Finally Made my First Muffin Pan Chicken

Today was the day to make Muffin Pan Chicken here. After watching what feels like 80 hours of YouTube videos of Competition Chicken & our local Walmart not being sold out of Chicken Thighs I made a run at cooking up a batch. I got a great flavor profile but the skin came out very tough. I don't know why. More research making smaller batches is needed I guess. They were melt in your mouth tender, flavor all the way thru, but tough skin. The Baked Mac & Cheese was certainly on time. Everyone liked the Thighs, I was surprised how they shrunk up too.

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They definitely look good. Sounds delicious

Top notch, we bought thighs just so I can make them.

Ive found chicken thigh skin toughness varies by the source. Although a little more expensive Sanders Farms is my go to thigh. Open for suggestions however...

Those look fabulous and I bet they tasted great.

BonTemps !1

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Originally Posted by BON TEMPS

Ive found chicken thigh skin toughness varies by the source. Although a little more expensive Sanders Farms is my go to thigh. Open for suggestions however...

Those look fabulous and I bet they tasted great.

BonTemps !1

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Thank you Bud. I could not believe with the low, extended cooking time I used, how the skin didn't tenderize with the rest of the bird. The flesh melted in your mouth. Could not cut the skin unless with a sharp knife.

Well done Rojo, I knew you'd get to it sooner or later! Higher temps make for "bite through skin" Im still working on perfecting it myself, actually made them tonight as well. I already had the smoker fired up to make some pork belly burnt ends.

Peel skin off, and scrump deliciotios is all I have to say. NICE :highfive

Sure looks good, would you mind sharing the cook details?

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Originally Posted by Slab

Peel skin off, and scrump deliciotios is all I have to say. NICE :highfive

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We all ate the skin, kinda like a chicken jerky, chewy. It was too good to leave on the plate. I'm kinda glad the wife's grandchildren are heading out today it has been some kind of Food Fest here. My feet hurt from standing and cooks for 3 days straight already. I rolled out 4 loaves of the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread the morning after they got here and I think only one loaf is left this morning.

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Originally Posted by speckfinder

Sure looks good, would you mind sharing the cook details?

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So I allowed the thighs unpacked to warm up a bit after trimming the extra skin off the long side, the extra fat off the opposite side, and the oyster & extra skin off the top. That squared them right up on the corners. My muffin pans are coated, I put a pat of unsalted butter in the bottom of each cup along with a couple tablespoons of Swanson's Chicken Broth. Just seasoned this first batch with Tony's all around (no brine or injecting) and tucked a thigh into each cup. I didn't cut the ball off the bone either like a lot of cooks do in the videos. So I lit my smoker off with Match Lite but switched to pure pecan for the first 2 hours of the smoker burning. Once my heat was stabilized at 265 degrees with pecan wood only burning I put a loaded muffin pan on the 2 highest shelf's (Vertical Smoker in my other posts) and didn't open the door for 1 hour.

While the chicken was in the smoker I used about 1-1/2 cups of Bon Temp's Honey to a small bottle of a Carolina Hot BBQ sauce. Added enough Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar 4% acidity to bring the tang back. I cooked this on the stove 30 minutes till time to "Dip" the thighs and place back in the smoker.

Once I set up a temporary table in front of the smoker for the dip I opened the door on the smoker removing one pan at a time and dipped each thigh completely then placed on the middle rack of the smoker. The one rack is large enough to hold all 16 thighs with room for the smoke between them. I closed the smoker back up (lost a lot of heat but it bounced right back) and let the thighs go for 30 more minutes while I added pecan limb wood (more bark than wood so it makes a stronger pecan smoke) which created a nice smoke to finish the thighs in. All though the thighs were in the smoker for 1-1/2 hours cooking they were lightly smoked thru the whole thigh, you could really taste the chicken. I am waiting this morning to see how much of the leftovers in the two refrigerators the grandchildren will take with them. That will dictate when I make some more. Both refrigerators are loaded up with food right now I can't make a small batch of anything, it will take us days to eat if the kids leave it.

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Originally Posted by Rojo

We all ate the skin, kinda like a chicken jerky, chewy. It was too good to leave on the plate. I'm kinda glad the wife's grandchildren are heading out today it has been some kind of Food Fest here. My feet hurt from standing and cooks for 3 days straight already. I rolled out 4 loaves of the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread the morning after they got here and I think only one loaf is left this morning.

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Do you need my address to mail the last loaf to? :Rofl I bet its awesome with a cup of coffee.

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Do you need my address to mail the last loaf to? :Rofl I bet its awesome with a cup of coffee.

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It wasn't even 1/2 a loaf remaining. I looked around for some leftovers this morning because I thought it was forgotten in the air fryer. One of the kids said sheepishly, "We Ate All Off It Last Night". My wife & I just laughed because the granddaughter thought I was looking to eat the leftovers. Man if it wasn't hidden it got smoked till about 10:30 last night.

I have a large sized Green Egg I rarely use. I think one of the muffin pans will fit on the grate. I'm thinking of scraping the excess fat from under the skin like they do in the videos. Add the pat of butter and run the heat up to crisp the skin. Afterwards I will do the Honey BBQ sauce dip and finish the thighs directly on the grate.

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Originally Posted by Slab

Peel skin off, and scrump deliciotios is all I have to say. NICE :highfive

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My take as well , heck you gotta give the dogee a bite or three ….
Our old lady pup , knows full well when we have chicken , she gets skin ….
Peel it and consume is us ….eveyone wins on roasted chicken by golly
Looks tasty bro

Sounds delicious

Your desert was great yesterday. I don't eat sweets often but I ate a couple small pieces. Thanks..

Bon Temps !!

I dont have a "muffin" pan the chicken can fit in so I just used a square pan. That said, I filled it with thighs. They still cooked in their own juices. After placing them onto the rack to firm up the skin I bumped the temp up to 400*. I also added BBQ sauce once the skins started setting. I like the firm skins but mine wasnt overly tough. Maybe I got lucky the 2-3 times Ive cooked thighs.:)

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Originally Posted by gabowman

I dont have a "muffin" pan the chicken can fit in so I just used a square pan. That said, I filled it with thighs. They still cooked in their own juices. After placing them onto the rack to firm up the skin I bumped the temp up to 400*. I also added BBQ sauce once the skins started setting. I like the firm skins but mine wasnt overly tough. Maybe I got lucky the 2-3 times Ive cooked thighs.:)

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Bud I still very much appreciate your feedback. I won't be using the chicken stock next time it will be salted butter with garlic & thyme cooked into it first. In the North Sea I learned from a Jordie cook how to infuse butter. Once infused you chill it to solidify just till workable by hand, scrape the mixture out on waxed paper and roll it up. He used it on the Flat Top when cooking steaks & stuff (their meats are terrible) I think it will be a better process. Almost Confit cooking.