In a prior post, I showed a time consuming method for smoking chicken thighs that gives a great tender skin but is a pain in the pants. I am lazy but the result was so good, I decided to experiment with it further. I like honey mustard so I made PIA Honey Mustard Thighs.
I started by taking the skin off a chicken thigh. Using a sharp knife, I carefully scraped the fat layer off the skin. This was difficult because the cheap chicken thighs I had purchased in bulk had obviously been machined processed and they looked like the chicken had been in a knife fight.
I just worked carefully scraping the fat. You will note that the fat builds up on the knife and you have to clean it frequently.
Then I applied some barbecue rub to the chicken thigh. You can use any rub you like. I used my Basic BBQ Rub. I wrapped the scraped skin around the thigh and put it on a plate. I repeated with each thigh. I sprinkled the thighs with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
I put enough melted butter in a roasting pan to cover the bottom 1/8 inch deep. I added vegetable oil to the butter until the mixture was 1/4 inch deep.
I put the chicken in the roasting pan, skin side down. I put the pan in a smoker that had been preheated to 275 F. I smoked for 45 minutes.
While the chicken was smoking, I put 40 ml (3 tablespoons) of honey in a microwave safe container. I put 1 minced garlic clove in the honey. I microwaved for about 25 seconds, until the honey is liquid. I mixed in 15 ml Dijon mustard and set it aside.
I turned the thighs in the butter mixture to coat and put them skin side up on the grill of the smoker. I smoked to an internal temperature of over 170 F, about another 45 minutes.
I microwaved the honey mixture to make it liquid again and brushed it over both sides of the thighs. I smoked for 10 minutes longer to set the sauce.
I brought the thighs in and tented them under foil. Let them rest for five to ten minutes.
I served it with coleslaw and garlic toast.
The Verdict:
The skin was wonderful, just like the prior effort. Very tender and bite through. When you take a bite, it doesn’t pull of the chicken.
It isn’t rubbery at all. It just makes a great coating on the moist chicken meat.
The honey mustard gives a great sweet/spice combination and makes the chicken glisten!
I really like this.
The Old Fat Guy.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs
- 10 ml (2 teaspoons) barbecue rub
- 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) salt
- 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) pepper
- 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) onion powder
- 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) garlic powder
- melted butter
- oil
- 40 ml (3 tablespoons) honey
- 10 ml (2 teaspoons) Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Instructions
- Remove the skin from a thigh. With a very sharp knife, carefully scrape the fat layer from the skin.
- Trim any visible fat from the thigh..
- Sprinkle with barbecue rub.
- Wrap the skin around the thigh.
- Repeat with remaining things.
- Sprinkle the salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder over the thighs.
- Put 1/8 inch of melted butter in a roasting pan. Add 1/8 inch of oil.
- Put the chicken in the roasting pan, skin side down.
- Smoke at 275 F for 45 minutes.
- While the chicken is smoking, add the garlic to the honey and microwave a few seconds until the honey is liquid. Add the mustard. Set aside.
- Turn the chicken in the butter mixture to coat and put it on the smoker rack, skin side up..
- Smoke to an internal temperature of 170 F, about 45 minutes.
- Microwave the honey mixture until liquid.
- Brush the thighs with the honey mixture.
- Smoke for 10 minutes.
- Bring the chicken in and let it rest under foil for 5 to 10 minutes.
