my friend, thighs are my favorite part of the yard bird anatomy.
For the wsm, you may choose to get skinless, but I don't. Even at
lower temps that leave the skin rubbery, it still bastes the meat with
luscious rendered chicken fat.
So I always get thighs with skin and bone in.
Now may I reccomend rubbing that there thigh with a bbq rub of your choosing, or, like me, a blend of herbs and spices that are not cumin based. Get some rub under the skin...this is important, especially if you
are going to discard the skin.
Now marinade in Italian dressing. The bolder and spicy-er, the better for me.
now choose your wood...I love cherry or pecan with yardbird, but just about every choice does well. Please keep in mind that the stronger woods can overpower said thigh, which takes on smoke in a delovely manner. In other words, careful with da hickory or mesquite.
Now, there are several options for using your wsm for this. If you are doing these thighs just for a snack while butts or briskets are going,
I'd reccomend that you start on the smoker and finish on the grill to
crisp the skin.
If it's just a chicken cook, (and I use my kettle, which works magnificently), you may consider removing your water pan altogether.
If you do this, keep in mind that yardbirds will drop a lot of rendered fat
into the coals, and a flareup or worse may occur. Keep an eye on the temps and the color of the smoke coming out. Black smoke is not good here.
If you don't remove the pan, you can foil it and add no water or sand,
and open those vents up, and hope to get temps up to 350 or above. Doing this will allow the skin to crisp up better, maybe not crisp, but still good. The last20 or 30 minutes, brush wif yo sauce, flip and brush again,
and enjoy the best chicken you ever et. Might good vittles.
