Smoked chicken thighs


 
J

JoeEarl

New member
I am planning on smoking 22 chicken thighs on th 18.5 wsm. What temp. Should I shoot for and how long? I would like crisp skin. Any tips would be great. Thanks, joe.
 
Sounds Awesome.....i would go full open vents with empty water pan and get to 350. Cook for about 1 hr, but check for thigh temp of 170 at 45 minutes. The thighs will stay juicy and you will get crisp skin. I love thighs with a spicy rub and no sauce.
 
Agree!
I would go with a chimney of fully lit dumped on top of a chimney of un-lit. I usually get 325-350 measured at the top vent that way.
Chris A has a write-up you might want to check out.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/chicken4.html
You can also crisp up the skin at the end by breaking down the bullet and placing the cooking grate directly on the coal ring.

Tim
 
I just did 50 of them a few days ago for a potluck at work and agree with the higher heat recommendation. I took a slightly different route by skinning mine, applying a little rub and then wrapping each in a thin slice of bacon. The bacon kept them moist and the combination seemed to be well received by the group. To me, just about everything goes better with bacon :cool:
 
and brine those thighs! makes a huuuuuuuge difference

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 cup kosher/sea salt (1/2c iodized)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
Instructions

  • Mix all of the ingredients together in whatever container is needed for the amount of meat you have.
  • Add your meat and don’t forget it MUST be refrigerated. You can brine for a few hours, overnight, or for several days!
  • When you remove your meat from the brine, lightly rinse with cool water. Pat dry and your meat is ready for spices/rubs and off you go!
 
And if you have it, use a fruit wood like apple or cherry. Otherwise Maple, Oak, or Hickory will work. Some might think that hickory is a little strong for thighs but I have no problem with it, use a little less if you want to be comfortable.
 
...and if you brine overnight or longer as Frank talks about 2 stories up, using a rub WITHOUT salt is a decent idea....
 
Whole birds work well on an overnight brine but I think pieces get too salty if brined over a few hours. Jim's double salt trap is valid as well.
 
Thanks everyone. No brine this time but cooked using high heat everyone loved. I was coordinating a 50 person picnic so unfortunately no pictures.
 
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