Chicken Legs

robnybbq · August 2012

Any quick ideas for chicken legs tonight? Wife picked up some on sale and wants me to try them on the grill. I hope I get home at a decent hour to make them for dinner or I just may cook tonight them regardless and the family can eat them for dinner tomorrow instead.

Was thinking of using the chicken leg rack over direct 350 for an hour? Sound good or should I go indirect for longer at 250?

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misu · August 2012

with that rig you're basically doing indirect anyway, 350-400 is fine. High up in the egg works better

bvanma28 · August 2012

I just did some yesterday. 450 direct, half with a rub and half in a marinade. About 15 mins or so with the skin.

Kristinnn · August 2012

either way is good..i prefer the higher temp for faster and crispier results.. i did some wings with breast bits last night around 250 or so and they werent as crispy as i like

stike · August 2012

i know you don't have time for this tonight, but we did thighs at 225-250 for about four hours. crispy skin. wife loved them, but i thought the meat was over done. she likes them overdone.

few hours at 250 gives me crisp skin. but you need something quicker tonight

ratcheer · August 2012

40 minutes at 350, direct heat. Either dry rub (Old Bay is awesome on chicken) or marinate.

I did them just last night marinated with Dale's. See my post in the poultry forum.

robnybbq · August 2012

Well I got home way too late as usual to fire up the Egg. Will try again tonight. I have two rubs for them. One is Jakes Poulty Rub (Good coffee flavor)and Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin (Have not tried this yet).

Griffin · August 2012

I have never understood why people would want to cook chicken (or turkey for that matter) at 250. I can understand if you have one big pit and you are doing brisket/ribs/butts and its out of necessity. But otherwise, chicken does not have all that stuff that needs to break down over time in a low and slow environment. Go hot and fast (350-400), you'll be able to get enough smoke, the skin will be crispy and it will be done in a lot less time.

And chicken rack at 350 is fine, to answer your question.

lousubcap · August 2012

With that rack I would set up the BGE raised, direct then use the rack-350*F on the dome til you get to 180+ in the meaty part of the leg. 40-60 mins or so-

robnybbq · August 2012

That's what I will try tonight hopefully. Sort of the same method as Spatchcock chicken.

Mickey · August 2012

400 Direct raised: Butt Rub till 15 min before done and add the Bone Sucking Sauce. This was a package of 6 on the Mini, but lots more on a Large.

dlk7 · August 2012

I have never understood why people would want to cook chicken (or turkey for that matter) at 250. I can understand if you have one big pit and you are doing brisket/ribs/butts and its out of necessity. But otherwise, chicken does not have all that stuff that needs to break down over time in a low and slow environment. Go hot and fast (350-400), you'll be able to get enough smoke, the skin will be crispy and it will be done in a lot less time.

And chicken rack at 350 is fine, to answer your question.

I've done whole chickens low and slow, spatchcocked, beer canned, direct high in the dome all on my XL and each method gives a slightly different texture and taste. My goal is to try as many methods as possible and then rotate cooking the top 3 methods with different rubs and marinades. It's a journey.

stike · August 2012

griff. going lo and slo doesn't mean you are breaking down any collagen. it's perfectly acceptable, actually maybe more common, to roast a rib eye (fopr ex.) at 250 than to do it hot and fast. provides eveness of cooking.

if i took the chicken (or rib eye) to 200 internal, then yeah, it would be the same type of cook as doing a pork butt. but stopping well short of that means we aren't even talking about collagen.

so why do it with chicken? in the egg, with its great tendency to retain moisture, crispy skin has always been my nemesis.

but at 250, the chicken cooks slowly (no collagen breaking down, because we never get there). that means a long draft. and that long draft dries the skin.

cooking something at 250 doesn't imply that it needs to be a poor cut, with fat and collagen. it's just that such a cut can be helped by cooking it like that. but a great cut of beef, or a cheap chicken, can benefit from being cooked at those temps too. just need to know when to stop cooking it, as always

Little Steven · August 2012

Griff,

Hate to admit it but stike is right. The meat is tender as all get out and the skin is crispy without being fatty. The fat under the skin renders away.

Chicken Legs

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