chicken marinade.
 

 

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