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Preheat grill or smoker to 250°F, set up for indirect heat. Blend spice rub and set aside. Trim excess fat off chicken thighs.
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Sprinkle spice rub on bottom of chicken thighs, aim for 50% coverage of the meat. Turn chicken thighs over and apply the spice rub to the skin.
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Place chicken thighs on cooking grate inside grill. Cook or smoke for 1 hour.
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After 45 minutes, place butter into a 9x9" pan, and place pan into grill so the butter melts. Remove the chicken thighs and place them into the pans with melted butter. Wrap pan tightly with aluminum foil.
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Continue cooking chicken, wrapped in a foil pan, for 1 more hour at 250°F.
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While chicken is cooking, prepare sauce: Whisk all sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Warm sauce, but do not boil. Sauce should be warm for applying to chicken.
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After the thighs have braised in butter for an hour, remove the chicken from the pans. Dip each thigh in the warm BBQ sauce and place back on the cooking grate inside the grill.
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Cook for 5 more minutes to allow the sauce to dry a bit and adhere to the chicken. Remove chicken from grill and serve.
Recipes
Competition BBQ Chicken Thighs
This 3-step technique for cooking chicken thighs results in chicken that is very tender, moist, and loaded with sweet flavor.
Ingredients
- Serves: 12
Chicken:
- 12 bone-in chicken thighs
- 1/2 lb (0.3 kg) unsalted butter, cut into 8 thin strips
Sweet & Savoury Spice Rub:
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) brown sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) white sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) kosher salt
- 1 tsp (5 mL) paprika
- 1 tsp (5 mL) chili powder
- 1 tsp (5 mL) fresh ground pepper
- 3 tsp (15 mL) granulated onion
- 1 tsp (5 mL) granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp (1.25 mL) cayenne pepper
Sauce:
- 1 cup (250 mL) Kansas City-style BBQ Sauce
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) honey
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup
- 4 tsp (20 mL) apple cider vinegar
