Burnt Ends
February 1, 2021
S’mores Pie
August 29, 2021Sweet, earthy and smoky
If you want to do something a little different for dinner and take your chicken to the next level, this is the recipe for you!
Made famous by the very talented Myron Mixon cupcake chicken adds a range of flavors together to make a seriously tasty meal.
This recipe was cooked on the incredible Nomad Grill, which goes to show it isn't just an amazing grill, but operates really well as a super portable smoker as well. The cooker was perfect for this recipe as it has a huge amount of cooking space and with the vent controls on both sides, allows you to manage the temperature throughout the whole smoke.
I was also super impressed with the charcoal that came with the Nomad Grill. They burned for a really long time, produced a great flavor of their own and had very minimal ash compared to standard charcoal. I definitely plan on using this charcoal when smoking on the grill in future, as it means I don't have to lug around a stack of traditional charcoal, just to get that same burn time.
The toughest part about this recipe is that it has a bunch of steps. In order to make it easier to make at home, I have split it into three different sections. Prep, smoke and glaze.
Prep
- 3 lbs Skin on chicken thighs
- Sharp knife
- Patience
Method
1. To prep the chicken thighs, begin by separating the skin from the thigh meat, before either removing, or trimming the knuckles off of the interior thigh bone.
2. Remove any of the large, yellowy white pockets of fat along the exterior of the chicken thighs.
3. Lay your chicken skin fat side up and taking your knife, scrape the surface of the skin at about a 45 degree angle. You want to remove the thick fat from the skin, so that it will effectively render down when cooking and avoid that chewy, rubbery skin.
Smoke
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon paprika
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Method
1. Preheat your smoker to 300 F and set a piece of your favorite smoking wood. I used Cherry, because I love the color it gives the meat. Depending on the kind of smoker you are using, will make a difference with your set up. For the Nomad Grill, I used ten of their amazing Charcoal logs and it sat really well at that temperature throughout the cook.
2. Mix your rub ingredients together thoroughly and then liberally sprinkle across the surface of your chicken thighs, before lightly coating the inside of your chicken skins..
3. Place your chicken thigh, top side down onto your skin and then peel each side up onto the thigh meat. Draw the open ends of your skin together at the base of the thigh and hold it there between thumb and forefinger. This should give you a nice round thigh, entirely covered in the skin.
4. Place your chicken skin side down into your greased muffin tray. This is going to help the thigh maintain its shape throughout the cooking process.
5. Don't worry too much if the base of your thighs looks messy. We are just cooking for our friends and family here, they don't need to be perfect.
6. Place your chicken into your smoker for 90 minutes before removing and flipping the thighs.
7. Pro tip-Before adding the thighs back into the tray, add a small square of butter into each opening. When the thigh goes back onto the smoker, the butter will melt and help to add some extra flavor and moisture to the chicken.
8. Lightly dust the top of your chicken thighs with the rub, to add some extra flavour and texture to the chicken.
9. Return the chicken to the smoker for 60 minutes.
Glaze
- 1/2 cup Seedless blackberry preserve
- 1/2 cup Ketchup
- 1/2 cup Maple syrup
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon your favorite hot sauce
Method
1. Mix all ingredients together in a blender, before placing on a medium heat and simmering together for 5 minutes. Do not let the sauce come to a boil
2. Remove chicken thighs from muffin tray and place on a wire rack
3. Remove from heat and pour or brush the sauce over cupcake chicken, before returning to the smoker for approximately 30 minutes or until the sauce is sticky and caramelized.
4. Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes and serve. Chicken should be juicy and the skin firm and almost crisp.
