Split Chicken - Managing Breast vs Thigh Temp?

[Josh - CT]

Hello,

I tried the Hot and Fast Chicken approach recommended here. The two birds I got were 4.3 pounds each. This is certainly bigger than the 3.5-4 lb recommendation, but it was all that they had.

After following the directions, I flipped the chicken after 30 mins and checked the temp. I found that the thighs were almost done, but the breast had much further to go. I made sure the breast meat was cooked (165), but the thigh was registering over 200 when that finally happened. Thinking about it more, I thought it might be easier just to separate the breast from the thigh and take each piece off the grill when it gets done independent of the other. How do people manage this temp difference when cooking this as one piece? Was the fact that this bird was > 4 lbs a factor here?

-Josh

 

[Lew Newby]

I just go by breast temp as thigh meat is pretty forgiving. I just did a 4.5 lb. spatchcocked chicken. Same principal as halves. I put the temp probe in the breast and pulled it when I got to 160. I didn't check the thigh temp but the meat was tender and juicy. If your thigh meat came out good I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Greg in Utah]

Chickens vary. I’m pretty tired of chicken as of late but I did buy one recently that was labeled as an “heirloom“ type.

That bird had outstanding dark meat, but the breasts were much smaller than your typical supermarket bird.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

Josh -- You are on the right track.

The whole challenge of cooking chicken or turkey is to get each of the white and dark meat (i) cooked correctly and (ii) done at the same time. Tough to do since the dark (like a brisket or butt) requires a higher temp to melt the connective tissue and get tender.

All the various techniques try to pull that trick off. But the most straightforward way to accomplish that is to just cook the pieces separately.

My Thanksgiving turkey game went to the next level when I started doing that. My TG turkey is done in two smaller roasting pans rather than one big one. Pan 1 (dark meat) goes on first because dark meat is better if cooked longer and to a higher temp. Pan 2 (white meat) goes on a while later. I can usually get them to both finish at about the same time. But if not, I can take each one off the heat separately when done. Voila.

 

[Chris Allingham]

I need to rethink that article and general advice on the site about chicken breast temp. Experts like J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats suggest that breast only needs 150*F, thigh 175*F. You may have been at or close to those numbers with your chicken.

But in practice today, I do as Lew says, I cook to 160-165*F in the breast and ignore dark meat temp. It can take the heat and still be moist. And if it's under for some odd reason, it can be returned to the grill or zapped in the micro briefly to come up to temp.

You can certainly smoke chicken parts and take off pieces as they're done. Nothing sacred about cooking whole or halves. Just easier to move butterflied or halves around on the grate.

Your slightly larger chickens didn't play into this, IMO. It's hard to buy 3.5 - 4 lb chickens and has been for a while now, they're much larger in most supermarkets.

 

[MichaelM]

....I do as Lew says, I cook to 160-165*F in the breast and ignore dark meat temp. It can take the heat and still be moist. And if it's under for some odd reason, it can be returned to the grill or zapped in the micro briefly to come up to temp.

I do the same and find the dark meat is always to my liking. Never had a problem with it being under-cooked.

 

[BobJ]

The bird I did last week I quartered. I did it on the kettle so i get the skin crispy, I found it simpler to handle and cook.

 

[timothy]

That's weird, usually the white meat is done before the dark meat IME.
Trying to temp in the thigh joint can give you readings all over the place.
I like to brine and the added moisture helps the white meat from drying out.

Tim

 

[Jerry N.]

That's weird, usually the white meat is done before the dark meat IME.
Trying to temp in the thigh joint can give you readings all over the place.
I like to brine and the added moisture helps the white meat from drying out.

Tim

I was thinking the same thing. One of the tricks when roasting a bird is to ice the breast before you put it on so that it doesn’t get done before the thigh. Never seen it the other way around. I prefer pieces so that I can pull each when done.