This was my first time using my new bullet smoker, also my first time cooking meat over any type of charcoal fire. I marinated the skinless, boneless chicken thighs for about 5 hours, patted dry, olive oil and rub, smoked with hickory at ~250 for 1.5 hours with water in the drip pan, then applied sauce and blasted at 350+ for the last 20 minutes. I pulled them at around 180 internal, then let them rest for about 10-15 minutes. It came out dry, there was a good bark on it but the meat itself had no moisture. My initial thoughts was either the meat was too thin so prolonged smoking dried it out, or I smoked at too low a temperature for too long. I am a complete beginner so please feel free to criticize, I have a lot to learn, so any input will be very helpful.
by vvsricci
32 Comments
Too slow. They dried out. I smoke thighs in less than an hour at 325ish.
Go hot and fast with thighs. You’re not looking to render connective tissue and get bark. They will be juicy and still have a decent amount of smoke flavor. 350 for 45-60 minutes.
Poultry should not be cooked low. Just treat it like a smokey oven
They still look good 👍
Temp way too low. I cook them at 350 or so. Over coals until 120 then indirect up to 180.
Temp too low
I’m embarrassed to say how long (in years and multiple cooks per year) I cooked chicken at 275. Then it all made sense.
To balance what others are saying. Generally chicken doesn’t need slow but thighs do better. That said i think an hour tops is sufficient. Boneless thighs maybe even less.
Live and learn. Sure it sucks to mess up. Next time just throw them in the smoker and let them rip. Should be fine with an hour or less. Pull them when they reach roughly 165-170 temp
Many here have said you cooked at too low a temp, but I would disagree based on the fact that you said these were boneless/skinless. If that was the case, your cook was fine but you should have pulled at 160 and rested to 165. The only advantage to going to 180 on thighs is the fat render, but the fat is mostly in the skin so if you cook boneless/skinless it’s better to treat it like breast than bone-in thigh.
If you want to do chicken low and slow it’s got be bone in skin on or it’ll dry out. Now you can do 250 on skinless boneless. You need to marinate overnight and pull at 155 160.
Thighs are hard to overcook, they (and drums) are almost idiot proof as far as drying out. They don’t look too bad in the picture.
I smoke thighs at 275 for around an hour and they never come out dry, so don’t let those people tell you the temp was too low. You need to pull them 20* sooner
Get bone-in, skin-on next time, they are cheaper and more forgiving. Have fun, beginner! Eat your mistakes and learn from them! It’s the journey.
If it’s consolation, they look delicious still
250 for 45 mins crank to 4-450 pull at 176-178 degrees. Good smoke. Crispy. Juicy.
Overthinking thighs. 375-400 for 45 minutes. Then they are done
On my Traeger I cook thighs on smoke until 90° internal temp and then crank it to 375° until 180° internal temp. Insanely juicey!
You should only cook poultry at 325+. I’m sure there I’m wrong and there are other ways to do it, but this method produces the best fucking chicken I’ve ever had.
Too low too slow. Chicken thighs are super juicy and like to be cooked hot and high
I have bad luck with chicken on the smoker. Always too dry. I think yall are lying about your juicy thighs. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Twice cooked. You said you marinated them. Try a wet brine next time.
180 strikes me as over
I bash my thighs uniform and dry season then cook at blazing temp turning every couple of minutes until done, recon my cook is over in 15min, perfect every time… Not saying you can’t low temp thighs as I’ve smoked offset and seared to finish with good results but didn’t bash them out like my fast ones. Hope this advice helps
This is a hot and fast smoke. You started to low and slow. Also, I’d say pull it at 165 and let them rest a little bit.
They’re not dry. Fry them for 3-4 minutes and re-toss them
They look good, but 180 IT is too high, you need to pull them off at 165. I now smoke in a pan skin side down with a small amount of peanut oil (1/8th in) this will break down the skin so it’s not rubber. I run 250-300 depending on the fire and it takes @ 90 mins.
Furthermore, I have a stick smoker, so once they hit 165 I put a grate over the fire and char each side for just a couple mins. Drain the fat out of the pans but leave just a very little amount and place the chicken back in as that has a lot of the seasoning I used.
I got hot and fast with chicken.
180 is way too high. Want to pull them at 160.
I have only smoked chicken at a higher temp and shorter time. 1.5 hrs total might be fine. Probably shoot for about an hr though and dont cook on high for 20m. That’s probably about as much time as it takes to grill thighs so you’ll go way over.
I use an egg but I put them on at 200 (no probe just the built in). Let them cook. When the egg gets to 350 I shut it down regardless of internal meat temp. Let cook. Instant read and take them off at 160-170. Let rest. Enjoy.
https://youtu.be/NFukyfK1qDM?si=tQF555vC_MEFhLxp
Boneless/skinless- smoke for 60 minutes. Turn it up to 350 for 30 minutes. If you are going to sauce them, do it when you turn it up.