What, in your mind, is "barbecued chicken"?


 
Grant Cunningham said:
I've traveled to many different BBQ regions in the U.S. and tasted all of the major styles, and it seems that everything is about beef and pork. What little chicken is made is almost an afterthought; sausage seems to get more respect. Don't get me wrong, I like brisket and spareribs, but I also love chicken.

As the kids say, I want to "level up" my chicken cooking.

So I'm wondering what everyone considers BBQ chicken — what, to you, is the "iconic" form? Dry rub? Slathered with KC-style sauce? Alabama white? Is there any love for mustard sauces on chicken?

Alternatively, have you ever had any BBQd chicken that just really impressed you?
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I agree with you - getting good BBQ chicken at a BBQ restaurant is hit and miss. My best BBQ chicken experience in recent memory was actually at Weber Grill theme restaurant in Indianapolis back in 2019, but it was more like a smokey crispy roast chicken than BBQ. My gold standard was at a little place called the "Pilot House" in Cape Girardeau MO. Not sure if it's still the Bomb but it used to be my clear favorite.

When I think BBQ chicken, I think either beer can style, or preferably halved whole chickens. I like a traditional rub with SPG, Paprika and a little bit of sugar - Kosmo's Dirty Bird is a good example. I like a little bit of spicy sauce on the side. I like to smoke with pecan or oak. I'll probably focus a bit more on hanging chicken in my WSM when the weather warms up again - until then I'll be using the Summit E6.

To me, Jerk Chicken is a totally different thing. Jerk is jerk, and BBQ is BBQ. I love them both. One forum member posted a really good jerk recipe in the summer of 2020 that changed my life. I'll see if I can find it and link it in here.
 
My current favorite is Big Bob Gibson's recipe found in Mike Mill's book "Peace, Love, and Barbecue", with the Alabama white sauce.
 
I call barbecued chicken hot cooked chicken... Leg quarters...... Rubbed and smoked and sauced the last 15 min.
And I like my leg quarters falling apart.
 
I grew up in Maryland and we’d load up the station wagon and head to the beach for a week every summer. We’d stop at the Lions Club barbecue pit to pickup chicken halves for supper. I’d never seen barbecued chicken, vinegar based sauce, or a sauce mob until then. Fond memories.
 
Grant Cunningham said:
So I'm wondering what everyone considers BBQ chicken — what, to you, is the "iconic" form?
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At this stage of my life, barbecued chicken generally cooked the same way I'd make barbecued pork or barbecued beef: low and slow cooking over a mixture of charcoal and wood.

But when I was growing up, like others here it was grilled chicken liberally doused with sauce as it cooked. Just like barbecued pork chops.

Matthew Turner said:
I'll definitely give this a try after this Wisconsin winter is over.
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Over? It hasn't even started yet!
 
When I hear "BBQ'd chicken" is being served at a family gathering, I think of tough, undercooked chicken with soggy skin, and sweet sauce slopped all over.

But this is more like what I'd like to have from other family members. Not likely to happen I suppose.
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Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
When I hear "BBQ'd chicken" is being served at a family gathering, I think of tough, undercooked chicken with soggy skin, and sweet sauce slopped all over.

But this is more like what I'd like to have from other family members. Not likely to happen I suppose.
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hahahahaha. that brings up a really good point. how many of your friends will you go to their home and eat their cooking? for me is basically zero. and we're down to only a few restaurants that we really seek to go out to eat.

and that's a mighty fine looking chicken. now if this rain will cease for a few hours so I can cook outside.
 
DH "BARBECUED" last night's dinner. It was Steven Raichlen's "Huli Huli Chicken From Paradise". Raichlen says "Huli huli chicken may be Hawaii's most significant contribution to American BARBECUE. A world without this mahogany-colored bird-lacquered with a sweet-salty glaze of soy sauce, ketchup and honey or brown sugar-would be a sad place to contemplate."

Source: BBQ USA - Steven Raichlen- pub. 2003- pg. 387
 
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Joan said:
DH "BARBECUED" last night's dinner. It was Steven Raichlen's "Huli Huli Chicken From Paradise". Raichlen says "Huli huli chicken may be Hawaii's most significant contribution to American BARBECUE. A world without this mahogany-colored bird-lacquered with a sweet-salty glaze of soy sauce, ketchup and honey or brown sugar-would be a sad place to contemplate."

Source: BBQ USA - Steven Raichlen- pub. 2003- pg. 387
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So, what did you think? This recipe has been on my "to try" list for a while.
 
Can't believe I forgot to post the review, thanks lol

DH took the drippings from the chicken and added them to the little bit left of the sauce after brushing it on the chicken and we used that as a dipping sauce for the chicken.

We both thought it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!

(can't wait to get to the leftovers lol)
 
for me growing up BBQ chicken was bone-in, skin on, thighs cooked on a gas grill with lava rocks. more often than not burnt a bit with sauce like Kraft or whatever slathered on.

Once I got out on my own my twist was to marinate and cook it on my kettle. Simple marinade of Italian salad dressing, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and chopped green onions. This was cooked direct using KBB. Indirect wasn't in my vocabulary at the time.

I rarely did chicken on my gas grill, and always used a kettle, and later the BGE.

Thighs remain my favorite.

Anyway, here's a link that I found the history of Barbecue to be interesting.

en.wikipedia.org

Barbecue - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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