It was a nice, cool day in Central Alabama - a perfect day to cook something outdoors - so I dropped by Publix and got a package of their Greenwise no hormone, no antibiotic, chicken thighs. Two were big, two were small.
I soaked them in Mojo Crillo for about an hour while I piddled around getting ready to cook. I decided to cook them on my "Mini WSM / Smokey Joe" with a couple of pecan lumps for smoke.
The temperature locked in where I was aiming at about 275 with the bottom vent about half open. The plan was to go about two hours at 275, then move the grate to the normal Smokey Joe position for a few minutes to try to crisp up the skin, then brush with Blues Hog, the let the sauce sit. Just for fun, I boned the two smaller thighs. I left the skin fully attached to those two and partially removed the skin from the larger thighs, leaving it attached to one side, and scraped some fat from the back side.
So I go out to check the thighs at a couple hours only to find that my skin had pulled back from the larger two thighs. Oh well, change in plans. I pulled the skin back from the two larger thighs and glazed them with Blues Hog and let the sauce sit for about five minutes. Then I removed the thighs and let them sit about 10 minutes until time to eat.
Clearly, the skin was a fail. Even on the thighs I boned, the skin was not bite through - it was tough and came off in one piece when I bit the thigh.
HOWEVER, the combination of the pecan smoke and the Blues Hog made for some fantastic tasting BBQ'd chicken thighs. I didn't check up and polished off all of the thighs, adding a little BBG's Championship red sauce at the table.
So was the cook a a FAIL or not? Well, its a great thing in BBQ that you get to eat your mistakes and in most cases, those mistakes are very tasty!
Back to the drawing board on the skin. Helps, hints and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
Pat
I soaked them in Mojo Crillo for about an hour while I piddled around getting ready to cook. I decided to cook them on my "Mini WSM / Smokey Joe" with a couple of pecan lumps for smoke.
The temperature locked in where I was aiming at about 275 with the bottom vent about half open. The plan was to go about two hours at 275, then move the grate to the normal Smokey Joe position for a few minutes to try to crisp up the skin, then brush with Blues Hog, the let the sauce sit. Just for fun, I boned the two smaller thighs. I left the skin fully attached to those two and partially removed the skin from the larger thighs, leaving it attached to one side, and scraped some fat from the back side.
So I go out to check the thighs at a couple hours only to find that my skin had pulled back from the larger two thighs. Oh well, change in plans. I pulled the skin back from the two larger thighs and glazed them with Blues Hog and let the sauce sit for about five minutes. Then I removed the thighs and let them sit about 10 minutes until time to eat.
Clearly, the skin was a fail. Even on the thighs I boned, the skin was not bite through - it was tough and came off in one piece when I bit the thigh.
HOWEVER, the combination of the pecan smoke and the Blues Hog made for some fantastic tasting BBQ'd chicken thighs. I didn't check up and polished off all of the thighs, adding a little BBG's Championship red sauce at the table.
So was the cook a a FAIL or not? Well, its a great thing in BBQ that you get to eat your mistakes and in most cases, those mistakes are very tasty!
Back to the drawing board on the skin. Helps, hints and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
Pat
