Smoked BBQ Chicken Thighs cooked on a Pit Boss wood pellet grill with BBQ rub and BBQ sauce on cutting board

Competition Chicken Thighs

Rated 4.40 by 5 users

Category Poultry BBQ Smoke Dinner

Servings 4

Prep Time 4 hours

Cook Time 2 hours

In this episode of Blue Ribbon BBQ, Lee Ann Whippen shows us how to make juicy and delicious competition-style chicken thighs on a Pit Boss pellet grill! Lee Ann share tips like how to trim and prep your meat, how to make a brine, and the best way to season your chicken thighs, so you can impress the judges — even if they're in your own backyard.

⭐Pro Tip: Choose uniform-sized chicken thighs with a good amount of meat and skin coverage. This will ensure that they retain optimal moisture for a tender, juicy result.

Author:
Lee Ann Whippen

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs, bone in & skin on

2 cups apple cider

2 cups water

6 tbsp dark brown sugar

1/2 cup Kosher salt

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup honey

Pit Boss Competition BBQ Rub

BBQ sauce of choice

1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter

Special Tools

Aluminum pan x2

Aluminum Foil

Large Ziploc bag

Pit Boss BBQ Knife Set

Pit Boss Digital Meat Thermometer

Directions

PREP & TRIM: Rinse the chicken thighs under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Trim any excess fat, tendons, or loose skin and cut any meat so that the skin is long enough to fold underneath the thigh. Optional: scrape excess fat off underneath chicken skin

BRINE PREP: Combine apple cider, water, brown sugar, salt, bay leaves, vinegar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until granules dissolve. Then, bring to room temperature before chilling in the refrigerator.

BRINE TIME: Place chicken thighs in large Ziploc bag and pour brine over top. Seal, and brine for 3 hours in the refrigerator. After brining, rinse the brine from the chicken thighs and pat them dry with a paper towel.

SEASONING: Apply a generous amount of BBQ rub to the bottom of the chicken thigs and let rest for 30 minutes, keeping the skin in tact and covering the meat. Flip over and repeat, skin side up. Cut stick of butter into 8 tablespoon pats and place in the bottom of a 1/2 size aluminum pan. Place each chicken thig, skin side up, on each butter pat.

GET GRILLING: Preheat your grill or smoker to 250°F. Place pan of chicken in smoker and smoke for 1 hour.

Warm BBQ sauce in a pot on the stove, or in your grill. Dunk each chicken thigh in warmed BBQ sauce, shake off any excess, and place each directly on an upper grill grate, skin side up.