BBQ Competition Practice: Chicken Thighs

As I've mentioned before, this year I'll be competing for the first time at a local KCBS event.  I think I cook pretty good BBQ, but there are some things that you need to do for competition that are unique.  I've read quite a bit about the chicken category and with spring time nearly here, I decided it was time to practice competition chicken.

First, most competition teams turn in chicken thighs.  This is mainly because this piece of dark meat is more forgiving than white meat (like chicken breasts) in terms of moisture retention.  You have a larger window of opportunity to get it right for turn in.  This is a huge unknown for me, because I never cook chicken thighs.

Second I've learned that in order to score well in this category, it's important to trim the thighs to uniform size and remove as much fat as possible from the skin.  The objective is to have a moist, flavorful piece of chicken that is cooked in such a way that a single bite results in a clean bite all the way through the skin.  Skin that slides off in one piece and smacks the judge in the chin won't score so well.  I learned yesterday, that scraping the fat from the skin is a nasty business.

For my first attempt at competition chicken, I was pretty happy.  I mostly nailed the preparation & cooking on the first attempt.  I'll need to work on it some more to develop a better flavor profile, but I'm encouraged by this first practice session.

Cheers,
Braddog

Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg

I’ve done this several times and pulled the chicken for sandwhiches and the like.  However, I’ve had two conversations this week with folks who didn’t necessarily get what I was talking about.  So here’s a shot of a “spatchcock” or butterflied chicken.

To do this, just cut down each side of the backbone/spine of a whole chicken and remove it.  Place your fingers in each side of the incision, press inward on the breast bone with your thumbs, pull each side apart apart at the incision that you’ve made, and the breast bone will crack open till the bird lies flat.  I grill these at ~325 degrees or so for ~1 hour & 15 mins (or until they’re done).

If you haven’t tried this, you should.  It’s pretty darned tasty.

Cheers,
Braddog