I've recently discovered grilling these on the gas grill.
Unfortunately, they flare up at high heat and don't cook all the way
through, and when I lower the heat, they become a bit tough because of
extended time.

I have a 4 burner grill, so now I cook all the thighs in the middle,
under low heat, and have the two ends on high. That way they don't
flare up, but they still take a bit too long and get a bit tough.

I tried, at one time pounding them like breasts, but I usually end up
breaking them apart. I marinate them in italian dressing or BBQ
sauce.

Any tips out there?

Gary

baker1 wrote:
> I've recently discovered grilling these on the gas grill.
> Unfortunately, they flare up at high heat and don't cook
> all the way through, and when I lower the heat, they
> become a bit tough because of extended time.
>
> I have a 4 burner grill, so now I cook all the thighs in
> the middle, under low heat, and have the two ends on
> high. That way they don't flare up, but they still take
> a bit too long and get a bit tough.
>
> I tried, at one time pounding them like breasts, but I
> usually end up breaking them apart. I marinate them in
> italian dressing or BBQ sauce.
>
> Any tips out there?
>
> Gary

a.) Learn how to cook "indirect" on your particular gas grill

b.) Ditch the gas grill and get a charcoal burner (or wood) where you can
actually control the heat

BOB

"baker1" > wrote in message
...
> I've recently discovered grilling these on the gas grill.
> Unfortunately, they flare up at high heat and don't cook all the way
> through, and when I lower the heat, they become a bit tough because of
> extended time.
>
> I have a 4 burner grill, so now I cook all the thighs in the middle,
> under low heat, and have the two ends on high. That way they don't
> flare up, but they still take a bit too long and get a bit tough.
>
> I tried, at one time pounding them like breasts, but I usually end up
> breaking them apart. I marinate them in italian dressing or BBQ
> sauce.
>
> Any tips out there?
>
> Gary

I did a bunch of thighs and legs yesterday (charcoal grill). I find that if
I leave them on long enough to get to 180 degrees internally, the toughness
goes away. "They" say chicken needs to be 160 degrees, but thighs are just
too rubbery at that temp for me. Note: I am not using skinless thighs.
Leaving the skin on keeps them nice and moist.

Good Luck!
-Banjo

baker1 wrote:
> I've recently discovered grilling these on the gas grill.
> Unfortunately, they flare up at high heat and don't cook all the way
> through, and when I lower the heat, they become a bit tough because of
> extended time.
>
> I have a 4 burner grill, so now I cook all the thighs in the middle,
> under low heat, and have the two ends on high. That way they don't
> flare up, but they still take a bit too long and get a bit tough.
>
> I tried, at one time pounding them like breasts, but I usually end up
> breaking them apart. I marinate them in italian dressing or BBQ
> sauce.
>
> Any tips out there?
>
> Gary
If your grill has a cover, try cooking with the lid closed - this will
help cook the inside faster.

Grilling large bone-in chicken pieces is tricky - you have to keep the
temp low enough to cook the meat through without cremating the outside.
You may find that brining/marinating the chicken for a while helps it
cook through faster.

--

================================================== =============
Regards

Louis Cohen

"Yes, yes, I will desalinate you, you grande morue!"

Émile Zola, Assommoir 1877

Skin them. There is a lot of fat that will be attached to the skin. It's
the fat that's causing the flare-up's Once skinned, you should cook them
rather slowly over indirect heat and there will be little or no flare ups.

If cooked slowly they will not turn to rubber. High heat overcooks the
outside before the inside is finished.

It's easy to bone the thighs and then flatten them. If you do that you can
cook over medium heat turning frequently.

Richard Smith

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:33:40 GMT, "Christine Allison"
> wrote:

>Skin them. There is a lot of fat that will be attached to the skin. It's
>the fat that's causing the flare-up's Once skinned, you should cook them
>rather slowly over indirect heat and there will be little or no flare ups.
>
>If cooked slowly they will not turn to rubber. High heat overcooks the
>outside before the inside is finished.
>
>It's easy to bone the thighs and then flatten them. If you do that you can
>cook over medium heat turning frequently.
>
>Richard Smith
>
>

Yeah, I forgot to mention I use boneless, skinless meat. There is
some fat remaining and I try to remove some of it. I've been doing
the indirect method as of late and it seems to be better....I think I
just need to do it longer, and like the other poster mentioned, make
sure it's beyond the 'rubber' stage.

thanks

baker1 wrote:
>
> Yeah, I forgot to mention I use boneless, skinless meat. There is
> some fat remaining and I try to remove some of it. I've been doing
> the indirect method as of late and it seems to be better....I think I
> just need to do it longer, and like the other poster mentioned, make
> sure it's beyond the 'rubber' stage.
>

You would probably end up with a better product if you left the fat and
skin on the meat and cooked them indirectly. I hot smoke chicken pieces
all the time and the thighs I make are much more tender than the breasts
or drumstix.

--
Matthew

I'm a contractor. If you want an opinion, I'll sell you one.
Which one do you want?

