Made some BBQ chicken that turned out great! A lot of people make the mistake of try to cook them like burgers which usually makes a mess of it.
Here are some pics and 5 tips on barbecuing chicken.
I like adding some honey to my BBQ sauce to make a glaze out of it.
BBQ the chicken with a rub and add the glaze in the last 15 to 30 minutes of the cook.
Here are some tips for the next time you fix BBQ chicken.1. If you have the time, brine. Brining will make your chicken stay extra juicy and moist, even if you accidentally over cook it a little. Brining is easy to do (check recipe link below), but it does take a little extra time. So plan ahead and buy your chicken a day before you plan to grill it.
2. Legs and thighs. If you end up having to buy your chicken the day of the BBQ with no time to brine, you might consider skipping the white meat and just cooking legs and thighs. Legs and thighs are a lot more forgiving on the grill, so there is less chance of dry, overcooked chicken.
3. Low and slow. BBQ Chicken needs to be grilled over indirect heat at a temperature of around 300°F (check recipe link below), so you need to fix up the grill accordingly. On a charcoal grill move the hot coals to one side of the grill, on a gas grill turn on only half the burners. Grill the chicken on the side of the grill without the hot burners/coals and with the lid closed. You can still grill your burgers and hot dogs on the hot side of the grill, just give the chicken an hour head start.
4. Rub, then sauce at the end. A common mistake when barbecuing chicken is to apply the BBQ sauce too soon, or even at the beginning. The sugar in the sauce then burns, leaving a bitter taste. Apply a BBQ rub at the beginning and sauce the chicken the last 15 to 30 minutes.
5. Get an instant read thermometer. You can cut into the chicken pieces to see if it is done, or check for clear running juices when poked. But the best way is to use an instant read thermometer if you really want to know when things are done on the grill. White meat is done at around 160°F and dark meat is done a 165°F. Be sure to get a thermometer with a fast instant read response time. Some instant reads can be pretty slow. ThermoWorks makes some of the best and are super fast. You can find them on Amazon starting at $19.
Recipe and more detailed instructions and pictures here. The chicken turned out great! The glaze on the chicken has a nice caramelization, but is not burned. When I cut into the breast the meat actually looked wet. Now that is a juicy piece of chicken. I am really glad I took the extra time to brine it. Now for the taste, sweet, tangy, savory and juicy... I would call this perfect.
