Have you ever wondered how competitive barbecue teams cook perfect chicken? It is a process that is quite involved but easily replicated by people grilling at home.
Follow along and you too can be making competition quality chicken on your backyard grill.
You will need to start with a package of chicken thighs.
Thighs are used because they have more flavor than breasts and the offer a better canvas for showcasing dry rubs than legs.
Leg quarters are not used as their awkward shape makes it hard to fit enough of them into a barbecue pit where space can be precious.
The chicken thighs will need to be trimmed of extra skin so that all have a uniform appearance.
You will next need to remove all visible fat from the thighs.
At this point you need to perform a trick used in competitions.
Remove the skin from the chicken thighs! You are going to add some of your favorite dry rub directly onto the meat.
You are also going to take a knife and scrape any fat from the bottom of the chicken skin.
By removing the subsurface fat you will help the skin render better which in turns makes it crispy instead of rubbery.
Now you reapply the skin to the thighs and hold it in place with toothpicks inserted at the sides.
Lightly dust the chicken with your dry rub, this time on the bottom of the thighs and on the reattached skin, and let the chicken rest for ten minutes as the rub gets tacky and adheres to the surface.
There are two approaches to grilling the chicken and both have won their fair share of competitions.
The first approach is to simply put the chicken directly into the barbecue pit and cook it at 275 degrees.
The second approach places the chicken thighs into an aluminum roasting pan with enough margarine (not butter) to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
The margarine and chicken filled pan is then cooked at 275 degrees.
The chicken will receive a light application of smoke from a mild wood such as apple, oak or maple during cooking.
Chicken is very mild so not over smoking is critical to preserving the taste of the chicken.
At 275 degrees the chicken will take approximately two hours to finish cooking.
The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees as measured by an instant read thermometer.
When the chicken has reached the desired internal temperature it is typically glazed with a sweet sauce and then crisped on a second, hotter grill for about thirty seconds.
This is a critical step as you need the high heat to get the skin to crisp but you must carefully watch the chicken as the sauce will easily burn.
At this point your competition style chicken is done but is not ready to serve.
It is pretty incredible but many completion cooks forget this next important step.
Remember to remove the toothpicks that are holding the skin onto the thighs! Barbecue judges do not like getting a mouth full of splinters and neither will your guests!