Roadside Chicken


 
Originally posted by Dan H.:
rh chicken was badash! really enjoyed... food network called..want you to take boby flays place. Turned out perfect as far as I know, was also lots of "fun".. flames, and smoke and flames.. and....flames. loved it. thanks again brian s. great job
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Dude, ROFLMAO! That was funny. Thanks much for the complement. I just made up a batch of the marinade for some Free range, all natural, no funny stuff in them thighs chicks. I'll dump the marinade into the Zip bag with the free chicks before leaving for work in the AM. After all these years making it on the Master Touch, this will be the first time using Free chicks and the WSM for the RS Chicken.
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I know after reading your post I'm going to be lost not being able to chase the flames.
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That's half the fun in making the RS Chicken.
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EDIT: Added a pic
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I am going to try this for the first time on Friday on my Weber Kettle.

I would like to ask a couple of questions (always a bit uncertain trying a recipe for the first time):

1. What cut of chicken would you recommend ? I have seen a bit of everything in the prior posts. I am inclined to not mix white and dark meat so as to not have 2 different cooking times. I am kind of leaning toward dark meat chicken quarters (leg + thigh)

2. A really basic question here...what is your fail safe method for ensuring the chicken is not over cooked or under cooked ?

As you can see from both questions I am most concerned about when the chicken is "done." I have grown so accustomed to using the polder probe on WSM cooks for butt/brisket/turkey that I am not sure I can remember how to judge "doneness" without it !

Many thanks !
 
I'll let Brian handle most of this, but in case hes not back for a while (I bet hes a busy bbqin s.o.b.) i'll type somethin! I went ahead and like you said got all dark meat, i got drums and thigh.. just awsome.. I can tell when done but I still went ahead and used my probe therm. I have an adjustable grate but you will be the same as far as "busy" but twords the end of cook, between frequent basting (or what I did was the old worch. bottle he recommends plus brush) I just probed the meat after a baste, drank beer for a minute or 4 and then, basted again, probed again, closed lid, and watched temp, open lid, baste, probe, watched temp. etc., till I had a good beer buz and very hungry! have fun, I loved this cook.
 
Never had chicken in it, Rick? Then yes.

David, if I'm doing just pieces then I tend to do thighs as I prefer the skin-to-meat-to-bone ratio of those to legs or leq quarters but that's a personal preference. I like skin-on bone-in breasts too. Doing both isn't a problem. I combine large breasts with small thighs which results in pretty close cooktimes or, if that's not possible, either start the breasts deveral minutes after I start the thighs (usual) or start all at the same time and simply pull the breasts when done.

Done for chicken in terms of safety is when all parts of the chicken, irrespective of piece size, hits 160. Chicken breast, to me, is good right there. Some prefer a few degrees higher. Though dark meat is safe at 160, most would find it unpalatable. Most people seem to prefer the texture of dark meat at temps of 175-180.

Always use a tip-sensitive digital therm to check chicken (or other thin meats); bimetal analog therms are unsafe for this. Dark meat pieces are easy to learn to tell 'done' without a therm as they really don't firm well till after they are safe. (Check with a therm and feel at the same time till you learn this. A therm is safest though.) Breasts really should be therm-checked.
 
Originally posted by David H:
I am going to try this for the first time on Friday on my Weber Kettle.

I would like to ask a couple of questions (always a bit uncertain trying a recipe for the first time):

1. What cut of chicken would you recommend ? I have seen a bit of everything in the prior posts. I am inclined to not mix white and dark meat so as to not have 2 different cooking times. I am kind of leaning toward dark meat chicken quarters (leg + thigh)

2. A really basic question here...what is your fail safe method for ensuring the chicken is not over cooked or under cooked ?

As you can see from both questions I am most concerned about when the chicken is "done." I have grown so accustomed to using the polder probe on WSM cooks for butt/brisket/turkey that I am not sure I can remember how to judge "doneness" without it !

