Competition BBQ Chicken Thighs 

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All this teaches me is that judges don’t like barbecue chicken They like competition chicken

Magnificent. I don't plan to compete but learned a lot. I am about to knock the family and friends for a loop. Thanks.

This is literally the best looking chicken I've ever seen in my life. Your videos are like an art gallery for BBQ.

This is probably one of the best competition chicken instructional clips I've seen up to now.! Clear instructions, detailed information and in such a well presented manner. Absolutely superb , well done 👏👍😄

very good demo , with no big boy bs, just good cooking,. i will do these at home, for myself. thanks

Chef Tom is awesome! ATB videos has helped me mucho mucho

Those are some great tips Tom. And that chicken looked excellent! Thanks for sharing brother!!!

Thanks Chef Tom. I have seen competition thighs smoked before but never the entire prep and cooking steps. I'm inspired to try some of your tips this weekend on my Kamado smoker.

chef tom this recipe gets me top tens a good bit. thank you.

Made my first chicken lollipops from your video. They were a total hit at my 4th of July party. Thanks for the video👍🏼

I don't compete, but you just made me rethink most of my preconceptions about chicken thighs. Amazing recipe, thank you

Thanks for sharing ,love it😍

Great video - so much information but all well organized and easy to follow - easier to follow than do, though, lol. I've never though of removing the skin to remove the fat like that - I'll keep that in mind.

just wondering about the *160 temp...I've always been told *175 in the thigh

Looks great!

Chef Tom is my idol ✌✌ I love all things bbq.

Awesome video. Have you ever do e a video giving the initial steps to start competing? How to get involved, or where to start? Again those thighs looked amazing.

Have you done a video on a whole split chicken for competition.

Thank you!

great recipe, but I will probably never do this I enjoy flame grilled chicken with all the fat on it :D

This....is a t"high" level bbq flavor Sir you are legend

Great video. Thanks for the upload.

I gotta say, screw competitions if this is what it takes to enter having watched your vids. None of this stuff is based on reality, and BBQ is a concept based on anyone being able to eat, anywhere, anytime, any income level, via live heat / fire. Not one of these judges I bet do any of this when they bbq. Either way, pro, love your vids.

I'm new to this but 160? Isn't 175-180 ideal temp for thighs to allow for those dark meat fibers to break down some more and become more tender?

I've got to stop watching this stuff late at night!

Looking good. Not trying to be an #$#&.... But my 5 yr old grand-daughter wants to know if there is anything you can cook to go with a grilled-cheese on your grill? Yes this was her question so please be nice. If so is there a video I could show her that you made? Her name is Kalen. Thank you for your time to make the videos. We are having good time watching them.

Subscribed, and as a judge, you're spot on. Nice work. I'd give you 9's across the board (pending taste and tenderness), but it looks like you have it. Thank you for putting this video together!

Wow. Awesome

Great video, I placed 3rd at a KCBS event in November with chicken. With your tips maybe I'll make it to 1st next time. Thanks for sharing it.

this video made me a subscriber.

This is some excellent looking chicken. Great job

For the love of god man, that looks so good

This was beautiful. I need to get a good knife. I'm going to do this next weekend.

The 108 people that gave a “thumbs down” are angry plant eating vegans!!! Bahahahahahahaha. I LOVE THE MEATS!!!

awesomeness !

Rubbery skin is my worst enemy when cooking smocked chicken on the kamado. I need to try that. Can we also do this skin trimming on a whole chicken?

God bless you!

question. I totally understand the bite thru of the skin. Why are you not allowed to crisp up the skin on say a hot grill? Are grill marks not allowed in competition? Whats wrong with the skin being crispy and bite-thru? You'll still have all of the smoke flavor you put into the thighs? Thanks

Where do I go to eat this? Youre all competing so hard take my money and gimmy some chicken that wasn't good enough to be judged.

Cheers Chef! Got some bewdie tips from that.

Chef Tom, Under our rules (Lonestar) we turn in a half of a whole chicken. Could you do an episode on that?

Good video, but don't judges in BBQ comps in the USA expect you to make you own sauces?