"Matthew L. Martin" > wrote in message
...
> baker1 wrote:
> >
> > Yeah, I forgot to mention I use boneless, skinless meat. There is
> > some fat remaining and I try to remove some of it. I've been doing
> > the indirect method as of late and it seems to be better....I think I
> > just need to do it longer, and like the other poster mentioned, make
> > sure it's beyond the 'rubber' stage.
> >
>
> You would probably end up with a better product if you left the fat and
> skin on the meat and cooked them indirectly. I hot smoke chicken pieces
> all the time and the thighs I make are much more tender than the breasts
> or drumstix.
>
> --
> Matthew

Sounds as though an overnight brine might be in order, and I have to agree
with leaving the skin and fat on.

If you don't want to eat the skin, remove it after cooking.

My tuppence worth.

Graeme

Christine Allison wrote:
> Skin them.

Bleeech. Sorry, but the fat is where the flavor is.
--
Dave
Dave's Pit-Smoked Bar-B-Que
http://davebbq.com/

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:45:58 -0000, "Graeme...in London"
> wrote:

>
>"Matthew L. Martin" > wrote in message
...
>> baker1 wrote:
>> >
>> > Yeah, I forgot to mention I use boneless, skinless meat. There is
>> > some fat remaining and I try to remove some of it. I've been doing
>> > the indirect method as of late and it seems to be better....I think I
>> > just need to do it longer, and like the other poster mentioned, make
>> > sure it's beyond the 'rubber' stage.
>> >
>>
>> You would probably end up with a better product if you left the fat and
>> skin on the meat and cooked them indirectly. I hot smoke chicken pieces
>> all the time and the thighs I make are much more tender than the breasts
>> or drumstix.
>>
>> --
>> Matthew
>
>Sounds as though an overnight brine might be in order, and I have to agree
>with leaving the skin and fat on.
>
>If you don't want to eat the skin, remove it after cooking.
>
>My tuppence worth.
>
>Graeme
>
A chicken Thigh is a most tasty bit of the chicken and also the
fattiest. TRIM THEM! Ruthlessly! When I get a lbs of thighs, about
20% is trimmed off [and rendered into Schmaltz]. The resulting
product makes a tasty grilled bit of bird. Start low 300F and the
flip it and hit the temp 375F for the last 15 minutes. Brining is not
all that necessary IMO.

Harry

> Bleeech. Sorry, but the fat is where the flavor is.
> --
Not really. The dripping fat promotes smoke which may or may not add
character to what you are cooking. A better approach is an oil based
mopping baste. It's controllable as to quantity and the ingredients flavor
the meat.

Richard Smith

Christine Allison wrote: (actually, I wrote it. That's the problem with
folks who don't quote correctly)
>> Bleeech. Sorry, but the fat is where the flavor is.

> Not really.

Yes, really.

>The dripping fat promotes smoke

Only if you are cooking directly above the heat source.

> which may or may not add
> character to what you are cooking.

But, but, (confused, because then you go on to say this below

> A better approach is an oil based
> mopping baste.

I guess gravity doesn't affect oil-based mops?

> It's controllable as to quantity and the ingredients
> flavor the meat.

But, wouldn't that affect the "character" of the meat? Fat is it's own
baste and built-in flavor base. If you want skinned thighs for dietary
issues, fine. But if dietary issues are not a problem, I'm not going to risk
drying out the meat, reducing the flavor, and then try to re-introduce what
was taken away by mopping. :-)

--
Dave
Dave's Pit-Smoked Bar-B-Que
http://davebbq.com/

Dave Bugg Wrote:

> But, wouldn't that affect the "character" of the meat? Fat is
> it's own baste and built-in flavor base. If you want skinned
> thighs for dietary issues, fine. But if dietary issues are not
> a problem, I'm not going to risk drying out the meat, reducing
> the flavor, and then try to re-introduce what was taken away
> by mopping. :-)

Amen! Although my wife will skin the piece after it has been grilled
she still wants the skin on while grilling for those very reasons. The
Taste and Texture outweighs the small amount of fat remaining on the
piece.

Lee

"Dave Bugg" > wrote:
> Christine Allison wrote: (actually, I wrote it. That's the problem with
>
> >The dripping fat promotes smoke
>
> Only if you are cooking directly above the heat source.
>
And I prefer wood smoke to grease smoke!

> []Fat is it's own baste and built-in flavor base. If you want skinned
> thighs for > dietary issues, fine. But if dietary issues are not a
> problem, I'm not going to risk drying out the meat, reducing the flavor,
> and then try to re-introduce what > was taken away by mopping. :-)

My limited experience has been that the skin adds/locks-in flavor, but the
fat stay in the skin. My wife takes off the skin when it's served and gives
it to me, since I suffer from low cholesterol. ;-)

--
Nick. To help with tsunami relief, go to: http://usafreedomcorps.gov/

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !

Agree on bone-in and skin-on. It's easy to remove the skin afterwards
and the excess fat, if cooked indirectly will melt away. Indirect heat
(as mentioned to the point of beating the dead horse) will reduce flare
ups all together. If there's not a flame underneath dripping fat..
then it won't flare.

I also agree with the internal temp of 180 reducing any toughness. A
boneless skinless breast at this temperature will be dry as a shoe
sole.

Trey
www.outdoorculinary.com

On 3 Mar 2005 07:33:59 -0800, wrote:

>I also agree with the internal temp of 180 reducing any toughness. A
>boneless skinless breast at this temperature will be dry as a shoe
>sole.

161 F for breasts, measured with the probe touching the breast bone. I
also do whole chickens this way.