Barbecued Chicken

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I love real barbecue, pork shoulder and beef brisket cooked low and slow. But I'm a Northerner, so when I think of barbecued chicken, I think of thick, sweet, tomato based barbecue sauce.

The problem is, barbecue sauce burns. The high heat of the grill and the sugar in the sauce are a bad combination. I want a glaze on my chicken, not charred carbon. I wait until the last fifteen minutes of cooking, then brush on the sauce in a few layers. This is just enough time to caramelize the sugar in the sauce and thicken it into a tight glaze.

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Ingredients

  • Equipment
  • Sauce brush
  • Ingredients
  • 1 (4 pound) chicken
  • Barbecue Sauce
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce
  • Barbecue Rub
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Fist sized chunk of smoking wood (or 1 cup wood chips)

Preparation

Step 1

Directions

1. Season, truss and spit the chicken
Whisk the barbecue sauce ingredients in a bowl, then set aside.

Mix the barbecue rub ingredients in a small bowl. Break up any clumps of brown sugar until it is completely mixed with the other spices. Sprinkle the chicken with the barbecue rub inside and out, patting it onto the chicken to help it stick. Gently work your fingers under the skin on the breast, then rub some of the barbecue rub directly onto the breast meat.

Fold the wingtips under the wings and truss the chicken. Skewer the chicken on the rotisserie spit, securing it with the spit forks. Let the chicken rest at room temperature until it is time to grill. Submerge the smoking wood in water and let it soak until the grill is ready.

2. Set up the grill for indirect high heat
Set the grill up for indirect high heat with the drip pan in the middle of the grill.

3. Rotisserie cook the chicken
Put the spit on the grill, start the motor spinning, and make sure the drip pan is centered beneath the chicken. Add the smoking wood to the fire, then close the lid and cook until the chicken reaches 160°F in the thickest part of the breast, about 1 hour. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, brush the chicken with the barbecue sauce every five minutes.

4. Serve
Remove the chicken from the rotisserie spit and remove the twine trussing the chicken. Be careful - the spit and forks are blazing hot. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes, then carve and serve, passing the remaining barbecue sauce at the table.

Notes
• If you have the time, use the barbecue rub as a dry brine. Rub the chicken the day before, and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.
• I make large batches of the rub and barbecue sauce. The rub keeps for about a year in the pantry, and the sauce keeps for a couple of months in the refrigerator.

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