Barbecued Chicken
The sauce in this recipe is a bit sweet but packs in extra flavor and a bit of kick from a rub that is applied to the chicken before cooking.The cooking method is based on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that results in moist meat.
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
Chicken Rub
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Chicken
- 6 pounds skin on, bone-in chicken pieces (leg quarters or thighs will be moister, or split breasts) remove excess skin and fat (only 6 thighs will fit on our grill)
- 1 jar Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce
- 2 disposable aluminum pie plates or small pans
Instructions
- Combine rub ingredients. Arrange chicken on rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle both sides evenly with rub. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Using a gas grill, place the disposable aluminum pans each filled with 1 1/2 cups water directly on 1 burner of gas grill (opposite primary burner). Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium-high and turn off other burner(s). Adjust primary burner as needed to maintain grill temperature of 325 - 350 degrees.
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place chicken, skin side down. Sear 2 minutes then turn over and sear 2 minutes on second side. Move chicken to cooler part and brush both sides with 1/3 cup sauce. Arrange chicken, skin side up, with leg quarters closest to fire and breasts farthest away. Turn burner 1 off and turn burner 2 to adjust temperature to 300°F. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.
- Brush both sides of chicken with remaining 1/3 cup sauce and continue to cook, covered, until breasts register 160 degrees and leg quarters register 175 degrees, 25 - 35 minutes longer. At end, to crisp skin, over medium heat cook 2 minutes on each side.
- Transfer chicken to serving platter, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve.