I want to improve my barbecue chicken

[OldJourno]

And this is a serious thread.

Right now I buy frozen chicken breasts, thaw them in the fridge for a day, then poke fork-tine holes in them while dipping them in sauce. I put them in a bowl, pour the leftover sauce on them, then let them marinade overnight.
I grill the breasts for about a half-hour, basting with the barbecue sauce in the bowl.
The chicken is pretty good, but I'm sure it can be better.

I get the sauce off the shelf. The latest batch was Jack Daniels something or other.

Suggestions, serious and otherwise, welcome.

 

[adrina]

I typically like to do BBQ thighs, and in the oven. I'm not a griller and I think the thighs hold up better to the sauce. But that's just my preference.

I don't mess around with making my own sauce all the time, but I do keep a few things around to add to a bottle of sauce if it needs perking up. Some do. Some of my add-ins:

- liquid smoke (handy for weak smokey sauces)
- fruit juice (pomegranate, OJ, even maraschino cherry - which by the way, is totally kick ass mixed with teriyaki and used as a marinade for chicken.)
- jelly or a good honey (good for sweetening thinner sauces)
- minced garlic, minced onion
- bourbon

I typically don't like to add anything dry unless I'm going to cook the sauce to dissolve the granules.

 

[raindancer]

Brine the chicken for a few hours. I prefer dark meat on the grill. And make your own sauce!

 

[Super-Surprise]

Wrap them in bacon!

 

[HisArpy]

Brine the chicken for a few hours. I prefer dark meat on the grill. And make your own sauce!

When learning about brining meats, you are in total experiment mode. The strength of the brine to suit your personal taste is something you need to learn on a trial and error basis.

You also need to learn about the different salts and what they can do.

From there, grill over wood not gas.

 

[thør]

Brine the chicken for a few hours. I prefer dark meat on the grill. And make your own sauce!

This^^^^^

I'm not a huge fan of chicken tits, but I am a fan of amazingribs.com and they are my go-to when I have questions involving both meat and Q .

 

[Super-Surprise]

http://www.tomahawkrestaurant.com/img/historyPage/385X279history.gif

 

[OldJourno]

Lots of good information here.

Thank you.

I'm a novice at this, so if you could be a tad specific on amounts of garlic, honey, fruit juice, etc., or is this just my own best guess based on what I like.

I'm intrigued by a lot of this, including the brining (I'm taking that seriously).

Next question: Are there better parts of chicken to grill and others to bake?

 

[adrina]

Lots of good information here.

Thank you.

I'm a novice at this, so if you could be a tad specific on amounts of garlic, honey, fruit juice, etc., or is this just my own best guess based on what I like.

I'm intrigued by a lot of this, including the brining (I'm taking that seriously).

Next question: Are there better parts of chicken to grill and others to bake?

Until it tastes right? I go by taste. I'm an old fashioned cook - precision from me in the kitchen comes in the form of baking.

I taste the sauce and if I think it needs a little sweet, I add a little honey. Needs a little fruit? Add some juice. It's usually not too much. Depends on how much of the sauce I'm using. Oh I did forget one thing - and some people might cringe at this but I don't care - if you want a bit of kick add a packet or two of taco bell sauce. Whichever flavor you prefer. For the onion and garlic... minced fine, you shouldn't add more than a tablespoon of the onion and a clove or two of garlic.

 

[silver gurl]

Chicken breasts I use for pasta dishes and stir frys. Chicken thighs or any type of skin on chicken, we grill or smoke. We also inject with different marinades or melted butter, under the skin.

 

[Rockwell12]

In addition to brining I would also NOT poke with a fork beforehand. When you are cooking use tongs not a fork to turn. Poking holes just let's the juices escape. If you are injecting the chicken then I think it's fine but I've only inject whole birds not pieces like a chicken breast although theres no reason why you can't. People also say cook your pieces bone in. Supposed to be juicier and taste better than boneless

 

[OldJourno]

Thank you again.
Does anyone have a go-to barbecue sauce? I've stuck with off the shelf stuff, and for all I know there might be a gem among the Jack Daniels, KC Masterpiece or Stubbs varieties.

Is there a base sauce you would recommend as the starting point?

 

[water505]

And this is a serious thread.

Right now I buy frozen chicken breasts, thaw them in the fridge for a day, then poke fork-tine holes in them while dipping them in sauce. I put them in a bowl, pour the leftover sauce on them, then let them marinade overnight.
I grill the breasts for about a half-hour, basting with the barbecue sauce in the bowl.
The chicken is pretty good, but I'm sure it can be better.