This channel is outstanding! Keep up the great work! Can you cook some turkey wings and maybe bone in chicken breasts? So I can see how it's done, (if u are cooking it I know that will be the method for my backyard cooks... Thanks!

Great video bro! Wished this was out there about 7 years ago when I got started...LOL

I took first place today on chicken thighs and 3 rd place with my pulled pork . Ive watched you're video so many times I see it in my sleep . Thanks for all you're help today . And I'm training very hard to get my ribs just right .

Great stuff chef! I know that you thinned out the skin before re-applying it, but does it pretty well render out during the braising stage? They're clearly not, but I would have guessed that the skin would be rubbery. Very impressive work though, Tom. I love your channel! Cheers.

Most people remove the bones from the thighs in the majority of videos I've seen. Why do you choose to leave them in? Flavor.... or preference?

I did this recipe today, to the exact T, and it was the most amazing chicken I've ever had. The only thing I did different is, I didn't have finishing rub and I used a hickory/oak mix. I also used a REAL smoker! Out of control good!

Good Job!!

Competition cooking is different than home BBQ, not better just different. In competition, the chicken must look a certain way but it suffers from the lack of fat that the untouched skin has, also in some contests there is not a whole amount of time to marinate chicken which has a neutral flavor and benefits from long marinades. Contests usually have a certain flavor profile that the judges are looking for and going outside that box can be tricky. Like all things when money is involved you lose a lot of the original idea for the competition. From my experience in the food industry, the best meals I've been served have been from home cooks who are talented and caring about the product being served to family and friends at their table, sometimes because of volume and financial reasons the same care is lacking in commercial establishments . My advice is to make friends with good home cooks and BBQer's it' well worth it for the cost of a bottle of wine or a case of beer you are almost always rewarded.

what is the ratio water to injection rub?

So you don't completely de bone the chicken before cooking/boxing?

If I don't have a meat injector, and the chicken isn't for a competition, can I just marinade to get the same effect?

I tried saucing my thighs and they didn't turn out well. Do you want a very liquid sauce for the dunking to be effective and not get an uneven sauce consistency?

the way he explains all process is wonderful. thanks for your vid.

Curious, so after 'steaming' the chicken thighs for about 25 minutes at 275, I get an internal temp of 155-165. I pull them off the heat for no more than 4 minutes to sauce them, (heated sauce) and when I put them back on the heat to set the sauce, internal temp has dropped to 145-150. This seems drastic. The chicken is cooked, but finished temp is only about 155. Have you see this?

You are a barbecue legend for sure brother. Valuable channel. Thanks much

Tom, outstanding what time will you be over? Great tip and looooooks mmmm good.

I've watched a bunch of your videos and there all great. I currently own a YS640 and I've noticed that most of your videos you cook on the top shelf. Is there a reason why you do most of your cooking on the top shelf?

What brand chicken was that?

About how long in foil to reach the internal temp of 150? I don't want to keep opening it up and losing steam/heat.

Mouth watering!!! Really can't wait to get that YS640! I watch the videos and then drool over the smoker until the following week then repeat. I like the square bowl used to distribute the dusting powder. Is this something you guys sell, if not could you tell me where I could pick one up?

Just out of curiosity, why not crisp the skin up before saucing it? Or is it because it's going to cool down and get soggy before the judges eat it anyways?

I too tried chicken bbq...Look at Bro's Cooking

Good brand of injector?

I've tried this process...but after being covered, the skin has pulled back and scribbled up. Its almost like the steam from being covered up shrinks the skin.....any ideal on why this happened? Its happened twice.

What do you do with the skin while the chicken is resting in the refrigerator?

This is hardly BBQ, nor is it true smoking ! If I were the judge, I would ask you where the hell your grill and FIRE, or is this KITCHEN BBQ ?

It sounds like BBQ competitions really take all the fun out of BBQ. Jeez. Are there any 'freestyle' competitions where it's based just on taste and creativity and not all these technicalities?

awesome video I've watch some other ones this is by far the best one yet thanks for sharing going to enter my first ever KCBS late may so i will definitely be practicing this one.. i cook with a loaded Wichita hope i can get a great looking pice of chicken like yours

what temp are you cooking with???

