Trailblazer Grill Notes - Chicken Thigh Thursday - 3 September 2020

[Sscottfitz]

One of the things we absolutely adore about our RecTeq Trailblazer is the ability to make a late day decision to “cook something outside”, and in a matter if minutes the gill can be rolled out of the garage, under the gazebo, at smoking temps ready for meat! Late in the day, the wife say’s “I’ve got a pack of chicken thighs we need to cook”, and wella, next thing you know they are on the RT-340 getting smoked, AND we’ve got smoked chicken to consume over the Labor Day Holiday weekend, although I’ll admit, being retired, weekend holidays aren't near as “special” as they used to be….<grin>

• Grill Location: Hot Springs Village, AR.; 34 37 60.0N 92 54 55.4W
• Weather at time of Grill: Heavy Overcast, Temp ~80F, Humidity ~83% (Coming off a week of a “crap load of rain”…)
• Total Grill Time: 60 Min. (~6 min transition to first temp High Smoke/180F, ~23 min smoke time, ~9 min transition to to 2nd temp, ~16 min @350)
• Total Event Time: ~1 hr, 10 Min. (Total Grill time + 10 min meat prep)
• Grill Plates: No
• Temp Probes Used”. Yes x2 (Middle Row Far Right (Probe A) and Far Left (Probe B)
• Pellets Used: Rec Tec Ultimate Blend

• Meat & Meat Prep
  • Meat: 14 x Walmart Package of Chicken Thighs (Pre-packaged)
  • Season half the thighs with Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, and half with good old S&P (Pink Himalayan Salt)
  • Total Meat Prep Time: ~10 min., Just dry seasoning
  • Meat on at 16:10 CDT, at ~43F, meat temp at end of smoking period: ~87F, (16:33 CDT). left on basic grill while grill temps heated up to 350F, meat temps about 167F at end of cook.

Sides:

• Infamous Deb FitzGerald’s, Zuccinni, Baby Tomato, Onion Mix (this is a staple at our house) - NOTE: This is just for the chicken used tonight, rest will be refrigerated and used in several different presentations over the weekend and next week.
• Risotto (another popular staple around here)

Misc Grill Observations - all times are CDT

• Used basic OEM stainless steel grill during both the smoking & higher temp cooking periods.
• Chose NOT to flip the thighs during today’s cook - probably unnecessary since we’re not using the Grill Grates during this cook.
• Grill still consistent at holding both the 180F (extreme smoking) and the 350F (main cooking) temps during the cook.
• Used the temp probes sampled across the right and left sides of the Trailblazer - for some reason, today the temp probs were not “problematic” (they were very good and consistent today)…..

General Comments:

• Cook was expectedly nominal….confirms that 350 is the perfect temp for Chicken on this grill (at least for us).
• Grill performance continues to be very consistent AND even the temp probes behaved well today!
• Be careful when applying Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning, it can attack the nasal cavities (it’s better on the chicken).

 

[Buckeye1]

As usual a great post. I agree the 350 seems to be the magic number on chicken. Did some drum sticks on the Bullseye at 350 after a quick smoke. They were excellent.
If not a family secret, I'd be interested in the recipe for the zucchini tomato onion dish.

 

[Sscottfitz]

As usual a great post. I agree the 350 seems to be the magic number on chicken. Did some drum sticks on the Bullseye at 350 after a quick smoke. They were excellent.
If not a family secret, I'd be interested in the recipe for the zucchini tomato onion dish.

According to the house "master chef", the veggie mix is sliced fresh zucchini, grape or cherry tomatoes, red or yellow onions, spiced with salt, pepper, and garlic powder along with a little olive oil. Sometime if we have space we'll cook them on the grill, but in this case the grill was at 100% capacity, so the trusty oven was engaged, 350F ~20-30 min. We think it is a really great compliment to the chicken!

 

[Waterboy]

Thanks for another great post @Sscottfitz. I agree holiday weekends aren’t quite the same in retirement. But Sunday nights and Monday mornings aren’t quite the same either!

 

[Sscottfitz]

Agreed 100% ref. Sunday nights & Monday mornings....more importantly weekday fishing doesn't have NEAR the competition for my favorite fishing spots...<grin>

 

[Fhughes]

@Sscottfitz I just noticed your location. I have family scattered around there.

 

[Sscottfitz]

@Sscottfitz I just noticed your location. I have family scattered around there.

Cool, give us a yell next time you are visiting family! We'll go fishing, boating, (pick a pass time, we like most of them...) and then we'll throw something good to eat on the grill!

 

[Fhughes]

Always have time for fishing