Many thanks !
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I prefer to buy whole chickens and cut them into 1/2's, do them 95% of the time. On yesterdays cook in a Noreaster on the WSM I did thighs which came out good considering the weather and wind. I did finish them on the Gold D for about 3-4 min per side for some char and color. I don't do legs so no help to yoy there. No fun at all on the WSM, def going back to the kettle for this. Flames are fun.
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Don't scold me but I just go by eye and feel for the done part. Always have and always will. Sometimes I get a piece that's a little dry but for the most part I hit it just right.
 
How well does this recipe translate into low and slow smoked BBQ chicken?

I have to do a cook for our local Volunteer Fire Dept and would like to do this if possible.
 
Bryan,
I made another batch today using free range legs and thighs. First time using free range birds, wow, the best chicken I've ever made!
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Steve
 
Originally posted by Tom Ferguson:
How well does this recipe translate into low and slow smoked BBQ chicken?

I have to do a cook for our local Volunteer Fire Dept and would like to do this if possible.
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Tom, No worries. The pics above were supposed to be a high heat cook but wind and heavy rain (Noreaster) turned it into a low cook. I had the guru set for 350 but it never shut off and the WSM never got above 250. The thighs turned out just fine. But I did crisp the skin on the gasser for about 3-4 min on each side. The skin is my favorite part.
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Steve, I too enjoyed the free range chicken a great deal. I think I'm hooked on it.
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I made up my first batch on Memorial day.

-Legs and thighs
-Brined for 2 hours, ice bath for 30 min, marinade for 2 hours
-Cooked on WSM top rack with no pan
-One heaping chimney of Royal Oak lump and 2 small cherry wood chunks
-Flipped and basted every 5-10 minutes
-Cooked on charcoal ring for 5 minutes to crisp skin
-Total cooking time: 40 min
-With all due respect to the author, I called it "Festival Chicken" instead of "Roadside Chicken"


Happily it came out perfect. The vinegar flavor was so unique and delicious. This may well become my "go-to" BBQ chicken recipe.
I really enjoyed the constant basting and flipping because most everything I do on the WSM is hands-off. The WSM smelled and even sounded great as the sauce hit the coals.

As mentioned, I brined the chicken beforehand. This may have been overkill, but I figured it would give me some protection from overcooking the chicken.

My wife and I enjoy BBQ sauce regardless of how juicy the chicken is. So I made a batch of "Sassy BBQ Sauce" from "Real Grilling. I mixed in some of the lefotver basting sauce to tie everything together.
 
We tried it this weekend, I made 5 half chickens. everyone loved it. I did add a few drops of lemon juce to the mop juice near the end. very good stuff. thanks soooo much
 
With all of the rave reviews and the length of this thread, I figured I would be doing myself a great disservice if I didn't try this out ASAP.. Well, I'm glad I did, because it was awesome ! The flavor was outstanding ! Here's what I did..

-5 leg/thigh quarters, then 4 individual thighs and 5 individual drumsticks
-Made a double batch without oil, enough to immerse chicken, 5 hours marinading in the fridge.
-Made another double batch for basting, this time with oil. For some reason, I was out of regular vegetable oil, so I went half olive oil, half sesame oil (we love sesame oil).

Being fairly new to the Performer (only 6 cooks in the week I've had it), I wasn't too sure how much fuel to light, but after reviewing some of the previous posts I had a decent idea. I lit 2/3's full chimney of briquettes spread out over a single layer on the charcoal grate. Tossed in a few apple wood chunks as well. Oiled up the grilling surface, and by the time I got the chicken outside on the worktable, the temps were up around 425-450. Tossed the chicken on the grill (barely fit all of it on there) and temps dipped down to about 350-375. Basted and covered the lid.

Cooking time took about 50-60 minutes with uncovering, basting and turning, was very fun actually... until... the sky opened up in a torrential downpour with the chicken only 3/4s done. So I did what any man would do in my situation... Ran out to my car, pulled out my umbrella and stood outside in the pouring rain, covering myself and my chicken as rain and wind whipped all around.

I got some decent flare-ups, but some quick lid work resolved those. During the end of my cook the temps seemed to slowly creep lower with every lid pull/baste. The coals really got a good working over with the oil baste, so perhaps a full chimney would have been better off with the amount of chicken I had on there.

