First Cook Thighs a Little Disappointing

Just checking back in...
...Ok, so I finally got around to the 0°-400° method for chicken. I actually went 0-425. I dried and seasoned my checked legs. Did not add baking powder. And flipped every 30minutes.
I even accidentally went over on my internal temp, but they were still super juicy on the inside. As far as skin, which is the main purpose, it turned out 100% edible not rubber at all. I wouldn't call it "cripsy" persay, but it definitely works. I'll either do 450° next time or more than likely, add some baking powder to go for a full crisp version.
 
If pursuing crisp chicken skin using just the RT is the goal, possibly some experimentation to find high temperatures of pellet wood types is worthwhile.
 
That's my go-to method for grilling, marriage, parenting and just about everything else. I haven't come up with plan B, yet.
When you have the plan B please share :)
 
Just checking back in...
...Ok, so I finally got around to the 0°-400° method for chicken. I actually went 0-425. I dried and seasoned my checked legs. Did not add baking powder. And flipped every 30minutes.
I even accidentally went over on my internal temp, but they were still super juicy on the inside. As far as skin, which is the main purpose, it turned out 100% edible not rubber at all. I wouldn't call it "cripsy" persay, but it definitely works. I'll either do 450° next time or more than likely, add some baking powder to go for a full crisp version.
What I've found works best during cooking is to smoke them at ~225 for about an hour, then REMOVE them from the grill while it heats up to 450 (or higher, since it will lose heat when you put them back on). Once it gets hot, put the thighs back on the grill. Otherwise, they're cooked by the time you get up to a decent temp.
 
Okay...here you go. The wife wasn't convinced this method would work so I she let me try it with two thighs our of ten. The other eight I grilled on the charcoal grill. As suggested, I smoked them at 225 for an hour and then turned the heat up to 450. The results are in the attached pictures.

They turned out pretty good. The skin wasn't leathery (wife's description), it was somewhat crispy. She said if she was served this in a restaurant, she would be happy with it.

I might try a little less time on the smoke next time and higher temperature. There was still a layer of fat under the skin that could be rendered with more time at a higher temperature.

Thanks for the advice!

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So, we finally figured it out!

After several webpages, we combined baking powder with the rub to season the skin-side and just the rub on the meat side. I had the 700 at 375. I grilled the meat side down for 25 minutes and the skin down for the remaining time. A total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. The skin was perfect and the meat was still tender.

We have tried this method twice and it has worked both times.

The secret was the baking powder and the temperature.
 
Thanks for all the advice. We'll try the pat drying and the baking powder in the rub. We usually decide to have the thighs a hours before we start them so leaving them in the fridge overnight would be difficult.

We cooked hamburgers last night on the grill and minute steaks on the grill grates tonight. Both tuned out fine.

There is definitely a learning curve.

We got a pit barrel smoker 5 years ago and our first few attempts (whole chicken and wings) were not good but we finally developed the how-to for brisket, ribs and pork shoulder. We'll keep trying.

Tomorrow is pork belly burnt ends tomorrow evening! I can make that happen on the pit barrel, I am looking forward to making it happen on the Bull.

You guys are great! Thanks for all the advice.
If you have the grill grates, what I do is put them directly on grill grates at 375* skin side up for 25 minutes and then turn it to 400 and put them skin side down for 15-20 minutes. Has worked really well for us. Pull back the skin on the thighs so it folds back and get rub on the meat. Hit the skin with paper towel to help dry and then fold back over and apply rub on the skin itself. I struggled getting thighs the way I wanted them, and this method has easily worked the best. I also am coming off a kettle. Also, make sure the grill grates are flipped to the flat side for the whole cook.
 
So, we finally figured it out!

After several webpages, we combined baking powder with the rub to season the skin-side and just the rub on the meat side. I had the 700 at 375. I grilled the meat side down for 25 minutes and the skin down for the remaining time. A total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. The skin was perfect and the meat was still tender.

We have tried this method twice and it has worked both times.

The secret was the baking powder and the temperature.
I have to try the baking powder trick one day.
I usually throw them on my Bull at 400-450 then as they come up to close to temp I toss them on my blackstone flat top for the crispy skin.
 
I have to try the baking powder trick one day.
I usually throw them on my Bull at 400-450 then as they come up to close to temp I toss them on my blackstone flat top for the crispy skin.
It works!
 
So, we finally figured it out!

After several webpages, we combined baking powder with the rub to season the skin-side and just the rub on the meat side. I had the 700 at 375. I grilled the meat side down for 25 minutes and the skin down for the remaining time. A total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. The skin was perfect and the meat was still tender.

We have tried this method twice and it has worked both times.

The secret was the baking powder and the temperature.
I'm looking forward to trying this, how much baking powder do you add to your rub?
 
Set the chicken on a rack in the fridge the night before to dry out the skin. I get crispy skin all the time as long as I use this method. No need for baking powder. I have tried he 0-400 for wings but I just prefer to cook at 350-375 and flip the chicken every 10-15 minutes until done.
 
So, I did the 0 - 400 thing last night with wings - I know, thighs cook a little different, but... I patted them dry with a paper towel, seasoned and then put them on. After 30 minutes, I hit them with duck fat spray (it helps crisp them up), flipped them and then sprayed the other side. Let cook another 30 minutes and they came out better than any chicken I have tried on the RT. Wife was blown away with how they turned out.
 
Duck fat comes in a pressurized can (check you local Ace hardware or equivalent in their BBQ supplies section). The can will remind you of a PAM can. It works pretty good but the only way I have gotten consistently good result was to crank up the smoker to over 450F while the chicken is resting, then reverse sear the darn things if we are talking pieces or a spatchcocked bird (Note: Whole chickens don’t roll very well, haha.) If you brush the pieces with a little butter then reverse sear you can lower the temps and it will finish quicker. Jjust don’t take your eyes off them or you’ll be sorry.
 
Whoa, didn't know that existed. (oh and whoa on the price too.)
At $2/oz - I'll leave that to the pro staff.
SmokedOCD, Yep. I understand. Butter is much cheaper and tastes a lot bettter if you clarify it. Clarifying will remove the dairy fats that typically burn at a lower temperature leaving an after taste. This will result in a cleaner, more consistent sear with pure flavor similar to using Ghee and with a better overall result. It is also great for using as a base for basting steaks and other things. As a recommendation, try to get the Kerrygold grass fed Irish Unsalted Butter. I think you will be impressed.
 
I do my chicken parts only on the Weber kettle with a Vortex. Never was able to get decent skin on the Bull no matter what temp I ran it at.
Agree and/or a little corn starch
 

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