Smoked Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs
Delicious chicken thigh meat, soaked in buttermilk to bring out the absolute most in flavor and tenderness, then dry brined with my rub followed by a bacon wrap and a couple of hours in the smoker create an entree that must be tasted to be believed.
- Prep Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 5 -6 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Hot Smoking
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 10–12 boneless ((, skinless chicken thighs))
- 1/2 gallon buttermilk
- Jeff’s Rub
- 1 lb bacon (((1 piece per thigh)))
- Jeff’s barbecue sauce
- 1/2 cup orange juice (((I use medium pulp)))
Instructions
Buttermilk Soak
- Remove any extra, loose fat from meat
- Place meat in bowl and cover with buttermilk
- Cover and place in fridge for 4 hours
- Remove from fridge and drain buttermilk.
- Discard buttermilk
Dry Brine
- Place single layer of meat into container
- Sprinkle a generous coat of rub onto meat
- Place another layer on top of the first
- Sprinkle a generous coat of rub onto 2nd layer of meat
- Repeat layers until all meat is coated with rub
- Cover and place in fridge for 2 hours
- Remove from fridge
Bacon Wrap
- Stretch a piece of bacon until it is about 2x it’s normal length
- Wrap stretched piece of bacon around thigh
- Lay on cookie sheet or Bradley rack
Smoking the Chicken Thighs
- Preheat smoker to 240°F
- Smoke cook with cherry wood for about 2 hours or until center of meat reads 165°F using a digital meat thermometer or Thermapen
- Serve immediately