FINALLY...Great Thighs!

N

NorCalQ

New member
I did some experimenting today, because I've been having trouble getting good thighs and skin in my MAK2. I did the first two thighs like this...
-Prep,season, in fridge.
-Mak up to 225*, then Pam on thighs and into the cooker.
-At IT 150*, MAK up to 400*.
-Thighs out at IT 170*.
Thighs came out kinda dry, with edible, but not great skin. Skin was on the burnt side.

Next, I did the same prep, only this time, I took the MAK2 up to 425*, then put the thighs in.
-At IT of 170*, thighs out.
The meat came out very moist and skin was perfect...well, at least to me it was.
I doubt the thighs were comp worthy, but to me, they were about the best I've done.
I've tried a lot of different methods in the MAK2, but for me, this is the only one that really worked. I tried this before, only prior to going to 425*, I smoked the thighs for about 20 minutes, then upped the temp. That just didn't work. Funny, because I got similar poor results doing this same procedure in my Primo. Seems the only thing that really works for me is to set the MAK2 at 425*, then let it stabilize for at least 15 minutes, before putting in the chicken. I know a lot of you guys swear by lower temps, but that has never worked for me and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.
My next test will be with a whole chicken and the Tube for more smoke. Thanks for looking...
 
GA Que

GA Que

New member
looks great! Have you ever thought of maybe putting them in the cold smoke section/warmer box and put on the smoke setting for an hour, then pump the heat up to 425 like you did today and see what results you get?
 
N

NorCalQ

New member
GA Que said:
looks great! Have you ever thought of maybe putting them in the cold smoke section/warmer box and put on the smoke setting for an hour, then pump the heat up to 425 like you did today and see what results you get?
Click to expand...
I did try cold smoking them first for an hour, then cranking up the cooker to 425*. For some reason, that caused the chicken to burn. Seems the only thing that works is to get the cooker stable at 425*, then put the cold chicken in and let it cook straight thru to 170*.
 
sparky

sparky

New member
looks pretty good. its fun learning our grills. you can still eat all your trials and errors. maybe not the best but still very good. lol, look how many racks of ribs i have learned on. its fun. :)
 
N

NorCalQ

New member
True dat! For me, it's all part of the hobby, since I'm no pro for sure. Since I know the 425* temp was good, I'll go for more smoke next time. Maybe just the Tube during the cook or maybe another try with a cold smoke before the cook. Anyways, I'll keep at it. Thanks for the encouragement.
 
Kite

Kite

New member
Just for some clarification - the result that you finally liked had no low smoking at all - preheat to 425 and throw them on cold, right?
 
N

NorCalQ

New member
Kite said:
Just for some clarification - the result that you finally liked had no low smoking at all - preheat to 425 and throw them on cold, right?
Click to expand...
That's right...nothing on the smoke setting. Smoke flavor was there, but not very pronounced. I like a good smoke flavor, so next time I'll likely cold smoke first for 1/2 hour with the Tube, then take thighs out and let the MAK2 come up to 425*, before putting the thighs back in for the cook.
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Hey, I'm not convinced that the lower temps work that well for me either. You may be on to something and I'll be giving your method a try.

Thanks for sharing this!
 
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