They will not cook evenly if you stack or pile them into a roasting pan. The parts at the bottom will sit in grease and not cook completely. You should have a little space between them so the skin will crisp.

I had to cook a large number of thighs several months ago and ended up standing them on end in one large throwaway pan. There were some spots where they touched and the skin stayed soft, but other than that, it was a success.

There are many recipes for braised or roasted chicken thighs. Most include herbs and spices. A large number should be fine in a large an, spread out and a moderately high emperature

I agree, I often roast chicken for family gatherings and just lay the pieces in a single layer in the pan, season with whatever suits me that day, and roast them. I usually cover them at first, then pour off the fat and continue uncovered until the skin is crispy. At that point I serve them or add some BBQ sauce or other sauce to finish them off.

Lemon is good, as are various fresh herbs. I like to grab a mix of herbs from my herb garden in the summer and just lay them on top, usually thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, tarragon, or any mix thereof.

Brining them overnight in a mix of apple cider/juice and brown sugar/salt/herbs gives them a nice flavor too, if you want something other than "plain" salt and pepper.

Annie

I agree on the single layer method. I roast leg quarters about every 6 weeks to make chicken and veggies, ground up for dog food. Line your pan with foil that you have crumpled up to make clean up easier.

Weber makes a no salt chicken seasoning that is wonderful. Even salt loving dad does not miss the salt. Good on pork also.

Yes to single layer. Enough room around them so that the edges can cook. Doesn't have to be a lot of room--like half an inch.

Single layer skin side up. Agree not much room is needed. The bone-in thighs i get are pretty small. I could probably get 20-24 on a half-sheet pan. Easily, maybe more. A larger oven than mine could do three trays, moving them up and around. Then they could be packed tighter when done in a larger travel tray. Kept warm on a lower heat in your oven.

I'm like Annie and just season as i feel like it. Spring i like lots of lemon, garlic and rosemary/thyme. Summer i like a spicy dry rub and bbq...Fall/winter i go savory with olives, half-dried roasted tomatoes, some dried fruit, capers.

A relative used to lay wings, drums, and thighs on stuffing mix.

What will you be doing with them after you roast them?? You could put them into a covered Dutch oven layered up with some aromatics and a bit of broth or wine for moisture and cook that way. They will be cooked but not browned....and you will have some lovely stuff for a sauce in the pot after you remove the chicken.
If you just want cooked meat, I would remove the skin and do it like I said.
But if you want crisp skin I would put on a rack in the oven in one layer.

Thanks for all the tips!

lindac92, they're going to be served at a potluck at church, so I think I'd like to not have much in the way of sauce, since people will be carrying their plastic plates around to their seats.
I'm going to avoid stuffing mix, because I want them to be gluten free.

Thanks for the apple cider brine tip!

So....this is not a "dish" just cooked chicken thighs for a pot luck? I would do like I said in the dutch oven. As for the "sauce"....you don't have to serve it....you can reduce it and pour over the thighs in thes erving dish.
It's easy and quick and you can flavor them any way you choose.

Add some peeled, whole shallots and garlic cloves to the pan and some white wine for flavour.

lindac92, the thing with a sauce is, it's still there making the chicken sloppy. (Plus, I don't have a Dutch oven.)

I'm wondering how long I'll need to cook them for.

Marinate in a big bowl morning of or over-night...lots of choices for a marinade. Roast single layer on sheet pans at 375 for about an hour...depends on you oven but you could check the temp at 45 min. More than one tray shift them.

A top dressing half way that has a bit of sweet like maple syrup or brown sugar will give nice crispy caramelized skin.

Pack in a travel foil deep tray and cover with foil, chicken hot. Best is in a cooler with a couple hot wet kitchen towels heated in the micro, (use tongs). One on the bottom and one over top.

A little fancy would be caramelized onions with some olives and dates or prunes in the bottom of your travel pan, a sauce, that will mix with the chicken juices and the above chicken will be without sauce...but well seasoned on its own....

Maybe do a trial run with 6-8 thighs to get the recipe comfortable before the event.

This isn't hard; get a couple of aluminum foil pans from the dollar store, put the pieces in a single layer and cook for two hours at 350, pour grease off, cover with bbq sauce from a bottle and broil until crispy with brown places.

Everyone will be gaga.

Oh my.....cook for 2 hours at 350?? Chicken? Way over done

Every oven is different. Dollar store pans are way too high if they are 4-5 inches...needs longer heat and time. Not great for browning....unless they are the low one inch babies...

Don't get your nickers in a knot... try to help. A high foil pan will steam and braise. Longer cooking time...

