Chicken thighs --- how to make them juicy with crispy skin

[jasonwilliams14]

Hey folks

I plan to make some chicken thighs this week and want to try and get better at making the skin nice and crispy.
My last attempt, I struggled getting the skin crispy and hope this next round goes well.

I am planning to use my vortex with vents wide open to make it nice and hot.

I think I need to work on the prep side, the day before I cook.

What are recommendations for prepping the chicken? Salt the night before?
What about a type of rub should I use? When should I put it on same type as salt?

I appreciate all the help and advice!

Jason

[Troutman]

Salt brine at least 24 hours in advance and get that skin translucent. Then crank that Vortex up all the way and let 'er rip !!!

[STEbbq]

+1

[Panhead John]

Yep, and a full load of coals in the vortex too.

[jasonwilliams14]

Ok got it. I can do that.
I can salt 24 hours before.
For the rub, should I put that on 30mins before? with the salt?
Best way to get that nice juicy flavor in them thighs!

[Jfrosty27]

What he said. ☝️☝️☝️☝️

[Purc]

I also use corn starch on my chicken pieces when dry brining to help crisp up the skin when using the vortex with my kettle vents wide open jasonwilliams14

[jasonwilliams14]

O interesting. I will definitely try that sometime. Thank you.

[Panhead John]

Also, before putting them on the grill, dry them as best you can with paper towels. That helps a lot for crispy skin.

[jasonwilliams14]

Thank you. I think that is something I missed my last go around. I put the salt on the day before, pulled it out of the fridge, but did not pat dry it. Which probably explains why the skin was not great due to the salt pulling out moisture. Will definitely do that this week.

[Richard Chrz]

I dry brine (when I have thought enough in advance), and then short pre sear to get Maillard started, then generally again at the 30 minute mark, again at the 60 minute mark, and again as I am finishing up the cook.

i generally cook them around 325, and it takes about 90 minutes, I pull them off right around 185 IT, 2 zone.

[Richard Chrz]

I live in fear of serving my wife chicken that does not have crispy skin, and juicy. This my sure fire method.

But, there is a fan group for certain with those that have a vortex. I’m just never in a hurry when it comes to cooking, I like to slow processes down

[SmokingPat]

What is the white sauce?

[Richard Chrz]

SmokingPat that is Alabama White sauce.

[ssandy_561]

Now for something totally different.

I wet brine my chicken and cook it directly over the coals. My chicken stays moist and the skin gets crisp.

I use the Cornell Chicken wet brine:
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper

I’ll brine 8 hours to overnight

I’ll set up my Weber kettle in the following way.

I’ll start a full chimney of KBB. I’ll pour this full chimney once lit into the wide side of my kettle that has the Slow n Sear in it. This gives me a single layer of coals.

I’ll cook the chicken directly over the coals flipping every 3 to 5 minutes so nothing burns until the chicken is done. If I am cooking a whole bone in chicken chicken cut up I’ll put the breasts on first, 7 minutes later the thighs go on, 5 minutes later the legs go on and then 5 minutes later the wings go on.

[mnavarre]

"so nothing burns until the chicken is done"

So you wait to burn it until *after* the chicken is done?

[texastweeter]

Salt, pepper, garlic, and baking powder dry rub. On a rack uncovered in fridge. Smoker to 375-400°.

[barelfly]

Baking powder is a trick I do as well and of course air drying over night if you can.

[Redwng]

I always take a knife and poke through the chicken skin in a large number of places to give the fat a place to render. Learned this from my chef brother.

[smokenoob]

high heat is chicken skins friend!

[ecowper]

I use chicken thighs to make chicken teriyaki. The only thing you won’t want to do is debone, since you aren’t slicing for teriyaki. Other than that

Remove all the obvious external fat
Cut 3 lines across the thigh bone, but only deep enough to go through the skin
Dry brine with 1/2 tsp salt per pound ….. a typical thigh gets about 1/4 tsp. Make sure the salt is spread liberally on the skin and the underside of the thight
Let them dry brine, uncovered, in the fridge, for 24 hours …… put them on a wire rack in a cookie sheet for good air circulation
Cook indirect at 325F or better, skin side up, until the thighs are at 165F
Then, turn skin side down over direct heat until the skin is potato chip crispy and deeply golden brown, but not burnt - you will have to be right over the fire managing the thighs, moving them on and off the direct heat, turning as needed

When I do it this way, I get an amazing outcome. If I debone first, then I can easily slice into 3-4 pieces for the teriyaki. If not, I can serve beautiful, juicy, crispy skin thighs!

[gboss]

1) remove the excess fat on the ends of the skin
2) work underneath and separate the skin from the thigh, being careful not to tear skin.
3) salt underneath skin on top of meat.
4) baking powder treatment of skin (optional)
5) rest uncovered in fridge up to 24h
6) into a HOT cooker to start. Need to hit the skin with a high heat to inflate away from the meat mass and crisp up. Start at 400F+ and reduce if necessary (probably not necessary, thighs are pretty forgiving).

[Willy]

LOVE your Voltaire avatar!

[jfmorris]

I do chicken thighs with a dump of a full chimney into the Vortex, and with all vents on my kettle wide open, and normally get crispy skin and juicy thighs in 45 minutes, give or take. You can sear at the end over the Vortex, but it doesn't take long to burn, so gotta be quick with that.

If I have time, I will dry brine, but to be honest, I often pick up the chicken and cook the same day, so no time for a long dry brine. All the advice to do that, and to use corn starch and other stuff will help if you have time.

[radiodome21]

I’m with Jim in that I often buy it’s on the fly and don’t have time to dry brine. That’s the beauty of the vortex though, it’ll give me good crisp skin because it’s so hot. The only skin issues I’ve had with thighs are when I do them low and slow on my pellet smoker. If I do a dry brine with salt, though, I try to use a rub without salt because I don’t want to run the risk of making it too salty. My wife has a sensitivity to salt already.

[RobertC]

OK, for something completely different: When I don't have time to dry brine the thighs overnight in the fridge, I pull off the skin (hold on now, bear with me), lay them out on parchment in a sheet pan, salt and pepper them, and roast them in the oven at 400F until they're crispy like bacon. Flip them once. Then however I've cooked the thighs (grilled or braised or pan-fried), they get topped with the crispy bacon-like skins. Chicken chicharones.

I often do this when I'm serving the chicken thighs over something soft like polenta or risotto. The contrast is pretty nice.