# Chicken leg quarters



## milkshakefon (Sep 7, 2017)

Whats up everybody? Quick puzzled moment, i know you never cook by time but by time but i have 8 quarters going an hour in at 275 and already reading 160°on the thermometer? Thermometer has always done me right before. Is this exceptionally quick or should i be expecting it to stall there for a bit or what cause everything ive read most people are at it about 2.5 hours and this is my first rodeo with chicken so dont want to make us sick. TIA everybody!


----------



## Rings Я Us (Sep 7, 2017)

milkshakeFON said:


> Whats up everybody? Quick puzzled moment, i know you never cook by time but by time but i have 8 quarters going an hour in at 275 and already reading 160°on the thermometer? Thermometer has always done me right before. Is this exceptionally quick or should i be expecting it to stall there for a bit or what cause everything ive read most people are at it about 2.5 hours and this is my first rodeo with chicken so dont want to make us sick. TIA everybody!















IMG_20170725_204450.jpg



__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 7, 2017






Take off and try to crisp up skin some.. my 165 ends up 170 after crisping on grill or under broiler..












IMG_20170725_212549.jpg



__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 7, 2017





Probably best to concentrate on skin crisping and adding sauce very last minute.


----------



## chilerelleno (Sep 7, 2017)

I don't see much wrong with 160° after one hour at 275° 
You could be running a little hot maybe.
160° to 185° can take awhile.
I would suggest double checking the pieces against each other, temp probing more than one spot and giving the thermometer if it's an instant read digital a full 5-6 seconds reading.

Boil some water and double check your thermometer.


----------



## Rings Я Us (Sep 7, 2017)

Poke a probe or knife down in the thick part and  remove it.......push with your finger next to the spot...... Juices come out clear it's done. Pink and it's not done..  that's the old school way [emoji]129299[/emoji]


----------



## browneyesvictim (Sep 8, 2017)

Im guessing your pit is running hotter than you think. Are you using the built-in mechanical therm for reference or ??? What smoker are you using?

I just don't see getting leg quarters to 160' IT in an hour at 275' Pit temp. (I've tried in my Masterbuilt with it cranked up and mine will actually go over 275'!) But could see you reaching 160 IT at 325' pit temps and definitely at 350'.


----------



## milkshakefon (Sep 8, 2017)

Browneyesvictim said:


> Im guessing your pit is running hotter than you think. Are you using the built-in mechanical therm for reference or ??? What smoker are you using?
> 
> I just don't see getting leg quarters to 160' IT in an hour at 275' Pit temp. (I've tried in my Masterbuilt with it cranked up and mine will actually go over 275'!) But could see you reaching 160 IT at 325' pit temps and definitely at 350'.


Cooking on a cheap offset , 2 aftermarket gauges at grate level. But i rotated the chicken with ones farthest away from firebox to closest all in all they were on there for 2 hours chicken its self turned out great, skin not so much. I had ash door just open struggling to keep it at 275 lol


----------



## browneyesvictim (Sep 8, 2017)

I would highly recommend you get a good-more precise- digital remote probe therm. You pick: Fireboard, Thermoworks, Maverick, whatever... but those aftermarket mechanicals are known to be way off.

Sounds about right for your bird at that temp. But don't ever expect to get crispy skin at 275' either. It will (almost) always be rubbery at temperatures like that. You can smoke low and slow like that at first for the smoke flavor, but its better to crank up the heat and finish on a hot grill or even in an oven at 375 or 400 to crisp the skin at the very end for the last 15 minutes. Don't even consider saucing until after that. Getting the skin dry as possible in the refrigerator days before you smoke it will also be a big help.


----------



## milkshakefon (Sep 8, 2017)

Preciate the info! The thermos i bought were actually in a mod thread here with a direct amazon link and people said they had good success with em, but ive been contemplating getting a digital for grate temps. And as far as the skin goes i did actually pick the chicken up yesterday so there was no drying time what so ever


----------