If we're talking 350° F, chicken parts, up to about twenty, single layer, single rack in the oven, shallow pan (2") go for about 50 minutes. Are the thighs "restaurant cut", round with just the one bone, or triangular cut, with the pelvis and the joint intact? If the former, I'd still go about 50 minutes and check one in the center and one in a front corner with a thermometer, since you're feeding a large, and potentially vulnerable, group. If they're the triangular thighs, I might give them an extra ten minutes. Add a bit for multiple racks and more chicken. If you're doing multiple racks with no convection, you'll have to switch them around and compensate for the time with the door open. A thermometer is your friend. A $10 one will work. Just keep it away from the bone. An oven thermometer could help too, unless you know that the oven you'll be using is fairly accurate.

If they are skin on in a pan snuggled flat, thighs will create A LOT of fat and a 4" high pan is fine, and yes I think 2 hours is fine. The meat will be a braise and fall of the bone. I would cover with bbq sauce at the end and run under the broiler after pouring all the fat off.

You cook them for 2 hours and you will fry them in their own grease for the last hour and yes they will fall off the bone into pile. You will be able to lift the bones out and leave a pan full of grease and chicken.
Years ago I learned a rule of thumb from my mother....spread a whole spatchocked chicken on a cookie sheet, season if you want, and cook in a 375 oven for 45 minutes. Since then I have learned that in 45 minutes the breast will be over done, so i prefer to cook breast portions and hind quarters....and I put the hind quarters into the oven 10 minutes before I add the breast.
One time I cooked 60 pounds of chicken pieces, in my ovens at home for a wedding shower in my yard. I cranked the ovens to 425 and kept sliding cookie sheets into the ovens every 20 minutes.
Cleaning the ovens the next day was another thing! But the chicken was delicious!

I don't want them falling off the bone--this is for a potluck.

The other wrinkle for me is the timeline. It's a big festival at church for the day, so:

3:00 choir practice

4:00 church service

5:30 church service ends

6:00 people actually start eating.

I'm thinking I'll ask if I can roast them in the oven there at 3pm, right before choir practice, and then pop them into my cooler (love that idea for the microwaved kitchen towels, sleevendog (5a NY).

And 50 minutes sounds good. They'll probably continue to cook a bit in the cooler, no?

plllog, thanks for the recommendation for the two different cuts. I don't know which kind I got, but now I'll know to check them.

Oh, I do that cooler trick w/ my Thanksgiving turkey (but I rinse it w/ extra-hot water in the bathtub to get it hot)

50 minutes is too long.... at 350....and then kept warm in a cooler ( how do it know?) for 3 hours. they will continue to cook. I would put them, raw into the oven at 250 at 3:00....and they should be nicely done by 5:30.
I hate the trying to time things at a church pot luck!!...It's usually a table full of over cooked food and cold dishes....Oh and Jello salads. I try for the cold dishes, like lentil salads, 3 bean salads, chicken salad, devilled egg>
Rub your chicken thighs with a little soy sauce....oops not gluten free....get some gluten free soy sauce....they will looke browned.
Will there be a Kitchen Crew setting things up during the service? Maybe someone could put them in to cook about 4:30.
And in all this, please be aware of the safety issues....the chicken needs to be kept either hotter than 145 or cooler than 40...and any time spent inbetween those temperatures should not amount to more than 4 hours...total....including travel time prep time and serving time.
30 to 40 uncovered in the oven at 350 to 375 ( depending on what else is in the oven) will make them perfectly done.....if you can figure out how to do that!!
If you are still in doubt....Google how long to cook chicken thighs....
You could cook them at home...25 mnutes on a baking sheet, and them put them into a serving dish that is hot, cover with foil and place into a cooler on about a2 inch layer of newspaper, more newspaper on the sides more newspaper on top and the lid. I have kept foods burn-our-mouth hot for 5 hours like that

Linda, how long and what temp would you advise for boneless, skinless thighs? And how would you prepare them?

I would like to make them for DD's lunch throughout the week.

It is impossible to tell exactly how long and how hot to cook any meat without knowing your oven and what are your objectives..

it depends on what kind of oven you have. Gas? electric? convection? regular? --- They all give very different cooking .

Given the fact that meat gets dry and tough when cooked at near 212F, here is basically what i do:

I bake my chicken at 170 F for 5 hours in my convection oven. Then quick broil at 500F. The convection oven dries up the skin and the broiler makes the dried skin very crispy.

If I sous vide (water oven), I set the temperature at 145F for 10 hours then quick broil.

Very tender juicy chicken with crackling crispy skin are my objectives for making chicken.

dcarch

Your chicken looks delicious! I'd like tender juicy chicken as well. She prefers skinless and boneless though.

I have a gas oven.

