I have been experimenting brining and smoking chicken thighs.
Here in my latest using 8 chicken thighs.
Brine:
! gal. water
5 TBS fine salt
1 TBS Hickory salt
ΒΌ Cup packed brown sugar.
Brine thighs for 2 -3 hours.
Smoking and cooking:
Dry the skin of the 8 chicken thighs. Pre heat smoke generator. Use 3 mesquite pucks.
Start the smoking and and increasing the oven temp. to 150F at the same time.
After 1 hour, increase oven temp. to 235F. cook until meat temp is 165f.
I'm open to any suggestions...Anyone played around with other temp. Combinations?
George
IMHO, poultry does not really benefit from low and slow - You could start the cook @235F(or even 250F) and just cook until 165F IT.
If you eat the skin don't like the way it comes out of the smoker, pull the thighs @150F and put them on the grill or in a 350F oven.
I'm with FLBR. No benefit of starting out on a low temp and stepping it up.
His advice is spot on in my opinion.
KyNola