Make your life easier and smoke competition chicken legs instead of thighs. The trimming process is simpler and judges love them.
Table of Contents
If you’re tired of trimming and prepping competition chicken thighs, you may be ready to give chicken legs a try.
The prep is so much easier, and they’ve been performing well on the circuit.
Like chicken thighs, chicken legs get hit with some smoke and a butter bath to ensure they’re nice and juicy. This recipe also includes a brine.
Ingredients
- Poultry Brine: There are several brands out there. Look at their recommended ratios. Usually, it’s 1/4 cup brine to 2 cups of water.
- Water
- Chicken Legs: Look for organic, air-chilled chicken legs with white skins.
- Chicken Rub: Try my award-winning Chicken Rub.
- Butter: I use Kerrygold salted butter.
- Moore’s Marinade: This adds some umami flavor to the chicken as it braises.
- BBQ Sauce: I prefer fruitier, sweet sauces for chicken.
See the full recipe card below for servings and a full list of ingredients.
How to smoke competition chicken legs
First, read my post for how to trim competition chicken legs. When you bring your legs to the competition, they can be trimmed but not seasoned. So don’t start step one until after your meat inspection.
- STEP ONE: Mix 8 cups of water and 1 cup of chicken brine in a large Cambro food container. Add the legs to the brine, making sure they’re submerged. Cover and refrigerate for four hours.
- STEP TWO: After four hours, remove the legs from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Season all sides with a medium to light dusting of your favorite chicken rubs.
PRO TIP: You can brine your chicken on Friday afternoon. After four hours, remove the legs from the brine and place them in a pan in the refrigerator until the next morning. Then, season them Saturday morning 30 minutes before smoking.
- STEP THREE: Place the seasoned legs on a rack with the flat side facing down. Place the rack on a 300F degree smoker over indirect heat. Smoke for 45 minutes.
- STEP FOUR: While the legs are smoking, prep your basting pan. Add two sticks of sliced butter to a deep aluminum half pan. Drizzle about a tablespoon of Moore’s Marinade in the bottom of the pan.
- STEP FIVE: After the legs have smoked for 45 minutes, remove them from the rack and place them in the pan with the butter. Alternate the direction of each leg. Cover with foil.
- STEP SIX: Reduce the grill temperature to 275F degrees. Place the pan on the smoker and cook until the internal temperature of the legs reaches 190-205F degrees. This will take about 30 minutes. I use a Thermapen ONE to get a precise measurement.
- STEP SEVEN: While the legs are cooking, heat the sauce in a 2-pound aluminum loaf pan.
- STEP EIGHT: When the legs reach the proper internal temperature, remove them from the pan. Look at the backside. If you see any blowouts, trim it with scissors. Also cleanup any other frays with scissors.
- STEP NINE: Dunk the legs in the sauce and place them on a rack. Place the rack back on the smoker for 5-7 minutes to set the sauce.
PRO TIP: To make your chicken shiny, add some glaze, honey or syrup to your BBQ sauce.
How to box chicken legs
Once your chicken legs are ready, place them in the provided box on top of a fresh bed of KCBS-approved greens.
There are several different ways you can arrange the legs. Here are some impressive boxes that were posted by competitive pitmasters on instagram.
GCG Pro Pitmaster Tips
- Trim your legs at home before the competition
- Brine them Friday night
- Season the legs just before smoking them
- Cook the legs to an internal temperature of 190-195F for maximum juiciness
More Competition BBQ Tips
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Smoked Competition Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 12 chicken legs, trimmed
- 1 cup poultry brine
- 8 cups water
- Girls Can Grill Chicken Rub
- 2 stickes Kerrygold salted butter, sliced
- 1 tbsp Moore's Marinade
- 2 cups BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Brine: Combine the powdered brine and water in large container. Add the legs, making sure they're submerged. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Dry: Remove the legs from the brine and pat dry. Keep refrigerated until ready to season.
- Season: About 30 minutes before you're ready to smoke the chicken, season both sides with a light to medium amount of rub.
- Smoke: Heat the smoker to 300F degrees. Place the seasoned legs on a rack, flat side down. Place the rack on the smoker and smoke for 45 minutes.
- Prep: Place the sliced butter in a deep aluminum half pan. Drizzle in the marinade.
- Cover: After 45 minutes, remove the legs from the smoker. Place them in the pan of butter, alternating directions. Cover.
- Braise: Reduce the grill temperature to 275F degrees. Place the covered pan on the grill and cook until the internal temperature reaches 190-205F degrees. This will take about 30 minutes.
- Heat Sauce: While the legs are cooking, heat the sauce in a 2-pound aluminum loaf pan.
- Trim: Remove the legs from the smoker. Inspect them for blowouts or frays. Trim with scissors, if needed.
- Sauce: Dunk each leg in the warm sauce. Place on a rack. Place the rack back on the grill for 5-7 minutes.
- Box: Remove the legs from the smoker and place them in the turn-in box.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