All in all they turned out great, my family and friends were amazed by the taste so this is definitely a keeper.

Major thanks to Bryan and everyone in this thread for posting their ideas, theories and techniques. I doubt my friends would think I'm half the cook they think I am if it weren't for this website.

Cheers!
 
Originally posted by JeremyC:
During the end of my cook the temps seemed to slowly creep lower with every lid pull/baste. The coals really got a good working over with the oil baste, so perhaps a full chimney would have been better off with the amount of chicken I had on there.
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Jeremy, Glad it turned out good for you.
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Yeah by the end of the cook, the coals are pretty soaked. What I do is pile all the chicken up on the side or on a plate for a few min and leave the lid off to burn all the oil and mop off the coals. This seems to bring the heat back up where you need it. Now in the pouring down rain that would be a pain I know. I usually start out with 1 full chimney on my 22.5" kettle. But I always seem to do one burn off of the coals during the cook.
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I don't post often, but I have followed the board religiously, and this one definately is worth a comment.

I have tried this cook numerous times with slight variations, and I think I have finally perfected what works best for me.

1) Marinade thighs for two hours using the original recipe minus the oil

2) Grill indirect over an aluminum pan. I pile the coals fairly high on each side of the Weber and run a temp right at 400.

3) I start skin side down and baste every 15 minutes. First bastings ais the underside of the thigh, and the last three applications are to the skin side.

4) Perfectly cooked with a great skin and no char right at one hour.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good flame chasing every now and then, but when visitors are all around and I'm not paying attention, it's a bit more work (and results in too much char) for me to use with consistent results.

Great recipe, and great comments. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!
 
over an aluminum pan. I pile the coals fairly high on each side
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First of all, welcome aboard! Sounds like a great way to cook them, especially if you're not right there to keep an eye on 'em. However, the flames do give a definite "wow" factor!
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But then again, I am kind of a pyro!

Steve
 
Originally posted by Jim Newcome:
I don't post often, but I have followed the board religiously, and this one definately is worth a comment.

I have tried this cook numerous times with slight variations, and I think I have finally perfected what works best for me.

1) Marinade thighs for two hours using the original recipe minus the oil

2) Grill indirect over an aluminum pan. I pile the coals fairly high on each side of the Weber and run a temp right at 400.

3) I start skin side down and baste every 15 minutes. First bastings ais the underside of the thigh, and the last three applications are to the skin side.

4) Perfectly cooked with a great skin and no char right at one hour.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good flame chasing every now and then, but when visitors are all around and I'm not paying attention, it's a bit more work (and results in too much char) for me to use with consistent results.

Great recipe, and great comments. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!
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You didn't mention how much charcoal you start off with.

Erik
 
Tried it again with boneless skinless breasts. Marinated for about 4 hours and then added half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to kick up the heat and it was AWESOME!

I just wish I could figure out a way to "frontload" the cayenne heat instead of having it on the back end, if you know what I mean..
 
This sounds a lot like the chicken I grew up watching my dad cook back in the day. Only difference I can see is he used a lot of lemon juice and melted butter in his. It was usually basted out of a small pot on the side of the grill keeping the sauce warm. I'm going to give this a shot today.
 
hey guys, just made rs chicken again last night, bout 5 or 6 or 7 times now. I've read a lot of diff. ways to cook it but just wanted to throw in right quick that, i found it hard to cook directly because of the high heat, flames, firecrackers, burnt spots etc. and thats cause.... well it just is. but I really got the hang of it w/ undivided attention and quick hands I just wanted to encourage everyone to give it a shot (if you havn't) or one more shot (if you have and burnt it slightly the first time, like I did) cause it just keeps gettin better and better and better. the color, flavor, everythings just perfect. now maybe i'll try the wsm next time and see how things turn out that way now that I think I have it nailed on the HIGH heat grillin'. just wanted to share that cause I found it worth the work!, then again I may be the only crappy griller who had that problem and everyone already knows how good, high heat and flames makes it turn out,
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have a good one.
 
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