BBQ Chicken

[Chad Michael]

Next to fish, chicken on the bone is the hardest thing to master on a grill. Most folks start it out too high and burn it, especially if they have a sugary bbq sauce on it. Some nice photos here, making me hungry.

Don't know if I'm smart or lucky, but I have had no problem grilling fish (halibut, salmon, steelhead) that turned out excellent.

Chicken, for some reason... is a challenge for me.

BBQ sauce - aren't you supposed to add that when it's nearly done :saywhat:

Trying to learn "low... and slow..." on my new pellet grill. Cookin with wood.

 

[rebellovw]

You have good taste in chicken too. You also have the same Mac Preamp. :thmbsp:

You have the c220 as well? Such a great preamp - I love mine.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[rebellovw]

Next to fish, chicken on the bone is the hardest thing to master on a grill. Most folks start it out too high and burn it, especially if they have a sugary bbq sauce on it. Some nice photos here, making me hungry.

Thanks very much - I'm always looking at improving my BBQ technique (there is a ton of room for that in my case.)

 

[mulester7]

I'm a fan of the Chicken Dance

.....what do you guys use to coat beer-can chickens?....what type of rub?....for chicken, I'm going to guess a lot of paprika....what else?.....

 

[Cactus Bob]

You have the c220 as well? Such a great preamp - I love mine.

Thanks,

Chris

Yes Sir! I bought it only a month ago. It brought my system up to a new level that I didn't think was possible. So many great features also.

Bob

 

[mulester7]

.....one last suggestion on the coal bed in the Weber 22....construct the bottom layer and the second layer in the cooker with cold coals, then throw both cold layers into a chimney and get them going....pour them back into the cooker....close the bottom vents....work the lit coals with tongs to reconstruct the bottom two layers....set layers three and four with cold briquettes by hand....open the bottom vents full....put the cooking grid in place....wait 10-15 minutes, no need to fan....close the bottom vents to sear.....

 

[mulester7]

.....Costerdock, sorry to crap your thread....the chicken you grilled looked great....I should have started a thread on the Weber 22.....

 

[rebellovw]

.....Costerdock, sorry to crap your thread....the chicken you grilled looked great....I should have started a thread on the Weber 22.....

Thanks for your posts and help Certainly no thread crap here It makes me want to BBQ again!

Thanks

Chris

 

[transmaster]

.....it burns wood chips, and a whole lotta' people love that wood-smoked taste....what type of wood do you use?....which brand of charcoal?.....

I use Kingsford charcoal because of it's dependable heat output, and for wood chips I use either Hickory or Mesquite. I have wanted to use other woods but frankly Hickory or Mesquite are so good I am in no hurry to try them.

 

[transmaster]

You might find this interesting about beer can chicken.

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/debunking_beer_can_chicken.html

 

[transmaster]

Man - now I want to BBQ again! I think next Sunday will be a pot roast chili type thing made in a dutch oven.

Very good but are you going to do it in a proper Dutch with charcoal?

 

[mulester7]

I use Kingsford charcoal because of it's dependable heat output, and for wood chips I use either Hickory or Mesquite. I have wanted to use other woods but frankly Hickory or Mesquite are so good I am in no hurry to try them.

.....I got hung up on apple tree wood chips one time....the taste of apple smoke is not as bold as hickory, and certainly not as bold as mesquite....mesquite's in a class by itself, way out there in the desert....but still, about every three months, I want a T-bone with some mesquite smoke on it, cooked and eaten on the patio in the early morning.....

.....as for charcoal, I get whatever's cheapest....a coal bed has to last me 90 minutes for searing and baking chicken leg quarters, and that's the longest fire I need....am currently using Wal-Mart brand charcoal that cost me 8 bucks for two 18 lb sacks six months ago, and it does fine giving me 90 minutes-plus for searing and smoke-baking 10 leg quarters.....

.....8 bucks for two 18 lb sacks of Wal-Mart charcoal six months ago....I noticed tonight the price is now $6.50 for ONE 18 lb sack....don't waste charcoal....close all the vents as quickly as you can after taking off the meat, and set a brick on the handle of the top....you'll have your bottom layer of coals for next time.....

.....guys, learn to grill chicken pieces or halves....even though prices are going up on everything at the grocery stores, chicken will always be the cheapest meat....if you want to do pork, use thick pork steaks that are marbled nicely, and are a more inexpensive cut of pork....I don't like to grill thick pork chops....they usually go dryer than a popcorn fart....thick slices of deer meat that's been marinated properly?....you bet, sear and smoke-bake....I'll probably post one more concerning charcoal.....

