First, I purchased two (2) family packs of Tyson chicken thighs from my local Bag N Save grocery store.  I laid them all out on the counter and trimmed and prepped them as normal, cutting off all the excess skin, fat and weird bones and veins and stuff like that.  Basically, anything I wouldn’t want to eat.

I then marinaded the chicken for 2 hours in my normal chicken marinade in a 1 gallon zipper bag.

It consists of:

• 1 Cup Buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons of Ranch Dressing Mix
• 4 tablespoons of the Spicy BBQ Chicken Rub (I always use the rub I plan to use for the chicken for this ingredient)

After the marinade, I preheated the oven to 350 and removed the chicken thighs from the bag, letting all the excess drip back into the bag and placed them skin down in a large foil roaster pan.

I generously coated the meat side of the thighs with the Spicy BBQ Chicken Rub and patted them down.

Then, the thighs were flipped over to skin side up.

Here’s the new technique I’m trying:
Generously coat the skin of each thigh with Real Kraft Mayo, leaving a nice solid Mayo base.  Then coat the tops of the thighs with the rub, pat it in with your hands and wrap the skin around the sides of the thigh (using the bone as the center line) for nice little packages.  Here’s what they looked like in the pan before cooking:

To try to make up for not cooking in the smoker, I placed a smaller roasting pan in the oven with about 3/4″ of water and 20 or so drops of liquid smoke.

I cooked the thighs for 30 minutes at this temperature and this is what they looked like after that time.  You can see that the Mayo actually does appear to be doing something WONDERFUL to the skin.  They look great!!!  Oddly enough…they also look “smoked”…..

After the first 30 minutes, I lowered the temp to 225 and let some of the heat out of the oven to take it down to that temp more quickly, with the intention of cooking them from somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 more hours at this temp.

Here’s the progress after another 60 mintues (90 total):

Again, I decided to take a quick look at the thighs, to see how progress is going.  They have now been cooking for 2.5 hrs total, the first 30 at 350 degrees and the last 2 hrs at 225.  I stuck a quick read thermo in the biggest thigh and it’s right at 173.  I think I’ll be safe to cook them at 225 for another 30 minutes – then I’m going to drain the juices from the pan and replace it with my favorite BBQ Sauce recipe.  Here’s what they look like now.

After an additional 30 minutes (3 hrs total, with the first 30 minutes at 350 and the last 2.5 hrs at 225) I pulled half of the thighs out and transferred the rest to a smaller pan and sauced them.

Take a look at the way the unsauced thighs bit!  Only the skin that I bit came with it.  I must say – the skin is about as good as I’ve had and the rub made the chicken taste extrodinary.  Maybe a bit too much thyme – but really good nonetheless.

Here’s a look at the thighs in the pan w/sauce

The sauced ones, in my opinion turned out even better.  The bite was the same, but the flavor profile was a bit more tasty.  I think these could be a winner.

Well….there you have it.  All in all I can say that these are probably the best overall competition quality thighs I have ever cooked.  If I can get the smoker to cook consistently at these temps, the turn out should be even better with real smoke.  I’m glad I did this, because to avoid the mess – I used a pan the entire time.  Had I tried this on the smoker, I would have put them direclty on a grate.  I am 100% convinced that these things stewing in their own juices, rub and the broken down mayo was what made the meat taste so good.

The buttermilk marinade, mayo application and cook temps did something very magical to the skin.  You can see it in the pics above.  Every single piece of chicken turned out exactly the same.  My wife took a piece and with a fork cut off a piece of the thigh to eat…skin and all.  A fork!!!  Cooked low and slow – this is almost unbelievable…but true.

Give it a shot and post your results!

Meat Ingredients

• 1 Family Pack of Chicken Thighs (Hy-Vee)

Basic Directions

• Marinade thighs
• Heat Smoker using favorite rig and fuel source
• Season Chicken, recipe follows
• Pan Chicken, recipe follows
• Season Chicken again, recipe follows
• Sauce Chicken, recipe follows

Smoke @ 300 degrees F on Weber Kettle grill

Place the thighs in an extra-large re-sealable plastic bag (or divide between two smaller bags) and pour the dressing over the top. Squeeze out any excess air from the bag, and roll to coat all of the meat. Refrigerate for 3 hours

Combine the seasoning blend ingredients and grind together in a coffee or other small grinder that is dedicated to spices. Depending on the size of the grinder, it may need to be done in batches.  In two disposable aluminum pans, preferably 13 1/2 x 9 5/8 x 2 3/4-inch lasagna pans that will hold the thighs in a single layer, spread the butter (2 tablespoons in each) in the bottom. Divide the water, salt, and Accent, if using, between the pans.

Remove the chicken from the dressing, letting any excess remain in the bag, and lightly pat dry with paper towels.  Place the chicken, skin side down, in the pans, keeping in a single layer.  Using about 1 teaspoon of the seasoning blend on each thigh, sprinkle over the top flesh side with the blend. Cover each pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, and crimp the edges to seal.

Place the thighs in the cooker, stacking the pans on top of each other, if needed, to fit in the cooker, and rotate them from top to bottom halfway through the cooking. Cook for 45 minutes.

Remove the thighs from the cooker and let rest in the pans, covered for 15 minutes.

Transfer the thighs to a work surface and lightly pat them dry with paper towels. Season all sides with the seasoning blend; there will be some unused blend.  Place back in the cooker, skin side up, and cook for an additional 45 minutes.

Remove the thighs from the cooker and carefully dip each one in the sauce, dredging to coat on all sides and making sure that the skin side, especially, is evenly coated.  Be sure to tuck the skin taut, place the thighs back in the cooker, skin side up, for 30 minutes.

Transfer to a plate, cut as desired and serve.

What to drink: Lots of Beer

Seasoning Blend:

• 3/4 cup mild chile powder
• 3/4 cup sweet paprika
• 1/2 cup raw sugar, or other turbinado sugar
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, reserve, refrigerated, for later use.

Pan Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons Accent

Spread half the butter in each pan, pour half the water in each pan and sprinkle half the accent and salt in each pan

Barbecue Sauce:

• 2 1/4 cups APL BBQ Sauce (recipe follows), or your favorite BBQ sauce
• 3 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 3 tablespoons pineapple preserves
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Accent

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, reserve, refrigerated, for later use.

APL BBQ Sauce

- makes about 7 cups -
Adapted from Serious Barbecue by Adam Perry Lang.

Ingredients

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 medium sweet white onion, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus additional if needed
1/4 cup bourbon
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon coarsely ground fresh black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, plus additional for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, plus additional for seasoning
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups water
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup unsulfured blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, plus additional as needed
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 jalapeno chile, grated on a Microplane grater, stopping before the seeds
1/2 Granny Smith apple, grated on a Microplane grater.

Procedure

1. Pour the oil in a large saucepan and place over medium heat until it starts to simmer. Stir in the garlic, onion, bell pepper and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Pour in the bourbon and cook until the alcohol has cooked off, about 5 minutes. There will no longer be the strong smell of alcohol.

3. Combine the chili powder, black pepper, allspice and cloves and add to the pan. Cook, stirring continuously, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

4. Stir in the water, brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, mustard, vinegar, hot sauce and preserves. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally to be sure that nothing sticks to the bottom and burns. Continue to simmer, stirring often, about 45 minutes.

5. Add the jalapeno and apple. At this point the sauce can be left chunky or blended in a blender (blend in small batches since it will still be hot), or in a bowl using an immersion/stick blender until smooth.

6. Season to taste with additional allspice, cloves, salt, and vinegar to taste