Trimming Competition Chicken Thighs With Girls Can Grill

Millions have watched Girls Can Grill competition chicken trimming videos. But this one? It’s different.

Instead of speeding through the process, pitmaster Christie Vanover is showing it all step by step from the package to the final trim. No fast-forward. No 10x speed. Just real-time insight into exactly how she trims chicken thighs for competition barbecue.

And yeah, for those outside the BBQ circuit, this might look extreme. People see this and think, “WTF are you doing to that chicken?” It’s true. We’re transforming it. But in competition BBQ, appearance matters. A lot.

Uniform pieces help your box stand out and may nudge you toward that perfect 9 in appearance. It’s not required, but it helps.

Going Back to Thighs

For the past few comps, Vanover has been cooking chicken legs. They’re quick to trim – less than 30 minutes – and super easy to cook.

But her scores have taken a hit, landing in the teens and 20s. Thighs, on the other hand, usually earn her top 10 finishes. So for her upcoming competition in Boulder City, she’s returning to thighs.

What You’ll Need

Here’s a list of chicken trimming equipment Vanover uses.

• Cutting board: Any kind, just big enough to work comfortably
• Kitchen scale: To make sure your thighs are a uniform weight (goal: ~5 ounces trimmed)
• Boning/fillet knife: For shaping and scraping
• Kitchen and garden shears: Kitchen shears for trimming; garden shears for cutting knuckles
• Textured gloves: Like Gloveworks, to grip slippery skin
• Sheet pans: To organize thighs by size
• Paper towels: Always helpful

Selecting Your Thighs

Watch the full podcast on selecting competition meats to see what Vanover looks for when shopping for thighs.

Start by weighing each piece. Vanover looks for thighs between 8.5 and 10 ounces raw. You’ll lose about 3-5 ounces during trimming, so start big. Out of one pack, she might only keep three thighs. That’s why she buys 3-4 packs.

Backyard BBQ vs. Competition Trimming

If you’re just grilling thighs at home, the process is simpler. Trim excess fat and skin, season inside and out, roll it up, and grill or smoke it.

But for competitions, we’re going full detail mode.

The Competition Trim

1. Remove the skin and set it aside.
2. Trim fat from the thigh and look for veins or tendons. Pull those out with your fingers or the tip of your knife.
3. Use garden shears to snip off the knuckle. Then square up both ends of the bone.
4. Trim cartilage and excess fat. Judges won’t bite both ends, but clean meat helps with texture.
5. Roll it up like a burrito and soften the edges with your scissors.
6. Scrape the skin: Lay it flat, fat side up, and scrape both directions with your knife at a 45-degree angle. This reduces chewiness during the low-temp smoke.
7. Lay the skin back on and trim it to fit the thigh’s shape. Roll it up tight again.

Once trimmed, weigh the thigh. Aim for about 5 ounces.

Don’t Waste the Scraps

Vanover saves trimmed fat to render into schmaltz, which adds amazing flavor when melted into the butter bath. Waste not, win more.

If you want to try competition chicken, go for it. Vanover walks through two different methods on her website, and of course, she uses her Girls Can Grill Chicken Rub.