Cup Cake Chicken

I LOVE this technique for cooking chicken. I borrowed it from Myron Mixon, a crusty competition BBQ champion. It may seem a bit complicated at first glance but read through it. It is really straight forward and worth the effort.

I typically use a pellet BBQ but the absolute best result I ever got was by using a charcoal BBQ with wood chips. It is much harder to keep a constant 300 degrees with charcoal, so I use the pellet grill for a close second place. I’ve also used a propane BBQ with wood chips for a good result, but again, constant 300 degrees is a challenge.

This technique is also a great way to cook chicken indoors- you won’t get the smoke but you will get great juicy chicken and skin that is not the least bit rubbery.

The prettiest presentation is achieved by using muffin tins with holes drilled into the bottom as described and shown below, but for large crowds I follow the instructions below, but I don’t use muffin tins- instead I put the chicken right on a high walled sheet pan with the broth about ¼ inch deep.

Reminder: If you use muffin tins, holes must be drilled through the bottom to allow the broth to come up from the sheet pan that they are sitting in.

You can use any BBQ sauce that you like- I like Mixon’s Blackberry Hickory sauce recipe but it is rather involved making a hickory sauce and then mixing additional ingredients to that. You can find it online or better yet, buy his cookbook for some great smoking tips. The beauty of this recipe is not so much the sauce; any good sauce will be great. It is the technique that is so excellent.

Total cook time about 2 hrs and 45 minutes at 300. Best flavor results if you use smoke in a BBQ but not required.

For 12 Thighs:

For a beautiful and uniform presentation, using kitchen shears remove the knuckle from each end of the thigh bone. Trim excess fat off the skin and meat of each thigh until 3-4 inches wide, leaving about ¼ inch excess skin at the edges. If you are in a hurry or don’t care so much about the looks, simply trim the worst of the fat and excess skin.

- 2 cups Chicken Rub- use your favorite or look one up online. Apply evenly to both sides

- 3 ¼ cup Chicken Broth (about ¼” deep in the pan). Place thighs in muffin tin skin side down. Set muffin tin in baking pan and pour chicken broth into pan but not directly on top of chicken. Cook in 300 degree smoker (or oven) for 1½ hours.

- Salt and Pepper to Taste. Remove pan from smoker. Remove chicken from the tins. Season w/ salt and pepper. Return to the muffin tins, skin side up. Return to smoker, and cook for an additional 45 minutes.

- Sauce (2-3 cups). Heat the sauce. Remove the pan from smoker, pour the broth from the pan and discard. Place chicken on the dry pan skin side (you are done with the muffin tins). Dip or brush the chicken with the warm sauce.

- Final Step. Place sheet back into the smoker, cook for 30 minutes to allow the sauce to caramelize. Remove from smoker and serve.

This could very well be the best chicken you have ever had from a BBQ.