Chicken Doneness

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Guest
Hi,

Great website. Reading the material on here convinced me to buy a WSM and has helped immensely. I've been using my WSM for a couple of months now(butts, ribs, chicken). I have a question...

This afternoon I cooked six 2lb. cornish game hens on the top rack. I've done these before on the WSM and they turned out great. Cooked for 3 1/2 hours at 250-265, w/ sand pan, breast side down, to an internal temp. of 179 degrees where the thigh meets the back. However, when I went to eat them, I found the meat around the thigh was not as done as I'd like. The juices ran clear, and the meat wasn't really raw. It just wasn't as done as I'd like. Would you recommend cooking to an internal temp of 182 or 183? For the record, the Maverick thermometer is right on. Thanks.

Todd

PS Once again, I appreciate all the useful information on this site.
 
Try the same process breast up, see if that doesn't get the job done. If you take the internal temp that will help, be looking at the breasts to be a little drier.
Jim
 
Another trick for getting the read out of thighs is to break the thigh bone out of its socket. Might be hard to figure it out on a whole hen, but, where the thigh bone connects to the hip(?), there is a blood vessel that does not always drain when the chicken is processed. Pop that bone out of the socket (replace it again if you like) and that should take care of the problem.

Dale
 
One trick I saw on a show once was to cut the skin where the thigh connects to the back. The reason for this was to let more heat in around the thigh so it will cook quicker. I haven't tried it yet but it might be worth trying.

Mark
 
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