Barbecued Dry-Rubbed Chicken

By mz0926

From Cook's Country

August/September 2010
Why this recipe works:
To please all manner of tastes, we used drumsticks, split breasts, and thighs in our Barbecued Dry-Rubbed Chicken recipe. Dark brown sugar added sweetness and helped create a glaze on the exterior of the chicken as it melted. For classic barbecue flavors, we went with chili powder, paprika, onion powder, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Allowing the chicken to rest after applying the rub both deeply seasoned the meat and drew some of the moisture from the chicken to its surface, thus jump-starting the glazing. Applying a second coat of dry rub during grilling was the key to a stellar glaze as the sugar in the second coat melted over the first.

Ingredients

• Serves 4 to 6
• Apply the second coating of spice with a light hand or it won’t melt into a glaze.
• Ingredients3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, breasts halved crosswise, leg quarters separated into thighs and drumsticks

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions
1. RUB CHICKEN Combine brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, pepper, dry mustard, onion powder, salt, and cayenne in small bowl. Transfer half of dry rub to shallow dish; reserve. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and coat over and under skin with remaining rub. Transfer to plate and refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.


2. GRILL CHICKEN Heat all burners on high, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low. (For charcoal grill, open bottom vent on grill. Light about 50 coals; when they are covered with fine gray ash, spread evenly over bottom of grill. Set cooking grate in place and heat covered, with lid vent open completely, for 5 minutes.) Scrape and oil cooking grate. Arrange chicken skin side down and grill until skin is well browned and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.


3. DREDGE Lightly coat skin side of chicken with reserved rub and return to grill, skin side up. Continue to grill, covered, until rub has melted into glaze and white meat registers 160 degrees and dark meat 175 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.



A Rub Becomes a Glaze


Barbecued chicken without a sauce? It seems unusual, but we found a way.


1. To season the meat and jump-start the glaze, we put half the rub over and under the skin. Then we let it sit before grilling.



2. We cook the chicken on the grill until the skin is nicely browned and crisp. Then we dredge the skin side in the remaining rub.



3. We return the chicken to the grill, skin side up, and continue cooking until the rub melts into a glaze and the chicken cooks through