BBQ Chicken Thighs with Quick Slaw
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Last updated
- Prep
- 20 min
- Bath
- 2 hours
- Total
- 2 hr 35 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
Main Coursechickenbarbecueslaw
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, fully thawed and refrigerator-cold
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 1/2 cup prepared barbecue sauce, kept separate from raw chicken
- 3 cups shredded cabbage
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2 tbsp apple-cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
Method
Prepare
- Season the thighs with salt and pepper and seal flat in one layer without overlap. Keep the skin and bone in place and follow the method below.
- Reserve the barbecue sauce and a clean brush for finishing. Keep the slaw ingredients away from raw chicken and its utensils.
Cook
- Set the water bath to 165.2°F.
- For Tender Thighs, use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, fully thawed and refrigerator-cold. The source gives no thigh weight or thickness limit; every piece must be measurable with a food thermometer. Boneless thighs, drumsticks, quarters, and whole birds need separate methods. Season with salt and pepper. Seal flat in one layer without overlap, keeping barbecue sauce and oil outside the pouch. Fully submerge the sealed bags in a verified, preheated circulating bath with water space around every bag. Start timing at immersion and complete the full listed time without interruption. The listed time covers the bath stage. Allow additional time for the thermometer check, any hotter cooking, and finishing. Insert the thermometer from the side into the thickest center of every piece, keeping its full sensing area inside the meat and away from bone and fat; check uneven areas. Every measured spot must reach 165°F before finishing. Continue cooking in a skillet or oven and recheck every cooler spot. Bath time, color, tenderness, and browning do not replace this check. Use clean utensils and discard all pouch liquid. Keep cooked food away from raw food, used bags, and utensils used for raw food. Dry the skin, brown in a clean skillet, then brush lightly with clean barbecue sauce near the end. Serve immediately. These methods cover immediate service only, not frozen starts, chilling, storage, reheating, or holding. Stuffed, rolled, injected, brined, cured, or unmeasurable chicken is excluded. The breast method cannot be used for thighs.
- Cook for 2 hours if you are cooking fully thawed, refrigerator-cold bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, flat in one layer without overlap, with every piece measurable using a food thermometer.
- Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, honey, and Dijon in a clean bowl. Near serving time, toss with cabbage and carrot and season to taste.
Check before finishing
- At the end of the bath, open the pouch and transfer each piece intact to a clean surface with clean utensils. Discard the pouch liquid and any sauce that touched raw food.
- Use a clean food thermometer. Insert the thermometer from the side into the thickest center of every piece, keeping its full sensing area inside the meat and away from bone and fat; check uneven areas.
- Every spot you check must reach 165°F. If any reading is lower, keep cooking with a method hot enough to reach this temperature and check each cooler spot again. Complete this check before finishing.
Finish
- After the center check, discard the pouch liquid and dry the skin. Brown skin-side down in a clean skillet with the neutral oil, pressing gently for even contact, then turn briefly.
- Lower the heat and brush lightly with the clean barbecue sauce. Turn just enough to let the glaze cling without scorching.
Serve
- Serve the thighs immediately with the slaw alongside.
Want another texture or thickness?
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