Nannygoats, I would spread the thighs on a baking sheet, skin side up and place into a preheated 375 oven until they are fork tender and the skin is crisp....about 25 to 35 minutes depending on the size of the thighs. Or you could cook at 425 for a shorter period....like about 20 minutes.
I wouldn't put them in a convection oven for 5 hours at 170....they will be near to jerky....rather like putting them outside in the sun with a hot desert wind blowing.
I prefer cooking my chicken thighs fast and hot, crisp the outside keep the inside moist.

Thanks, Lindac! I appreciate your input.

However, I'm cooking SKINLESS BONELESS thighs and they're either undercooked (rawish and rubbery) or overcooked (tough and stringy). Do these instructions pertain to these parts? Do you use oil to compensate for the lack of skin? Or some other method?

Nanny, there are a ton of variables, including size/weight of chicken, quantity, thickness of pan, oven, moisture, etc. Boneless cooks much faster, and I think a cooler oven might be better for skinless. If the point of skinless is to reduce the fat, then oil isn't a great addition. Steam might help a lot. Put a dish of water next to or beneath the chicken pan, or put the chicken on a rack in the pan and put some water (or stock or wine) in the bottom. Do you have a temperature probe? That might help with the timing--I can never make them work for me, but many people do very well with that. If not, just set your oven for the minimum amount of time you think you'll need, use your meat thermometer (or cut into one) to check the temperature, give them a few more minutes if needed, repeat. Once you know the total number of minutes for opening the door and checking, the next time, you can undershoot that a bit for your starting temperature, and eventually you'll know exactly the time and temperature you need given your birds, equipment, etc. And you'll develop an instinct for if the pieces are a bit bigger or a bit smaller and how much adjustment you need to make.

Under cooked chicken is not "rubbery"...it is soft and mushy....if you are finding rubbery chicken youa re over cooking it.
Perhaps a dish of roasted boneless skinless chicken thighs with out any sort of sauce or cooking "juice" is not the best choice for a pot luck where the dish has to be unattended for 3 hours. because unless you have some sort of moisture on that meat, or serve it as soon as it is done, it will indeed be dry and stringy.
I would suggest suggest a wild rice casserole with chicken, celery, mushrooms, onions water chesnuts and chicken broth. You could assemble the casserole bring it to church chilled and covered and leave it in a 225 oven for 3 hours with no harm.
frankly you are trying to do something that won't work as you want.

Thanks, plllog! She isn't reducing fat, just likes the versatility of plain chicken, so oil is acceptable. Like you, I'm unlucky with a temp probe. I tried water, but included it WITH the chicken and made it mushy and soggy, so maybe putting it next to it would work better.

Lindac, again, thanks for your input. The OP needs a potluck dish, not me. As stated upthread, this is just for DD's lunches. There were so many chicken-knowledgeable suggestions, that I hijacked the thread a bit:)

For the potluck with bone in, skin on thighs -- the 50-60 minutes at 350 will work. I'd test drive a few thighs in advance at a little over 300ish to maybe 325ish for the period of the church service, and see how they work. (an hour an a half).

I definitely see your point in not wanting sloppy juices - I love cooking thighs and legs because they can be so incredibly tasty, and one of my favorite things to cook them in the oven with is a little salt, pepper, garlic powder -- and lots of lemon. Another option instead of lemon (or lime) could be balsamic vinegar. But lemon or lime have inherent sugars, and can help crisp up the skin without adding sugars or sugary tastes that really don't belong on chicken... If I'm in a Mexican mood, I might throw on some chili powder (mild or spicy, but for a large pot luck, I suggest mild). Be sure to drain off extra fats when you pull them out of the oven.

Whomever suggested cooking the thighs until they fall off the bones... um, I actually hate when that happens... ;) ...Unless I'm making stock!

"----Under cooked chicken is not "rubbery"...it is soft and mushy....if you are finding rubbery chicken youa re over cooking it.---"

I would classify under cooked chicken as tender and juice, never mushy, and over cooked chicken, like supermarket roasted chicken, tough and powdery.

"---I wouldn't put them in a convection oven for 5 hours at 170....they will be near to jerky....rather like putting them outside in the sun with a hot desert wind blowing.---"

It is not possible to dry up skin-on chicken in a convection oven at 170. Air drying chicken skin is pretty much standard to help making the skin crispy. Here is another one, with crispy skin and tender juicy meat:

For skin-less chicken, the method is different. When I am not doing sous vide at 155F, I sometimes steam (barely steam) and making sure the IT never goes over 155F. Then I either grill or pan fry quickly to give it some caramelization flavor.

dcarch

Thanks, however I'm confused. Are you saying that you steam the thighs and then grill or panfry? (I wouldn't be able to test the water temp). Also, we want to utilize oven baking methods only.