How do you Prep your chicken ?

Pitts · 06-16-2012, 04:57 AM

Our first comp is next weekend. What is it you do specifically to prep chicken thighs for cooking. I hear from many on here that it's not fun to do. Other than shaping them up to be similar in size I'm really not sure what else to do. Thanks.

bbqbrad · 06-16-2012, 07:13 AM

Get as much fat off the bottom of the skins. Some people remove tendons.

steve6224 · 06-16-2012, 08:19 AM

Remove skin. Scrape fat from skin. With skins removed trim up all thighs to similiar size/thickness. Inject/rub/brine etc.. and replace skins. Cook how you normally would.

Brew-B-Q · 06-16-2012, 08:33 AM

I have scraped skin several times and I get bite through every time. I've tried other ways and can get good skin, but not as consistent. I think you lose some flavor when you scrape all the fat off though. I won't be scraping skin anymore as I need to spend less time prepping chicken. I'm convinced there is a better way out there.

Divemaster · 06-16-2012, 08:38 PM

A Lady Schick can be your friend.

Just sayin.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

Outnumbered · 06-16-2012, 08:45 PM

We scrape the fat and debone the thighs. Contemplating other pieces of the bird since everyone seems to do thighs. But, alas, we will likely stick with what we have done.

columbia1 · 06-16-2012, 09:01 PM

Ugly job, prepare yourself by having a cold six-pack available, go thru the package, or packages, we start with 30 thighs and weigh each one, then narrow those down to 18 by weight, eliminating the light/heavy weight ones, next is removing the skin, if they are damaged, or "short" skins we steal skins from the larger pieces we eliminated earlier, scrap all the skins, this is where about 3 beers come in handy, next square the thighs and remove the blood veins(two beers minimum here), wash the thighs really good, pat dry, put skins back on and plastic wrap together for comp. day. Hopefully you have more beer because by now you will most likely have one nasty back-ache.

bmanMA · 06-16-2012, 10:24 PM

How do I prep chicken? Bitching and moaning the entire time.
Oh yes and cocktailing. Anyone that tells you they prep chicken sober is either lying or insane

sdbbq1234 · 06-17-2012, 12:14 AM

Cupcake method seems to be the best that I have tried. No need to remove skin or scrap it and stuff. Just a pain in the rear-end trimming and trying to size them up.

wallace

Crash · 06-17-2012, 05:42 AM

All of the ideas above are good. I suggest saran wrapping your cold beverage and using a straw to drink it. Also, a helping hand to replenish those beverages is a plus.

Shiz-Nit · 06-17-2012, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crash

All of the ideas above are good. I suggest saran wrapping your cold beverage and using a straw to drink it. Also, a helping hand to replenish those beverages is a plus.

Ahhh very good idea indeed... May keep the chicken police away... But I sure hate the idea of drinking beer out of a straw. But I may try the idea.

Pelkster · 06-17-2012, 11:16 PM

I use thighs, cut the knuckle off the end, trim the fat and remove the vein that runs along the bone. I also trim up the skins but I do not scrape. Results have been really, really good for us.

GreenDrake · 06-18-2012, 06:00 AM

I do it all with thighs. I ruined a few turn ins before I decided to just practice like crazy on it. I am a scraper, trimmer, vein removing oyster cutter. Yes I am. Here's one of my turn ins from last year.

Eggspert · 06-18-2012, 07:04 AM

We have been removing the bone in our thighs. I was having trouble with blood around the bone discoloring the meat in my thighs. Even when the meat was cooked to the correct temp there would still occasionally be red blood on the bone. I don't want to risk the chance of DQ with blood around the bone. What does everyone else do about that. It sounds like most people leave the bones in the thighs. What does that gain you? I can get my thighs to look awesome and uniform without the bone. We have been getting calls in the 5-10 place range, but really want to jump to the 1-5th place calls. I am wondering if leaving the bone could help.

Jennifer Amundson
Eggspert BBQ
3 Lg BGE
Stoker

columbia1 · 06-18-2012, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eggspert

We have been removing the bone in our thighs. I was having trouble with blood around the bone discoloring the meat in my thighs. Even when the meat was cooked to the correct temp there would still occasionally be red blood on the bone. I don't want to risk the chance of DQ with blood around the bone. What does everyone else do about that. It sounds like most people leave the bones in the thighs. What does that gain you? I can get my thighs to look awesome and uniform without the bone. We have been getting calls in the 5-10 place range, but really want to jump to the 1-5th place calls. I am wondering if leaving the bone could help.

Jennifer Amundson
Eggspert BBQ
3 Lg BGE
Stoker

One of the main reasons we marinate is to remove the red color around the bone, 1-2 hours are normally enough to clean that area up.

06-16-2012, 04:57 AM	#1
Pitts Knows what a fatty is. Join Date: 05-01-12 Location: Manassas VA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	How do you Prep your chicken ? Our first comp is next weekend. What is it you do specifically to prep chicken thighs for cooking. I hear from many on here that it's not fun to do. Other than shaping them up to be similar in size I'm really not sure what else to do. Thanks.

06-16-2012, 07:13 AM	#2
bbqbrad On the road to being a farker Join Date: 04-20-08 Location: Royston, Ga Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Get as much fat off the bottom of the skins. Some people remove tendons. __________________ Brad Maffett Head Cook and Bottle Washer Hot For Teacher BBQ hotforteacherbbq.com Yellow Thermapen Owner

06-16-2012, 08:19 AM	#3
steve6224 Is lookin for wood to cook with. Join Date: 11-05-11 Location: Vancouver, BC Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Remove skin. Scrape fat from skin. With skins removed trim up all thighs to similiar size/thickness. Inject/rub/brine etc.. and replace skins. Cook how you normally would. __________________ FEC 100, 2X 22" WSM, 1X 18" WSM, 26" Kettle, UDS

06-16-2012, 08:38 PM	#5
Divemaster somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 09-23-07 Location: North Side of Chicago Illinois Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	A Lady Schick can be your friend. Just sayin. Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2 __________________ Jeff CBJ# 23376 Stockcar BBQ Race Fast, Cook Slow, and Enjoy Life! If it don't come off a smoker, it's just a side dish! Lang 60 Patio (The Mistress), Black Stainless Lang 36 (Little Princess), Large BGE (Ramona), Big Green UDS (Cottage Cooker), Brinkman SnP Pro (Little Bubba-Retired), 8 Burner Gasser, 3 - 22.5" & 1 - 18" (circa 1975) Weber Grills, & a Weber Smoky Joe.

06-16-2012, 08:45 PM	#6
Outnumbered is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 09-18-11 Location: Smithville, Missouri, United States Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	We scrape the fat and debone the thighs. Contemplating other pieces of the bird since everyone seems to do thighs. But, alas, we will likely stick with what we have done. __________________ Greg Vincent When I die, my goal is to have a visible smoke ring when the coroner cuts me open for the autopsy.

06-16-2012, 08:33 AM	#4
Brew-B-Q is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 05-27-08 Location: Round Lake IL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I have scraped skin several times and I get bite through every time. I've tried other ways and can get good skin, but not as consistent. I think you lose some flavor when you scrape all the fat off though. I won't be scraping skin anymore as I need to spend less time prepping chicken. I'm convinced there is a better way out there.

06-16-2012, 09:01 PM	#7
columbia1 Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 01-15-12 Location: Kalama Wa. Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Ugly job, prepare yourself by having a cold six-pack available, go thru the package, or packages, we start with 30 thighs and weigh each one, then narrow those down to 18 by weight, eliminating the light/heavy weight ones, next is removing the skin, if they are damaged, or "short" skins we steal skins from the larger pieces we eliminated earlier, scrap all the skins, this is where about 3 beers come in handy, next square the thighs and remove the blood veins(two beers minimum here), wash the thighs really good, pat dry, put skins back on and plastic wrap together for comp. day. Hopefully you have more beer because by now you will most likely have one nasty back-ache. __________________ "Tombstone BBQ"-PNWBA-KCBS-Custom 72" reverse flow offset-WSM-Weber Elite-ECB

06-16-2012, 10:24 PM	#8
bmanMA is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 03-02-10 Location: Lunenburg, MA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	How do I prep chicken? Bitching and moaning the entire time. Oh yes and cocktailing. Anyone that tells you they prep chicken sober is either lying or insane __________________ Pork Butt and Chicken Legs

06-17-2012, 12:14 AM	#9
sdbbq1234 is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 02-11-10 Location: Northern VA Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Cupcake method seems to be the best that I have tried. No need to remove skin or scrap it and stuff. Just a pain in the rear-end trimming and trying to size them up. wallace __________________ - Life Is Good, Butt BBQ Is Better! - BWS - Fat Boy - simple UDS - KCBS CBJ# 58657 - MABA Member

06-17-2012, 05:42 AM	#10
Crash is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 10-29-08 Location: Kailua, HI (Oahu) Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	All of the ideas above are good. I suggest saran wrapping your cold beverage and using a straw to drink it. Also, a helping hand to replenish those beverages is a plus. __________________ Crash - HIBarbeque.com

06-17-2012, 11:16 PM	#12
Pelkster On the road to being a farker Join Date: 02-09-11 Location: Boston, NY Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I use thighs, cut the knuckle off the end, trim the fat and remove the vein that runs along the bone. I also trim up the skins but I do not scrape. Results have been really, really good for us. __________________ Keith-KC and the Smokeshack Band-Backwoods Fatboy x2, Weber Kettle

06-18-2012, 06:00 AM	#13
GreenDrake is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 06-21-10 Location: Hayden, Idaho Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I do it all with thighs. I ruined a few turn ins before I decided to just practice like crazy on it. I am a scraper, trimmer, vein removing oyster cutter. Yes I am. Here's one of my turn ins from last year. __________________ PNWBA - Hayden, Idaho http://www.facebook.com/BC2BBQ

06-18-2012, 07:04 AM	#14
Eggspert On the road to being a farker Join Date: 04-25-12 Location: Willmar, MN Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	We have been removing the bone in our thighs. I was having trouble with blood around the bone discoloring the meat in my thighs. Even when the meat was cooked to the correct temp there would still occasionally be red blood on the bone. I don't want to risk the chance of DQ with blood around the bone. What does everyone else do about that. It sounds like most people leave the bones in the thighs. What does that gain you? I can get my thighs to look awesome and uniform without the bone. We have been getting calls in the 5-10 place range, but really want to jump to the 1-5th place calls. I am wondering if leaving the bone could help. Jennifer Amundson Eggspert BBQ 3 Lg BGE Stoker