Chicken thighs with drama

[will615]

I decided to smoke 4 chicken thighs in my #1 at the last minute. As a result, I cut a lot of corners. I started with a post in this forum by TmanEater in 2016. I brined the pieces for 2 hours in DM’s brine recipe using only the salt and brown sugar. Rinsed them, patted dry, and applied Emeril’s chicken rub to both sides. I did not wrap the skin as TmanEater did.  In the smoker with 1 oz of hickory chips at 225 deg. My plan was to cook them until they reach 165 deg, take them out and dunk them in BBQ sauce and return to smoker until they are 175. TmanEater cut his BBQ sauce with Coke to make it thinner. I used a Carolina vinegar based sauce. I was surprised that they hit 165 deg in an hour. This is where things got weird. The internal temp dropped to 159 (I had 2 temp probes in 2 different pieces). I increased the control to 250 but I could never get the meat past 165. After an hour, I took them out, browned the skin in the oven broiler and they tasted great. I think sometimes that you have to ignore the empirical numbers and just go with your gut. The meat had been up to 165. I cooked it another hour turning the smoker up to 250. In my opinion, this is not an exact science! You have to stay flexible! Your thoughts please.

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[Durangosmoker]

I don't know, but think your problem may have been opening the smoker door. In so doing, you let the heat out of the smoker box, and the remaining hour might have been spent trying to get the box back to temperature, though that seems an unusually long time. I would check your wall mounted temperature sensor and make sure it is clean (if not, it easily cleans with a wet rag or paper towels), and maybe next time, if you have a thermometer that monitors box temp as well as meat temp, run that as well and see what is going on.

The good news is that you had a tasty meal. Congratulations.

[will615]

Good advice. Thanks!  I have never cleaned that sensor.

[Pork Belly]

You should have smoked to 162/165 then dunked in sauce, finishing on the grill or broiler to crisp them up. As stated already opening the door you lost a lot of heat.