The Secret to Great Barbecue Chicken
Believe it or not barbecue chicken is one of those dishes that is very disappointing at most barbecue events. The reason is most people get it wrong. They think that they can cook barbecue chicken by slapping it on a hot grill, flipping it over a couple of times, and once is brown on the outside they think it done. They will slather it up with the sweetest barbecue sauce they can find and declare it barbecue chicken. When you bite into it you find out that it is underdone, not much flavor, and just about the worst chicken that you’ve ever eaten.
It really doesn’t have to be that way. Barbecue chicken could be juicy, sweet, and with a huge flavor profile that you only get you put it in a smoker. The smoker is the kicker for most people because they won’t have one and they don’t know how to make one. The fact of the matter is that it is relatively easy to do. You can get great barbecue chicken with a few techniques.
The secret to great barbecue chicken is using a brine. A brine is nothing more than a solution of salt and water, maybe some sugar, and some other spices. The trick is to marinate your chicken in the brine from 30 min. to a couple of hours (at most) before putting on the grill or smoker. Once you marinated your chicken Pat it dry and let it set dry out the skin for about 30 min.
If you have a smoker then great! You will need some wood chips that have been soaking in water for at least 30 min. to an hour so that you can get a good smoked flavor profile when you cook the chicken. If you don’t have a smoker don’t worry. You can make a smoker with any barbecue grill. Just make sure that you have something to put the wood chips in when you place them over the fire. The easiest way to do this is to wrap the wood chips in aluminum foil and punch a couple of holes in the foil.
Make sure that when you are cooking the barbecue chicken that you cook it over indirect heat. This means that you don’t put the chicken directly over the fire. This takes a little bit longer but it allows thoroughly, keeping it juicy, and getting a nice smoke flavor profile. Cook the chicken until it has an internal temperature of about 150°. You can check the temperature with any meat thermometer. When the chicken is approaching this temperature this is the time to use any barbecue sauce that you would like to use. Just brush on the barbecue sauce in the last 15 to 20 min. of cooking.
If you do this then your barbecue chicken will be a hit. This is undoubtedly the best way cook chicken in the backyard. You will be glad that you did.
