Recipe from ThermoWorks.com
Bam Bam has years of experience in competition as well as BBQ restaurants, so he knows a lot about when chicken is done. For that reason, he relies solely on his Thermapen. Most home cooks and beginning BBQ-ers should monitor the internal temperature of the chicken throughout the cook. In this recipe, we’ve included instructions to use a leave-in probe thermometer to keep track of the chicken temps as they rise.
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on
- ~6 Tbsp of your favorite chicken BBQ rub
- 1–2 C your favorite BBQ sauce for chicken
- 1 lb butter, plus a tablespoon for the sauce
Instructions
- Preheat smoker to 300°F (149°C)
- If you want competition-style thighs, trim them by removing the skin, cutting off any high-spots of fat from the inside of the skin, squaring up the meat and trimming off excess fat, and removing the ball joint of the bone.
- Sprinkle the meat lightly but evenly with the rub.
- Re-wrap the meat in the skin and sprinkle with more rub.
- Even if you don’t do all the trimming, it’s a good idea to peel the skin back and sprinkle some rub underneath it. Skin is designed to keep things out. Put some rub under it to flavor the meat better.
- Cut the butter up into small cubes and put it all in the bottom of an aluminum pan that is large enough to fit all the chicken in one layer.
- Layer the chicken, seam-side up, on the butter. Cover it with foil and put it in the smoker for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes has elapsed, remove the chicken pan from the smoker and let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and place it back in the smoker, inserting a Pro-Series® Probe attached to a leave-in thermometer such as BlueDOT®, ChefAlarm® or Smoke™. Set the high alarm for 175°F (79°C) and smoke the chicken.
- Warm your barbecue sauce on the stove or in the smoker for a few minutes. Stir in the tablespoon of butter and remove the sauce from heat.
- When the alarm sounds, verify the temperature with your Thermapen, then baste the chicken with the BBQ sauce. Alternatively, you can lift each piece and dunk it in the sauce before returning it to the smoker.
- Cook the chicken for a final 10 minutes to set the sauce.
- Remove the chicken from heat, allow to rest for 10 minutes and serve.
