Need some advice on smoked, pulled chicken thighs

[smokyYank]

Hello all,

I've made these before and they were pretty good, but a bit dry.

I chose boneless/skinless thighs because I love the juiciness and flavor of thighs over breasts. So I bought them and cut off any excess fat and/or nastiness.

Then googled "how long to dry brine boneless skinless chicken thighs" and found answers ranging from 1/2 hour to 12 hours. I did 3 hours. What say you?

Second, I smoked them at about 220 F until about 170F internal temp. Wondering if they could go a bit higher to make them easier to pull, but I'm concerned about overcooking them and drying them out. So, I'd like to hear from you on that as well.

Third, I pulled them and tossed them with my fave barbecue sauce (somewhat sweet and tangy), but thought they tasted better, and more "chicken-y" without it. Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom and experience!

[jfmorris]

I go hot and fast with even boneless skinless thighs, usually direct grilling. I think they can take a bit more heat and may actually render better if you go a bit above 170F. When I am doing whole chickens, I go for 160 in the breast and 175 to 180 in the thigh. Just my 2 cents though.

[jfmorris]

smokyYank what about it? Do you want the chicken cooked well, or do you want it smoky? Kinda of a choice there. If you do cook it indirect, it still does better at higher temps, in my opinion. I.e. 325 to 350, indirect. I just don't find it to do so well done indirect at 225, skin or not, but that's my opinion.

[Richard Chrz]

I go higher as well, 175 -180, it renders more of the tendons and makes it far more pleasant to eat.

[ecowper]

smokyYank you can get good smoke on chicken at 325-350. I do it all the time on my SnS or Hasty-Bake. Set your grill/bbq/smoker up to run hot, then add some wood .... if you are cooking on an offset, you're getting smoke there, too. BUT you will be much happier with that chicken running your cooker hot. Running it low and slow just dries out the chicken.

[LA Pork Butt]

I am with jfmorris. I rarely smoke them. I sometimes smoke roast them at 375 on my BGE.

[radiodome21]

I’m trying to cut back on lunch meat since the new year and have been grilling chicken every week ti make for my lunches when I go into the office. I started with breasts the first week in January and while they were good they dried out when I reheated them at work in the microwave. I smoked those on my pellet smoker at 250. The last 2 weeks though I’ve been using boneless and skinless thighs. 2 weeks ago I dry brined them with different rubs and then did them on my pellet smoker at 225. I let them get up to 180 at least. The. Last week I split them between two different marinades and then did them on my kettle with the vortex. These were fantastic. The teriyaki marinade was much better than the Italian one. Again took them to at least 180. That’s my plan for tomorrow or Tuesday (depending on when they finish thawing).

[smokyYank]

Thanks! About how long did you dry brine them?

[radiodome21]

Only a few hours. I bought them on a Sunday and brined them when I got home. I then tossed them in the Silverbac at dinner. Had I planned it better I would’ve bought the chicken the day before. The ones I marinaded say I the marinade for 24 hours.

[JeffJ]

While they aren’t as lean as breasts they are still quite lean. A slower longer cook will dry then out with no skin. Cook them hot and fast and let them rest for 30 before shredding and adding sauce.

[smokyYank]

No smoke?

[JeffJ]

If they are bone in and skin on I'll use a little wood. Bone out and skin removed the charcoal provides enough flavor on its own.

[CHNeal]

I do them hot and fast with skin on and oak. If you don’t want the skin removing it after the cook and while pulling is simple. Yes you will lose a bunch of the rub and smoke but this can be added back in with dripping or more rub of choice.

[Old Glory]

I would split the cook time with smoking and braising. Smoke the first half then wrap with some liquid essentially braising on the grill. Play with the times to see what gets you the best smoke, flavor, and pulled texture. Mix in some sauce and done.

I usually grill boneless skinless thighs direct over high heat but that wouldn't yield what I would consider pulled chicken consistency. More like chopped or sliced, very tasty, but not the same as actual pulled meat.

[efincoop]

For meats like this that don't lend themselves to low & slow, I have used smoke roasting. For chicken I set up for a cooking temp around 325, and add 2 fist size wood chunks. Cook on the indirect side of the grill and finish them over the coals if you are looking for a crispy skin.