Probably good. However I will never take the skin off or cover in foil. I love my smoke flavor. You Might as well cook them in the oven.

I know it’s different for every piece of meat, but how long typically does it take for it to hit 150 after covering the pan?

awesome video lots of great info. Those thighs looked delish. Happy New Year! Josie

Hello chef tom.. i am nurul from indonesia, can i come to texas to learn bbq from you....?

I did a chicken practice last night on the Kamado Joe. I injected my chicken with so much chicken flavoring that it tasted like chicken.

Very impressive, did you use bone in chicken thighs

lol Chef Tom.. nope. not believing that! Chefs work for a living. Work takes fat from the bone.

there is KFC chicken, then there is fried chicken from say a restaurant like spears, then there is smoking chicken like a normal person on the ys640. And then there is this way. Holy crap guys. That's an insane amount of steps. I bet that tasted amazing.

Would love to try competition chicken i am sure it tastes beyond regular chicken

hi, great video. what camera do you use to shoot all your videos? thanks a lot. hope you dont mind sharing.

your channel is the shit, i would like to know how i can get ahold of those seasonings and sauces from all your videos could you put a link?

This guy is a good ass cook! But he looks like can get you the best deal on a gram of "oregano"

Great Video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge about chicken..:)

Can you guys please find some royalty free music or something?

WOW!!! How am I just now finding your channel? We do our chicken very similar!! My team and I are only about 2 years into this wonderful world of competition BBQ. WE have a comp THIS weekend, and would love to try that firebug sauce, Is there anywhere in Independence or Blue Springs that a guy could pick some up, I don't think I can travel any further east. AWESOME videos guys, keep up the good work, hope to share some smoke with you guys one day. ERIC

Chef Tom kinda looks like Action Bronson.

I can appreciate all the work to get your competition thighs perfect, but I have a 3 step method that rocks and is easy. Step #1 Pressure cook in instant pot very fast only 2 minutes at pressure in a good seasoned stock. Step #2 Traditional grilling with charcoal and wood chips just enough time to get them smokey. Low temp not too much heat #3 Dip in a great BBQ sauce like in this video and finish off in the oven so you don't burn the sauce. It's always juicy always cooked to the center and never burned the sauce. Perfect every time and only take about 45 minutes

aweaome video. best chicken I've ever made, but the skin still gives me trouble. it's still rubbery and pulls off most of the time. is more heat the answer to this? after unfoiling the pan, the chicken just seemed soggy...but of course that also left it very juicy after saucing and putting directly on the grate.

Nicely done. I saw a tutorial from GirlsCanGrill where they leave the skin attached on one side while cleaning/seasoning the underside of the skin. Why your way? Would you get more reliable bite thru if there is some tension from the attachment? Also, why do you choose to finish at 160 rather than 170 like many advise for dark meat? Thanks.

wish I could make competition chicken. looks like it's no joke..

Great tips, thanks. How long does it take to get to 150 degrees? Then approximately how much longer to get to 160?

I wanted to up my chicken game and this video has just what I was looking for. Awesome job!

Great video! clear instruction very good. I make delicious smoked chicken thighs the skin is flavorful but pulls off like you say and can be tough found some great tips to try in your video. Thanks!

This is amazing, the look and techniques you use are top notch and I will be trying them. You asked for a recipe I would like to see you make and it's an Alabama white chicken. Very rare overall and I feel you would do it really well.

Any idea what is the average weight for your competition thighs before trimming? We have a hard time finding big enough thighs here in Finland, most are about 0.37 pounds. I've heard from some of the legit teams that they cook thighs in the range of 0.5 pounds...

This is a great video, great baseline to work with different sauce and rub combinations too. One thing that really threw me initially on this recipe is how fast it comes up to 150 degrees when you wrap in foil. 15-20 minutes. Is that the norm for this recipe? I was set at 250 pit temp. Thanks.

Thought the start of this video was an ad for a knife. So far every youtube video I have seen of your's you add hot sauce to the meat. I would never do that sense my ass would be burning through out the night.

hey man. can you do some fish?. Just asking though. thanks man.