skinless chicken quarters

[gloksrule]

hello all! was planning on smoking some skinless quarters tomorrow for some friends, after reading the previous posts, im kinda on the fence about how. is the probe going to be accurate on these? I read I need to be at 170 then pull them, can I cook them @ 225-250 for 2-2.5 hours without using the probe? thanks guys

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[jcboxlot]

I would probe.  165 to 170

I'd think the breast would be done in two hours at 225


If you dont have an "in the smoker" probe use a regular one after 1 1/2 hours to check

[swthorpe]

By chicken quarters, do you mean legs/thighs?   For skinless, you might want to wrap in bacon to hold moisture, but I would probe the thigh and remove at 165IT.    If you mean chicken halves (that include the breast), then I would probe the breast and still remove at 165.    The challenge is the skinless part...any time I do skinless breasts, I always brine and then wrap in bacon.   Good luck...let us know how you make out.  Cheers

[gloksrule]

yes, its legs/thighs. I waited to long and didn't get to brine them, I removed the skin and applied a rub then left in fridge for 1 day. is wrapping in bacon a must? I can use my probe as instructed until 165, will adding apple juice to a tray help with the dryness? thanks for the help:)

[swthorpe]

The apple juice will help to add moisture in the box.  I don't think the bacon is a must, but I do it with skinless chicken breasts to help keep the moisture locked in.   I have only done chicken quarters with the skin on, so I don't have experience with skinless quarters and no bacon.   I would suggest giving it a shot without the bacon and see how they turn out, or perhaps wrap a couple with bacon and see if you notice a difference.  Let us know the results!

[DivotMaker]

Ronnie, I never use a water pan with poultry, but I've never done skinless, naked, either.  If I remove the skin, I wrap in bacon - works great!  If you're not wrapping, a water pan should help.  Also, use 250.  Poultry doesn't benefit from "low and slow!"

[KY Smoke]

Ronnie, I have smoked some boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I was going to use for chicken salad.  Unfortunately, I did not wrap them with bacon and the exterior was very dry.  Even had a water pan in the box.  So bad that I had to take a filet knife and remove it.  The rest of the chicken shredded fine and had great flavor in the chicken salad.  Just a little extra work. 

So strongly suggest wrapping any skinless poultry in bacon and you should be fine.  Always take poultry to 165F and you should be good. 

Good luck.....Jeff

[gloksrule]

did the bacon wrap and a oj and blue moon mix in the liquid tray,,hit 165 at 1.52hrs, and that was on the top rack, would the lower rack be more done? thanks all:)

[DivotMaker]

Bottom rack will cook a little faster, Ronnie, but I bet they're fine.  Let us know when you dig in!

[KY Smoke]

Ronnie, if you hit an Internal temp (IT)of 165F in the meatiest part of the quarter, I would say you are good.....even if it didn't take as long as you thought it should.  The size of the quarters could have been a little smaller and shortened your needed smoke time.   I'm not sure what you're asking in regards to the racks though, if you hit 165F IT in good shape?  The lower the rack, the faster the cook. 

But the most important thing.....how were they?  You had me with bacon wrapped and Blue Moon in the pan!   

[swthorpe]

1.5 to 2 hours for chicken quarters is about what I get, so I think you should be fine.  Let us know how they turned out.

[gloksrule]

well for starters, they were tasty, but the wife freaked out because there were still red veins near the bone, I used 2.7 oz of apple chunks, which is 3 chunks of this wood., does that seem right? (I only use 2 chunks when I do ribs,,) the bacon on the other hand was horrible,,,, way too much smoke, almost made me tear up having to throw it all away:)

[DivotMaker]

well for starters, they were tasty, but the wife freaked out because there were still red veins near the bone, I used 2.7 oz of apple chunks, which is 3 chunks of this wood., does that seem right? (I only use 2 chunks when I do ribs,,) the bacon on the other hand was horrible,,,, way too much smoke, almost made me tear up having to throw it all away:)

Sounds like a lot of wood, for 2 1/2 oz, but I don't know how big your chunks were.  As for the bacon...yeah, it's kind of a "sacrificial lamb" when covering naked chicken.  It serves its purpose by giving its life to keep the chicken moist!  Blood around the bone:  Very common in today's chicken.  Doesn't mean it's undercooked, and is caused by the fast growth of chickens that are raised today.  It's actually marrow that seeps out of still somewhat porous bone in the chicken; deep chilling or freezing actually makes this worse, due to ice crystals in the bone marrow.  It's actually harmless.  Here's one of the best articles I've seen about it:

Bloody Chicken!

I expect to see a little blood around the bones, and I'm ok with it.

[gloksrule]

gonna make my wife read exactly what u just said,,lol

[DivotMaker]

gonna make my wife read exactly what u just said,,lol

Get her to read the article.