Chicken thigh help

Wardster

looking for a little advice here. I'm ok with them when I slow smoke them, but when I want to grill them up, I can't stop the grease from dropping on the fire and smoking things up.
Not that they are that bad, but I'm wondering if there is something I can do besides using the plate setter.
My fire is in the 400* range and well established. Maybe hotter? Worried about them burning. Have also tried the extendeed grid too...
Thanks for the help!

Nature Boy

wardster,
I like thighs direct, but down under 300. You'll get a little smoke from the fat, but it's good smoke. And the fire is so low that you don't get flareups as long as you don't open the cooker to much. They take an hour to an hour and a half.[p]400 is a pretty hot fire for dark meat, IMO.[p]Hope life is treatin you good dewd.
Chris

stike

wardster,
are you grilling with the dome open? i find even bacon doesn't really flare unless i have the dome open.[p]even usually around 400 too, like you.

Squeeze

Nature Boy,
Hey man. I used to think that too regarding high heat, but in a marathon 86 thigh cook this past weekend, the egg got away from me and up to 450. Now it was indirect, but man did those thighs turn out nice. Super moist and a wonderfully crisp skin. Just when you think you have something down, something screws up and you get good results....who would have guessed......hope all is well![p]-Kevin

Wardster

Chris,[p]Makes perfect sense. I was going the wrong way. Thanks man... see you in October.

Nature Boy

Yo Kevin!
Yeah, good point. Amazing how much we can learn from accidents!
Hope all is well witch you too mang!
Chris

fishlessman

<p />wardster,
ive always liked cooking things direct, one of the things ive found is to use the raised grill, and use way less lump to increase the distance.(everyone seems to want to fill the egg to the top with lump) these were done at 250-275 direct with minimal lump and never a flair up, wonder how high a heat you could cook them up and avoid the flair. somehow with the greater distance i dont taste that bitter smoke flavor from the drippings on the lump, but maybe ive slowly lost those taste buds that sense that taste

SuperDave

fishlessman,[p]I always thought that bitter taste was too much smoking wood, or bark on the wood. I did chicken drumsticks (legs) with one chunk of guava wood a couple of weeks ago, and they were great, with no bitter taste. I always do chicken with a drip pan and plate setter, or at least a drip pan.[p] When I use chips, either apple or hickory, I get the bitter taste.... any ideas, other than just too much wood chips or chunks?

WooDoggies

wardster,[p]Like fishlessman and Nature Boy, I like to cook thighs, legs and wings direct on a raised grid around 250 - 275 dome with lump in the firebox filled around the air hole level... sometimes less.
More distance between the chicken and heat and a longer cooking time of 1 1/2 to 2 hours will give the skin time to render/crisp up and give the meat a wonderful texture.
And by cooking slower and cooler, you wont have to fuss as much with the thighs.... just flip every 20 - 30 minutes until done.[p]If you want to cook them at 400. I'd suggest building a smallish fire, spread the coals out evenly, place the thighs as far away from the heat as you can and keep the dome closed.... that should help... good luck![p]john

fishlessman

SuperDave,
i always mix hickory with a fruit wood to tone it down. if you are getting a bitter taste from the smoking wood, maybe you are not letting the smoking wood settle down enough after adding it to the lump. for real long cooks you can get away with putting meat on with the smoking wood, but for the shorter cooks and with things like chicken i find i need to wait a long time for that thicker smoke to settle down.

BurntRaw

fishlessman,
Now dem look GOOD! Is that quarter still on the table or did you go and waste it on something you didn't need?

fishlessman

BurntRaw,
its on the table up at camp, testing the neighbors for honesty

Unknown

<p />wardster,
Get the thigh technique down and bring some up to Morgantown on 9/2.

Smoked Signals

Nature Boy,
Is that a competition thigh or just a NB favorite?
I was thinking of doing my comp thighs this weekend on my small direct ... does the 300 produce a crispy skin?[p]Thanks in advance,
Doug[p]ps - Thinking of using the DP Jerk with a honey glaze for sweet and heat ...

61chev

WooDoggies,
I have some boneless skinless thighs should I plan on less or more time to do them?
Gerry

WooDoggies

61 CHEV,[p]I treat a boneless/skinless thigh differently from a regular thigh by cooking a bit hotter and faster. There's no skin to worry about burning and because they are much thinner than a regualr thigh, they will take less time to cook.... that's if you grill them completey flattened out.
If you stuff them with something like procuitto or cheese etc. and roll them up, then they should take a little less time than a regular thigh to finish.[p]Boneless/skinless are a favorite here because we can season them just the way we like directly on the meat and get a good crust with higher temps.... hope this helps.[p]john[p] [p]

Wardster

WVU_Egg,[p]Will be there for the MD game. That pic got me all shaking inside!!!!!![p]Check out the upcoming SI cover page, regional distribution....

Unknown

WVU_Egg,
I plan on making 2 games at least this year. Marshall and Miss. State. But next year, I'll be back down that way for the South Florida game. So you and JoPa can load up the eggs and do some tailgating down there when I'm visiting.