BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken - Sam Sifton

Barbecued chicken isn’t, really: It’s grilled rather than smoke-roasted at low temperature. But it requires a similar attention to technique. You’ll want to move the pieces around on the grill to keep them from burning, and flip them often as well. Cooking barbecued chicken benefits from a basting technique used by the chef and outdoor cooking maven Adam Perry Lang, who thins out his sauce with water, then paints it onto the meat he’s cooking coat after coat, allowing it to reduce and intensify rather than seize up and burn.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1 cup barbecue sauce (see recipe)

6 to 8 chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs) skin-on, bone-in, about 3½ to 4 pounds

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Build a fire in your grill, leaving one side free of coals. When coals are covered with gray ash and the temperature is medium (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 5 to 7 seconds), you are ready to cook. (For a gas grill, turn one of the burners down to low or off, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes.)

Meanwhile, combine barbecue sauce with 1 cup water and stir to combine. Set aside.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper, then put them on the grill directly over the coals and cook for about 15 minutes, turning once every 5 minutes or so, and brushing with the thinned barbecue sauce. When the chicken skin starts to crisp and darken, move the pieces to the cooler side of the grill and let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until a peek inside shows that the meat no longer has any red at the center.

Move the chicken back onto the hot side of the grill and baste with sauce again, turning the meat a few times. Remove to a warmed platter and serve.

TIP: You forgot a most important step, maybe the most important: salt the chicken the day before. When breast meat is 160-165F, it's perfect; thigh meat should be 185-205F.

I would highly recommend using more of a bbq based spice rub instead of salt of pepper. It adds a better base layer of flavor other than just the sauce. Otherwise you are relying solely on the sauce to provide the flavor.

Paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, a bit of sugar (brown), salt and pepper, and cayenne to your taste. If I up the cayenne then I go to a sweeter sauce on the baste to balance.

For gas grill, turn one of the burners to high and one or two down to low or off, lower cover and heat 15 minutes.

Salt and pepper chicken: bone-in, skin-on, white meat and dark

Grill over hottest part of the grill, turning every few minutes to develop a crust, about 15 minutes

Move to cool side and cook until they are juicy, crisp and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes more

Apply thinned barbecue sauce when you turn chicken pieces, allowing it to reduce on the chicken rather than burn.

Find a BBQ chicken rub recipe (see below) to use rather then just "sprinkling the chicken with salt and pepper". The chicken will turn out much more flavorful. Most of the items rub you will find are already in your kitchen.

1/4 cups Brown Sugar.

1 - 3 tablespoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons Chili Powder

2 1/2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

1 tablespoon Cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons Regular or Smoked Paprika

1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic