Thirdeye...BEST THIGHS EVER!!

[darita]

Thank you Thirdeye for your Butter Bath Chicken Thighs. I loosely followed his recipe and ended up with the best thighs I've ever made. Good meat, smokey flavor and skin that was the most tender I've ever had. When I used my little hook to move the thighs, juice actually squirted out! Never seen that before. Here's what I did..,
-Thighs from package to sink grate. Poured boiling water over the skin to aid in rendering.
-Seasoned well with Yardbird, then placed in MAK at 275*, with hickory pellets.
-Smoked for 45 minutes, internal about 140*, then placed in pan and added liberal amounts of squeeze butter on each thigh. Covered, then back in cooker.
-Out of cooker in 1/2 hour, internal about 165*. Dredged in sauce, then back in cooker for 15 minutes.
Last pic shows bite thru...https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/00edaa04-6c5d-406a-bdb0-49760ad27794-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/00edaa04-6c5d-406a-bdb0-49760ad27794)https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/74849109-ab37-497a-bd04-f43c0c29058f-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/74849109-ab37-497a-bd04-f43c0c29058f)https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/a22069de-f0af-4c68-bf55-6234cd507aaa-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/a22069de-f0af-4c68-bf55-6234cd507aaa)https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/0be82c44-e59b-4ecd-9901-41708e95697c-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/0be82c44-e59b-4ecd-9901-41708e95697c)

[ShadowDriver]

Chicken sure sounds good... and if PhotoBucket hadn't FUBAR'd your photos, I could say they look delicious, too!

[darita]

Photos not showing up?
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/00edaa04-6c5d-406a-bdb0-49760ad27794-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/00edaa04-6c5d-406a-bdb0-49760ad27794)
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/74849109-ab37-497a-bd04-f43c0c29058f-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/74849109-ab37-497a-bd04-f43c0c29058f)
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/a22069de-f0af-4c68-bf55-6234cd507aaa-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/a22069de-f0af-4c68-bf55-6234cd507aaa)
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/0be82c44-e59b-4ecd-9901-41708e95697c-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/0be82c44-e59b-4ecd-9901-41708e95697c)

[ShadowDriver]

They're in a complete haze that PB has placed over them... like your camera had no focus.

[darita]

Well, totally weird. They look fine to me, but I re-entered the pics. I even pay for Photobucket!

[WilliamKY]

Pics are blurry but I can see enough. Looks awesome and I'm gonna try this. Nice job.

[darita]

HELP, SOMEONE! I have a Mac laptop. What's the best way to post pics?

[Big Andy]

Pics look fine to me. Great looking plate of chicken.

[Stingerhook]

Before blurry, mighty fine now.

[WilliamKY]

There it is. Beautiful chicken.

[ShadowDriver]

Not sure what changed.... but the virtual cataracts are gone... and that looks awesome.

[darita]

Thanks to Thirdeye, best ones I ever made. Of course, I'll make mods and see what happens, with future cooks.
I always thought braising would dry the meat out. Does it also make the skin more tender?

[thirdeye]

Glad everything worked out so well for you, they look great. Ironically, I was preparing for another competition test cook when I answered your PM this morning. One thing I forgot to mention, and this works well when you are not removing the skin fat, .... is to use a Jaccard on the chicken. The little holes allow fat to weep out during cooking, and if you marinate, the holes allow flavor through the skin and into the meat. Here was one of my test pieces from today.

https://i.imgur.com/uTwQMJt.jpg

[thirdeye]

Thanks to Thirdeye, best ones I ever made. Of course, I'll make mods and see what happens, with future cooks.
I always thought braising would dry the meat out. Does it also make the skin more tender?

Yes, braising works to make the skin tender.

[Hoss]

The pics are clear as can be for me and they look AWESOME!!!

[rwalters]

Fantastic cook! As if pellet cooked chicken wasn’t already good enough... man, talk about taking it to the next level. Nicely done :)

[darita]

Thanks for the kudos. The wife could care less about BBQ, so when I have a success, I get so excited, I have to tell someone!
I love chicken skin, so I always struggled with getting it right. Since I've been using the boiling water trick, I've had no problem. I think braising took it to another level, cuz it was more tender than it's ever been.

[frankenfab]

Great looking chicken!

[thirdeye]

Thanks for the kudos. The wife could care less about BBQ, so when I have a success, I get so excited, I have to tell someone!
I love chicken skin, so I always struggled with getting it right. Since I've been using the boiling water trick, I've had no problem. I think braising took it to another level, cuz it was more tender than it's ever been.

Will you expand on using boiling water on the skin, I've not heard of this before.

[Smoke Avenger]

Will you expand on using boiling water on the skin, I've not heard of this before.


Same here. Chicken skin has always been hit or miss for me.

[darita]

Thirdeye...it's a very old Chinese trick used on poultry dishes like Peking duck, where the skin is a major feature of the dish. Just take the chicken, whole or parts, and pour boiling water over the skin side only. The boiling water breaks down the bonds in the proteins of skin and greatly aids in rendering. Some dunk the entire piece in boing water, however I don't want the meat to get cooked, so it's skin side only for me. It really does work and I'm surprised it isn't used more in comps.
Here's a link to my original thread..https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264759

[rehless]

I also use boiling water on the thighs and drum sticks, then the vortex. I salt the chicken and refrigerate for a couple hours, then the boiling water. Crisp skin.

[sudsandswine]

and I'm surprised it isn't used more in comps.


Thats because all cooking must occur within the cooker.

[darita]

Thats because all cooking must occur within the cooker.

Ah! Ya, can you tell I never cooked comp?

[Sickboy579]

Awesome!

[darita]

Just wanted to follow up on this recipe. I tried it again, with the exact same results. Totally repeatable and totally awesome. Even the wife liked them and that's saying a lot! Thanks again for the recipe, Thirdeye.https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/3acc035f-cd1e-4423-95e4-2e83ec1e3b0e-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/3acc035f-cd1e-4423-95e4-2e83ec1e3b0e)https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/h151/derekarita1/0/db8dc024-eb9c-440f-81d9-24a60ac00130-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/derekarita1/p/db8dc024-eb9c-440f-81d9-24a60ac00130)