Tag: yardbird rub

This recipe is very easy. First, you buy the rub so you do not have to make anything. The Rub is Plowboys Yardbird Rub and if you are trying to find it click on the name in the list of ingredients above. This is the rub from the team that won the 2009 American Royal Invitational. From the team of Todd Johns and his brother-in-law Randy Hinck (who compete as the Pork Pullin Plowboys) who bested 123 past grand champions to capture the overall crown. So it has actually won championships so it makes your job easy. I highly recommend you use frog mats and use installed food handling gloves. If you watch the video below you can get a good idea of how they all work together. The frog mats will allow you to handle eight chicken thighs at the same time and the gloves will totally eliminate having to use tongs or a spatula. Also, makes cleanup a breeze. I put eight chicken thighs on to one frog mat. I then apply the rub to the chicken thighs. This rub has a lot of salt so beware if you are salt intolerant. Also, you really want to make sure you cover all the skin. After applying the rub I spray the chicken with spray-on cooking oil. The oil does two things. First, it keeps the rub in place and second it will allow the chicken skin to crisp up.

While I am doing all the prep I preheat my smoker or grill (using indirect cooking method) to 350F. Do NOT cook at a lower temperature for the chicken skin will become rubbery. You also need to bring the internal chicken temperature up quickly and it has to cook above 165F to be safe. I do not pull the chicken until I read at least 165F in the thickest part of the thigh but not touching bone. This is usually at least an hour and on my smoker, it is one hour and fifteen minutes. Now with your insulated gloves you can now take the chicken off the grill or grate and let it sit for about five minutes and then serve.