Finish smoked thighs with a hot sauce and butter glaze instead of the white sauce. Best of both worlds.
Mix all dry rub ingredients. Coat chicken thighs generously under and over the skin.
Refrigerate uncovered on a rack overnight.
Set up smoker with pecan wood at 250F.
Smoke chicken thighs skin-side up for 2-2.5 hours until internal temp hits 175F.
Make Alabama white sauce: whisk mayo, apple cider vinegar, horseradish, black pepper, and a pinch of sugar.
For a clean finish: scrape the skin off each thigh, brush the now-naked chicken with melted butter, and return to high heat (direct or 400F oven) for 5 minutes to re-crisp.
Serve with white sauce on the side.
Pecan-wood chicken thighs. The Alabama white sauce on the side is not optional. Competition circuit secret: scrape off the rubbery smoked skin and replace with a butter-basted finish.
3-2-1 method: 3 hours smoke, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour sauced. Fall-off-the-bone but with bite. Competition ribs don't actually fall off the bone.
Gochujang and soy sauce glaze replaces BBQ sauce in the final phase. Serve with pickled daikon and steamed rice.
No sauce. Heavier on the paprika and cayenne in the rub. Memphis style is smoke and spice without glaze.