Chicken thighs/legs with Qview

[n2smokin]

Thought I would try my hand at chicken thighs.  My wife refuses to leave the skin on (city girl!).  Rubbed each piece with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder. 

Put them on the ECB at 220 for about 2 hours.  Used hickory smoke.

When they reached 145-150 pulled them and put them on the grill at 500 for about 2 minutes per side. Brushed each side with a little bit of "sweet baby rays " sweet and spicy.

The flavor was amazing but still a work in progress.  Next time I will flip the chicken at the 1 hour mark.  The top side dried out just a touch. Also thought about wrapping in bacon.  Couldn't hurt anything. Today I am working on a 12 pound pork shoulder and some ABT's.  Will qview it tomorrow.  Thanks for looking.   

 

[mythmaster]

Try brining them, too.  There are a couple of good recipes in the WIKI -- look for the Tip's Slaughterhouse and Competition Chicken entries.

You only need to leave parts in the brine for 1.5 hours, and it makes them juicier and more flavorful.  Also, find some chicken that hasn't been injected with an "enhancement" solution because they contain salt and your brine won't be as effective.  These are typically labeled "minimally processed".

Another tip with chicken is to smoke them at a higher temp -- like 300-325.  This way you won't need to reverse sear them and you can pull them at 165.

They look great, though, and I'm sure the brats were good, too!

 

[n2smokin]

Mythmaster

Thanks for the advice.  We will give it a try.  Brats did turn out good.  

 

[flash]

I would past on the brining. You can already see your wife is concerned with the fat content of the chicken by removing the skin, why add excess salt to the mix?

What I would suggest is to leave the skin on. This will trap alot of the moisture into the meat and protect it from the heat. I like to smoke mine till about an internal of 160º, then move them over to a hot grill to crisp up the skin. You can either do the same and then remove the skin or even remove the skin straight out of the smoker, after reaching the internal temp you want. As long as you do not over do them they will remain quite moist, as you can see.

 

[eman]

If she is concerned about fat remove the skin and a 2 hour brine in tips will be fantastic. i f she is concerned about salt. no brine . If she is concerned about both , she should be eating lettuce and

tomatoe and leave the meat to us carnivores.

 

[pit 4 brains]

Great looking yardbird N2.. and Flashes also.

I have never brined any chicken but I found that a a good 4 or more hours in any vinegar-based salad dressing (like Italian, Raspberry Pecan, balsamic vinaigrette, etc) will help keep the meat moist and add all the flavor of the dressing to boot!