Why scrape fat off the thighs?

QTEX · Oct 30, 2012

Just curious as we use whole halves in Texas but have seen it mentioned on Pitmasters and on various forums about scraping off the fat from the chicken thighs. Doesnt fat add flavor and moisture and juiciness? We cook thighs at home all the time and have never scraped them and just have never thought I needed to. Just wondering out loud.

cpw · Oct 30, 2012

If you scrape the fat of the skin, it helps to give bite through skin.

indianagriller · Oct 30, 2012

you can achieve bite through skin without all the work

RangerJ · Oct 30, 2012

QTEX said:
Just curious as we use whole halves in Texas but have seen it mentioned on Pitmasters and on various forums about scraping off the fat from the chicken thighs. Doesnt fat add flavor and moisture and juiciness? We cook thighs at home all the time and have never scraped them and just have never thought I needed to. Just wondering out loud.

At some point at the house, that skin typically comes off and slaps you in the chin.

Which at home, is not a big deal. Sort of like ribs that fall off the bone.

While I don't think it has a thing to do with how I cook that particular piece, when I cook KCBS I adopt to what the perception is.

Not sure what temperature you cook at, but ramp it up, the fat will render out.

wjwheeler · Oct 30, 2012

We all "love" prepping chicken. I was thrilled to hear Myron Mixon say "if you scrape the fat off the skin you are removing the flavor." I'll never scrape another chicken skin.

DawgPhan · Oct 30, 2012

because the internet told all the new teams it was the thing to do.

Jason TQ · Oct 30, 2012

DawgPhan said:
because the internet told all the new teams it was the thing to do.

There isn't anything the Internet doesn't say so it kind of covers the entire spectrum of things to try one way or another.

QTEX · Oct 30, 2012

DawgPhan said:
because the internet told all the new teams it was the thing to do.

lol

As far as the bite through skin, seems to be okay for me without the scrape if you cook it hot enough. Tnx for the answers though.

HookedonSmoke · Oct 31, 2012

I haven't found that taking time to scrape the skin has made a big difference in the end result. In addition, I'm not sure that the risk of tearing the skin is worth it.

Podge · Oct 31, 2012

Scraping flavor off the skin is for people who do not know how to achieve bite-thru skin without doing so.

Jason TQ · Oct 31, 2012

Podge said:
Scraping flavor off the skin is for people who do not know how to achieve bite-thru skin without doing so.

I do agree that scraping makes it easier and it can be achieved without scraping.

So to your statement would you also say people that use margarine/butter bath, higher temperature cooking, muffin pan cooking, foiling, using chicken broth to steam or any other technique other than just putting chicken straight on the smoker don't know how to achieve bite through skin and are using those techniques as a crutch for being not as skillful as a cook.

A good question is at what point are people then throwing skill out the window?

DawgPhan · Oct 31, 2012

fnbish said:
I do agree that scraping makes it easier and it can be achieved without scraping.

So to your statement would you also say people that use margarine/butter bath, higher temperature cooking, muffin pan cooking, foiling, using chicken broth to steam or any other technique other than just putting chicken straight on the smoker don't know how to achieve bite through skin and are using those techniques as a crutch for being not as skillful as a cook.

A good question is at what point are people then throwing skill out the window?

there are no shortcuts in the bbq. getting judges to like your food takes skill.

polishdon · Oct 31, 2012

I do it because it adds trophies to my collection. In our last 5 comps we placed 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th and 17th place (72 teams).

Jason TQ · Oct 31, 2012

DawgPhan said:
there are no shortcuts in the bbq. getting judges to like your food takes skill.

I totally agree with you. But it seems as podge might not which is fine but i just wanted to clarify which is why i asked. Seems like scraping could be considered a "shortcut" to some.

glenntm · Oct 31, 2012

There is no need to scrape chicken skin if you are cooking it properly. It's all about time and temperature.

Jason TQ · Oct 31, 2012

glenntm said:
There is no need to scrape chicken skin if you are cooking it properly. It's all about time and temperature.

Do you use any of the cooking techniques i mentioned above or do you simply get bite through skin from putting chicken straight on your cooker?

glenntm · Oct 31, 2012

fnbish said:
Do you use any of the cooking techniques i mentioned above or do you simply get bite through skin from putting chicken straight on your cooker?

It's more than just throw it on the pit. We use a combination of what you talked about earlier. A lot of it has to do with your pit, temperature, and dry or wet. At the end of the day its really about practice and figuring out what works for your style of cooking.

indianagriller · Oct 31, 2012

Podge said:
Scraping flavor off the skin is for people who do not know how to achieve bite-thru skin without doing so.

When this guys talks... I listen

huminie · Oct 31, 2012

Skin scraping is a brute force way to achieving bite through skin, and by doing so you give up a lot in terms of flavor and moisture. It is also no "short cut" in terms of prep time.

Finding a way to achieve bite through skin without scraping is ideal as it will save you time and allow you to create a more flavorful and moist end product.

Wampus · Oct 31, 2012

I think the OP was just asking what was the whole idea behind scraping chicken skin.

That was answered correctly by stating that the whole point was to achieve bite through skin.

It has also been stated (by a couple of people I KNOW know what they're talking about :wink

that this isn't necessary to achieve bite through skin. That doesn't mean that these people just throw the chicken on the smoker though. And I doubt that these guys are gonna tell you exactly what they DO do to achieve their goal.

Bottom line for me? Scraping skin is one way to get the skin the judges like. There are other ways as well. Is one better than the rest? Dunno. We all have to start somewhere. I know people who have scored well by scraping and people who have scored well without it.

Different strokes.

I ALSO think it depends on the chicken thighs. We've bought some that had a THICK layer of fat under the skin and have bought others that had very little fat.

All I know is......chicken prep SUCKS.

Why scrape fat off the thighs?

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