Judgin Chicken Question

[Greendriver]

and cooking chicken question. I performed the ultimate shiggin duty yesterday and Judged at the Auburn, Al contest and I can't get this one entry outta my mind. It was thighs and they had 3 very unusual characteristics.

1. they were absolutely perfectly trimmed to the point that you could not with the closest inspection detect so much as a hint of a trim job on em anywhere. I mean they were rounded smooth as could be.
2. the skin was so thin you could not tell where it stopped and started unless you held it up to the eye very close and then you could see it and it looked about the same as if you found the end of a roll of scotch tape.
3. the chicken was white as cotton except for the un-cooked sauce on it.

now the chicken was done but certainly was not over cooked, had a decent flavor, but I still can't imagine how that chicken was prepared or cooked. It's almost like it was boiled and I know it probably was cooked over water but still I can't see how it could be done and not have any signs of being cooked in a smoker / grill and it wasn't smoky tasting either. I'm thinking the rep might should have asked the team how they did their cook just to be sure they didn't violate the rules, which brings me to a judging question - are you suppose to wait till that meat category is completely finished being judged by your table to bring up a possible rules violation or what?

[The_Kapn]

I can not see anything in your observations that would indicate that it was not legally cooked.

No requrement for grill marks, smoke flavor, or any of that stuff.

Sounds like "really prepared" but "poorly cooked" chicken to me.

But, maybe I am missing something.

Congrats on your first judging and thanks for doing that!!!!!!!

TIM

[Greendriver]

Originally Posted by The_Kapn

I can not see anything in your observations that would indicate that it was not legally cooked.

No requrement for grill marks, smoke flavor, or any of that stuff.

Sounds like "really prepared" but "poorly cooked" chicken to me.

But, maybe I am missing something.

Congrats on your first judging and thanks for doing that!!!!!!!

TIM

It was my 3rd or 4th time out judgin and I want to make sure you understand that I wasn't pronouncing them quilty of violating rules but trying to see if maybe it looked like something that might ought to be questioned. I have seen greenhorns that were more than green and could be there without knowing the rules, cooks meeting or not.

[Double D's BBQ]

might have been cooked in butter which would account for many if not all of the observations that you had made. Was there any hint of pinkness to the meat from the smoke?

[lunchlady]

I think you can attract the attention of the table captain at any time while judging if you think that something isn't quite right.
Anyone have the 'official lowdown' on that?

I still think that's funny... absolutely perfectly trimmed...white as cotton... where in nature is there a thigh like that?

[Greendriver]

Originally Posted by lunchlady

I think you can attract the attention of the table captain at any time while judging if you think that something isn't quite right.
Anyone have the 'official lowdown' on that?

I still think that's funny... absolutely perfectly trimmed...white as cotton... where in nature is there a thigh like that?

I'm sure Kapn knows so I guess I'm just wondering how they could have got a thigh cooked like that - if butter was used they never got the cooker hot or it would have browned.

[Ford]

Originally Posted by Double D's BBQ

might have been cooked in butter which would account for many if not all of the observations that you had made. Was there any hint of pinkness to the meat from the smoke?

Dallas

I do beleive you may be right. Sounds like somebody at that contest may have taken a class taught by gentlemen named Johnny or Mike.

But they didn't do it right or the sauce would have been baked on the skin.

[Greendriver]

I knew I could count on Ford to narrow it down to the class I need to take. Which class?

[Jeff_in_KC]

Thin skin is well-scraped (shaved) skin!

[eagle697]

Originally Posted by Jeff_in_KC

Thin skin is well-scraped (shaved) skin!

I am assuming the point of this is to have skin that is bite through. How exactly does one do this, and is there an advantage to this?

[Coz]

I think the answer your looking for would be found at the classes from Rod Grey and Johnny Trigg.Old School /New School if I have my thoughts correct.I attended one of Dr. Porkrnstiens backyard BBQ classes and saw the cooked in butter method but I believe that its taught at the other class I mentioned.

[The Pickled Pig]

Originally Posted by Greendriver

I'm sure Kapn knows so I guess I'm just wondering how they could have got a thigh cooked like that - if butter was used they never got the cooker hot or it would have browned.

If you leave the chicken in the butter pan for the entire cook it will stay white.

[Greendriver]

Originally Posted by The Pickled Pig

If you leave the chicken in the butter pan for the entire cook it will stay white.

Wow, now that's just wierd. Sounds like all this guy needed was to have a little more time for em set in a hot cooker to set the sauce.

[Jeff_in_KC]

Originally Posted by eagle697

I am assuming the point of this is to have skin that is bite through. How exactly does one do this, and is there an advantage to this?

Yes it is... And although I'm razzed that I use a Lady Schick razor, I actually use a very sharp paring knife and scrap the hell out of the back of the skins so they're thinner than paper thin. Well, yeah, the advantage is not having rubber skin.

[Gowan]

Huh, I didn't see you at Auburn, Chet - I was table captain at table 7 with the big black hat.

Sounds like you got chicken from one of the two major schools of thought these days as noted above. The other is the crispy grilled skin method as perfected by Big Jim. Nothing fishy about the cooking method of the sample you saw; it was probably done in a pellet cooker, hence the low smoke level.

We're up in Clarksville TN this coming weekend, drop by and say howdy if you're there.

-Gowan