How best to cook chicken thighs and legs on Searwood?

[Edward Lee]

Anyone have tips for cooking chicken thighs and legs on the Searwood? It’s my first time doing bone-in thighs. They marinated overnight in a tandoori marinade.

What temperature to cook them to? What temperature to cook them at? Other tips?

They were my wife’s Mother’s Day request and they were quite pricy at the local butcher, so I don’t want to mess them up.

Thanks!!

 

[LMichaels]

Depends what kind of flavor profile you're after. But, my guess is if you marinated them in tandoori spices, you're not looking for smoke profile. So, I'd guess would be to "grill" them. On the hotter side of things. Looking for that crispy but juicy/tender insides profile

 

[Edward Lee]

The recipe I was looking at had actually a hot coal put in the skillet at the end to infuse a little smoke flavor. But, I think you’re right that the ideal would be crispy with tender/juicy insides and a light smoke flavor… I was thinking maybe a mix of pecan and charcoal pellets.

When you say on the hotter side, you thinking like 400? Hotter?

Does starting skin side up or down matter?

Thanks!!

 

[Greg P]

Depends what kind of flavor profile you're after. But, my guess is if you marinated them in tandoori spices, you're not looking for smoke profile. So, I'd guess would be to "grill" them. On the hotter side of things. Looking for that crispy but juicy/tender insides profile

@TVmichaels
"Looking for that crispy but juicy/tender insides profile"

Is this the plan, whole chicken, rotisserie cooked? Medium hood closed, or high?
# 2 practice chicken,
Check back in a bit, pellet run

Thanks in advance,
Pep
@

 

[LMichaels]

The recipe I was looking at had actually a hot coal put in the skillet at the end to infuse a little smoke flavor. But, I think you’re right that the ideal would be crispy with tender/juicy insides and a light smoke flavor… I was thinking maybe a mix of pecan and charcoal pellets.

When you say on the hotter side, you thinking like 400? Hotter?

Does starting skin side up or down matter?

Thanks!!

400 should be plenty hot. When I do thighs I usually start them skin up (I do stab them on the skin side to allow places for rendered fat to drip out), When they come close to done temps I turn them over for that final rendering and crispy skin.

 

[LMichaels]

Actually Greg, on the whole chicken thing. Since on the Searwood you have that option of spinning a whole bird, unless you're looking for an actual smoke profile, I'd season, prick the skin with a knife, after trussing it up, and run it at 400 deg or so. Don't want to go too hot or you end up over cooked exterior and undercooked meat