I have also done wings using a 2-step process where I smoke the wings for 30 minutes around 225 and then finish them in the air fryer. I don't see why that wouldn't work for chicken thighs.

As for the brine, with chicken I usually don't go more than 2-3 hours.

I also like Old Glory's suggestion. I'll have to give that a try.

[jfmorris]

I think this would be the way to go if you don't want to direct grill. Just smoke indirect at 325, with plenty of smoke.

[smokyYank]

Thanks, sounds like a plan!

[Richard Chrz]

I do this as well, but before I put them on the indirect side, I give the fat side a quick sear to get the Maillard effect a jump start.

[shify]

If I'm doing smoked/pulled chicken, I like to do bone-in/skin-on thighs. Dry brine/rub as preferred and then smoked to 175-180. Then I remove the skin and pull off the bones and shred. The bones/skins allow you to cook longer at lower temps without drying out and the meat shreds well.

I wouldn't try this with boneless/skinless thighs - those are better cooked over higher heat/direct grilled as mentioned above and don't really shred well that way and work better as served whole or chopped/sliced.

[klflowers]

This

[Purc]

I have done these on the Weber kettle and Vortex setup with a chunk of wood over the Vortex, vents wide open.

[CHNeal]

It’s the only way I do it these days.

[mrichie1229]

Although I don't have a Vortex, I do cook chicken pieces in a similar method (with a piece of wood) and find that there is still plenty of smoke flavor.

[Old Glory]

My favorite method to cook skin on boneless thighs is the Vortex hot and indirect...it gets me the best crispy skin. Then the pellet grill set at 375. After that direct grill which I use for boneless skinless thighs. However none of those methods are for "Pulled Smoked" chicken that the OP was asking about.

Chicken is leaner than pork so I think you need to introduce some moisture to get it to the same consistency as pulled pork. To shred chicken you need to braise it in some sort of liquid. Possibly thin out some BBQ sauce with chicken stock and wrap. Not al lot but just enough to wrap with.

[smokyYank]

Thanks again, everyone. Thought you might want to know what I did and how it turned out.

AMAZING!!! Tasty, juicy, couldn't be better!

Here's what I did:

Got bone-in, skin-on thighs, approx 10 lbs.

Trimmed off the excess fat, pulled back the skin but left it on, Dry brined both sides with Kosher salt for about 2-1/2 hrs in fridge (actually, I put it outside in my grill, unlit, but safe from critters ) as it was 34F outside.

Dusted both sides with my proprietary chicken rub, put the skin flap back on.

Fired up the grill to medium high, about 400F. Put the thighs on, skin side down, to render some of the fat, about 10 minutes. Then reduced the heat to about 300F, flipped them over, and baked them until 180F internal, about 25 minutes.

Took them out, put in a bowl with foil over it, let them cool for about 10 mins. Then pulled off the skin and pulled the meat into shreds. I was amazed that there was a good 5-6 fl oz of juice at the bottom of the bowl, which I poured over the meat and mixed in.

As I said, couldn't be better. Thank you!

[fzxdoc]

Sounds like you had the perfect cook there for pulled chicken. I bet it's delicious. Congrats.

Kathryn

[smokyYank]

Thanks, fzxdoc

[jfmorris]

Glad it came out good! And as you found out, some meats are better done hotter and faster, versus low and slow smoking...

[Attjack]

For pulled chicken, I would roast a whole chicken hot and fast.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

I run the off-set hot and cook them in the smoker chamber Cloe to the fire box (300-325) I pull them off the grill at 165 ish

slice in long strips for fajitas....Stubbs Spicy is the go to

[fzxdoc]

As Attjack says, a whole chicken makes the easiest and best pulled chicken, at least in our house. The PBC is amazing at turning out great whole chickens.

That said, I still want to cook a chicken this way on my WSCGC or 22" kettle with my Vortex:



Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

I get your point. No one likes dried out chicken breasts...but...

When I smoke a whole chicken in the Pit Barrel Cooker, smokyYank , the breast is juicy and tender. When I remove the chicken from the PBC at 155-160° internal for the breast, the legs and thighs are at 180°ish. The whole bird is perfect. That's why I rave about the PBC being so great for chicken. It's great for almost everything, actually.

Kathryn

[smokyYank]

DAYUM! Didn't know that, thanks!

[ecowper]

damn, goals right there!