Chicken – Gas is For Work, Not My BGE

I saw these posted in BBQ Forums and on Facebook pages, so I decided to give it a go. It took a few “trial runs” to work out the missing details in the recipes I found, but I’m confident this recipe is a winner!

With my first trial I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but they were on the dry side, so at Jana’s suggestion, I turned to boneless, skinless thighs – much better! I bought a multipack at Sam’s Club, which has 3 thighs per pack, so I could use what I needed and freeze the rest.

Cut the jalapeños in half and remove the seeds and veins. Mix together sharp cheddar and a white cheese together, then fill each jalapeño half with the cheese mixture.

Place a gallon freezer bag over the each thigh and pound it to about 1/4-3/8 inch thickness (one can use a mallet or a heavy, thick glass). Trim the edges to get them even and season both sides with a rub.

Place a small amount of the cheese mixture along the edge of a thigh, carefully flip the cheese-filled jalapeño half over the row of cheese, then roll it up in the chicken filet. Now wrap two pieces of bacon around the roll and secure with toothpicks.

Cover the bacon with more of the seasoning. These rolls can be cooked immediately, or covered and kept in a refrigerator until ready to cook – even overnight.

Prepare the BGE for an elevated, direct 375* cook (by being higher above the coals, the flare-up from the dripping bacon is minimized). Optionally, an indirect cook would work, maybe at a slightly higher price.

Place the bombs in BGE, cook for 30 minutes, then turn and re-slather with BBQ sauce. Cook for about 15 min more or until chicken is 170-180*.

Take off, remove tooth picks, slice into rounds and enjoy!!!!

Enjoy,
Misippi Egger
(Clark Ethridge)

**********

Makes 6 bombs / 24 slices

Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 jalapeno peppers, halved and de-seeded
1 cup of cheese (1/2 c each of shredded cheddar &/or Monterey Jack)
12 slices of bacon
12 toothpicks (soak in water for 15 min to reduce burning)
Favorite chicken rub or seasoning
Favorite BBQ sauce

Instructions:

Prep:
(1) Cover a chicken thigh with a freezer-style ziplock bag, then pound to about 1/4-3/8 inch thick. Trim up evenly and season both sides with salt, pepper and/or bbq rub. Repeat with the rest of the thighs.
(2) Cut the jalapeños in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and ribs.
(3) Mix cheeses…fill each half jalapeño with a heaping mound of cheese mixture and put a small amount of the mixture on the edge of the thigh.
(4) Carefully place the stuffed jalapeño half on the edge of the breast, upside down onto the row of cheese, and wrap it into a roll.
(6) Wrap 2 slices of bacon around the roll and secure with 2 toothpicks (soak the tooth picks in water for 15 min to prevent them from burning)…slather the breast with BBQ sauce.

Grill:
(1) Prepare the BGE for an elevated, direct at 350-375* dome temperature (or can cook indirect at about 400*).
(2) Place bombs in BGE…cook for 30 minutes…then turn and re-slather with BBQ sauce…cook for about 15 min more or until chicken is 170-180*…take off, remove tooth picks, slice into rounds (about 4 rounds per roll) and enjoy!!!!

Tonight we had some large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs that needed cooking. Naturally, the BGE gets the call! I wanted a decent smoke flavor and a seasoning with some depth.

I lightly coated them with some olive oil, then seasoned both sides with Mike’s All Purpose Seasoning (Spicy Recipe). I purchased this a while back from a vendor at the Livingston Farmers’ Market, yet I had only used it a time or two. (Website for Mike’s – http://www.mikesseaonings.com ).

Egg set-up: In the past I have used both indirect & direct cooks for chicken. The indirect cook allows using a high temp, but it is difficult to get a crispy skin (elevated, indirect helps). With a hot, direct cook, one gets crispy skin, but at the risk of flare-ups that often give black, charred skin instead. The set-up from my pork chop cook yesterday gave me an idea for a new technique. Two Grill Grate panels were resting on the lower level of my Adjustable Rig (AR), about 4-5 inches below the top of the AR, on which the BGE grid was positioned. I thought this would give a pseudo, or false indirect cook since the Grill Grates would block most of the direct heat from the lump (they have multiple holes in them to let drippings fall through without flaring up), but they would emit considerable heat for cooking the thighs from underneath.

Adjustable Rig with Grill Grates on the lowest level and the BGE grid on top . (Buy Grill Grates on Amazon – Grill Grates ).

On the way home from work I heard an ad for a great BBQ restaurant saying they cook with a combination of hickory and pecan. I thought – why not? After I got a clean, 350* fire burning, I added 2 small chunks of hickory and 2 handfuls of pecan chips (all dry). After the heavy white, acrid smoke burned off, I placed the thighs, skin up, on the grid. I was amazed at the great color on them with the first check, when I was inserting a Maverick E-732 wireless, continuous-read thermometer. (Buy at Amazon – Maverick E-732 ).

When the internal temp reached about 145-150*, I removed the thighs and the grid. I then seared them on the Grill Grates for 2 minutes on each side. Final temp was 165-180*, depending on the size of the thigh.

They were juicy, had a great smoke flavor, and the Mike’s Seasoning really worked well. It met Jana’s approval and was served with black rice, pan-roasted broccoli florets, a salad and Asian dipping sauce.

Enjoy,
Misippi Egger
(Clark Ethridge)

**********

Ingredients:
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Olive Oil
Favorite rub or herbal seasoning

Instructions:
(1) Lightly coat both sides of the thighs with olive oil, then generously apply the rub or seasoning of choice.
(2) Prepare a fire at 350-400* and add hickory and pecan chunks or chips. When heavy white smoke clears one can begin the cook.
(3) Indirect technique – works better if one can create an elevated cooking surface, as the heat coming from the ceramic dome will help cook the chicken faster and crisp up the skin. With indirect, I will sometimes get the dome temp closer to 500*.
(4) Direct technique – build a smaller fire (less lump) and try to elevate the grid as far from the lump as possible. This will allow a hotter fire (400-500*), but less flare-ups since the distance to the lump is increased. Turn thighs frequently to prevent excessive charring of the skin.
(5) Combo technique – begin cook indirect and then use a direct sear when the internal temp reaches about 150*.

Category: Chicken

Chicken Bombs

Smoked/Grilled Chicken Thighs