 

[jimfet]

No thread crap here either. But if you live near a Piggly Wiggly. They have Baby Backs on sale this week for $2.59 a lb. I just bought 5 racks.

 

[KrisM]

.....what do you guys use to coat beer-can chickens?....what type of rub?....for chicken, I'm going to
guess a lot of paprika....what else?.....

I use this, or a variation of it:

1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon of salt
and 1 1/2 tablespoons of pepper, dark brown sugar, celery salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, dry mustard, and ground cumin.

That's a rib rub straight out of a Steven Raichlen book.
I don't care for cummin, so I either leave it out or reduce it. I also notch down the sugar or leave it out. For what it brings to the table vs the burn potential, it's not worth it.
A pretty basic rub that can be used on a lot of things, and can be modified when needed.

 

[rebellovw]

Very good but are you going to do it in a proper Dutch with charcoal?

I'll use my cast iron Lodge dutch oven - braise the meet over the stove - then into the oven - nothing like the below:

http://www.dutchovendude.com/campfire-cooking.shtml

I use this, or a variation of it:

1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon of salt
and 1 1/2 tablespoons of pepper, dark brown sugar, celery salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, dry mustard, and ground cumin.

That's a rib rub straight out of a Steven Raichlen book.
I don't care for cummin, so I either leave it out or reduce it. I also notch down the sugar or leave it out. For what it brings to the table vs the burn potential, it's not worth it.
A pretty basic rub that can be used on a lot of things, and can be modified when needed.

That sounds good - I guess with this method there is no need for any brine or marinating the chicken - since the beer does its thing - I'll do this next time.

Thanks,

 

[shadco]

Thanks - those chickens look really great - another way of doing Chicken that I've been meaning to do - do you open the cans? Would a boiler maker work? haha.

Yes open the cans, drink about a 3rd and put a tablespoon or so of the rub in the can.

Boilermakers are OK if you use Austin Nichols.

 

[mulester7]

I don't care for cumin, so I either leave it out or reduce it.

.....I love a little hint of Mexico using cumin, but it can take over quickly....add it slowly while mixing, and taste as you go.....sometimes, the "effects" of adding a small amount of a certain spice, are better than being able to actually taste the spice itself.....

 

[mulester7]

.....concerning charcoal....do you have a town park where there are stand charcoalers set on a short steel pole?....are the charcoalers used a lot on the weekends during warm weather, say April thru September?....if so, drive there early Monday mornings with Wal-Mart plastic bags.....

.....I got 6 stretched bags of new and partial pieces or charcoal one Monday morning at Burns Park here in NLR, and only hit about 20 of the 45-50 charcoalers....the cookers are horrible....it's impossible to establish much of a coal bed with the coals sitting on a level steel plate bent up in the back....there's a cooking grid over the coals, but the coal bed can't breathe....sometimes I rake a dozen or more new briquettes into the plastic bag with one swipe....I also look for them on the ground around the charcoalers.....

.....I only had the 6 bags with me so I went on home....we spread the new and partial coals on a piece of 4x8 plywood sitting on two saw horses inside the shop to dry....I've seen that sheet of plywood full a couple of times, one coal high....more than once I didn't buy charcoal for a whole year.....

.....if you have a town park with a bunch of cookers that are used a lot in warm/hot weather, go check on Monday mornings how much charcoal was left from the weekend.....

.....whoever designed those charcoalers in Burns Park was a charcoal forager's friend.....

 

[mulester7]

.....just sear two pieces of chicken at a time with the bottom vents shut....when all is seared, open the bottom vents full, lay pieces of chicken fat on the cooking grid over the fire, put the top on, adjust the top vents to 2/3rds open, and smoke-bake them 45-50 minutes....I enjoy the searing part....gotta' be on your toes working the turns....in the pictures, the dog got the piece of skin that was torn off .....

 

[KrisM]

.....I love a little hint of Mexico using cumin, but it can take over quickly....add it slowly while mixing, and taste as you go.....sometimes, the "effects" of adding a small amount of a certain spice, are better than being able to actually taste the spice itself....a light amount of table salt when needed is a prime example.....

Yeah. It, along with corriander(and cilantro), really tend to cut through all the other flavours for me. In a bad, "who dumped a pound of cummin in this" kind of way.
I have figured out that I'm OK with a bit of it in that rub that I mentioned earlier. Just not what is originally called for.