I get the sauce off the shelf. The latest batch was Jack Daniels something or other.

Suggestions, serious and otherwise, welcome.

Don't apply the BBQ sauce until the chicken is almost done. Otherwise the sugar in the sauce will burn and you'll have a mess.

The best recipe I've found is Tyler Florence's Ultimate BBQ Chicken. Brine the chicken, grill it for 10 minutes, and finish in the oven.

 

[water505]

And this is a serious thread.

Right now I buy frozen chicken breasts, thaw them in the fridge for a day, then poke fork-tine holes in them while dipping them in sauce. I put them in a bowl, pour the leftover sauce on them, then let them marinade overnight.
I grill the breasts for about a half-hour, basting with the barbecue sauce in the bowl.
The chicken is pretty good, but I'm sure it can be better.

I get the sauce off the shelf. The latest batch was Jack Daniels something or other.

Suggestions, serious and otherwise, welcome.

By the way what most of us are talking about is grilled chicken. To me, real BBQ chicken is cooked low and slow on a smoker for about three hours at 225 F. It's a completely different food.

 

[Super-Surprise]

http://www.saugeentimes.com/38%20x/Swiss%20Chalet.jpg

 

[quietlylooking]

I agree with brining, making a home-made sauce, and not poking the meat first, and cooking/smoking for a long time at a low temperature.

I haven't tried this, but perhaps you could sous-vide cook the chicken in the brine, then put on sauce and just briefly cook/smoke? Or add the sauce afterwards? My main problem with barbequed chicken is the burning of the sauce, but I love the sweetness of the sauce itself when it's not burned.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Typically chicken I cover in mustard and bread crumbs. Then do in oven. For barbequed chicken breasts I would cover in barbeque sauce then roll in bread crumbs. Then wrap in foil and bake on the barbeque. Chicken breasts too lean to grill. Dry out unless you spend mucho time over them.

 

[Emerson40]

I always brine and use rubs on chicken going on the grill. The link to amazing ribs that thor mentioned above will get you started on the right foot.

If not grilling, here's a 3 ingredient chicken dish that hits it out of the park. I found it about a year ago, when researching fermented foods, and kimchee in particular.

Simple, delicious, goodness in your cast iron pan.

Ingredients:
1 stick/1 cup of butter, cubed and left out until room temperature
1/2 cup kimchee
6 to 8 chicken thighs, skin and bones intact

Method:
Put kimchee in food processor and pulse once or twice
Add soft butter to kimchee and pulse until you have a smooth, compound butter
Trim extra fat from thighs and work finger under skin, not removing skin but creating a 'pocket'
Spoon about 1/2 to 3/4 Tblspn of kimchee butter into the pocket, under the chicken skin
Season chicken with salt and pepper and place, skin-side down, into a well-seasoned, cool (that's right, cool. Do not heat pan) cast iron pan. No oil or pre-heat.
Place pan on stove top, over med-high heat.
Pre-heat oven to 400F
After 15 to 20 minutes, turn chicken over. Skin should be golden and crisp.
Dot chicken pieces with another wee dollop of kimchee butter and put pan in the oven, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Dig into those juicy thighs and enjoy.

 

[OldJourno]

Interesting to find out I've been doing almost everything wrong. LOL.
Thanks so much and keep the advice rolling in. I may not respond, but I am keeping track, and it is appreciated.

 

[Conager]

You specified chicken breast so I'm assuming you're trying to be relatively healthy about it. I prefer chicken thighs for what I'm about to suggest it would work for skinless chicken breast but not nearly as well.

If I absolutely could not eat the skin I would still cook it with a skin on, then peel the skin off and then longingly lust after it as I threw it away.

What I do is I douse the chicken thighs in straight worcestershire sauce, and sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper and a little McCormick Season-All. I marinate that in the fridge for a half hour or so turning the thighs over to make sure they're well coated with Worcestershire sauce.

If I was trying to be a little healthier about it maybe I would do it with skinless breasts and add some olive oil to the mixtures so that it doesn't stick to the grill and stays moist.

 

[Conager]

Thank you again.
Does anyone have a go-to barbecue sauce? I've stuck with off the shelf stuff, and for all I know there might be a gem among the Jack Daniels, KC Masterpiece or Stubbs varieties.

Is there a base sauce you would recommend as the starting point?

Yes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. I cheat and start with ketchup. Some garlic, fresh, minced find. I grind it with salt with the flat of my knife on the cutting board. I like dried, minced onions because its what (i suspect) the comercial sauces use, so it tastes "right" to me. Let your taste buds guide you whatever you like.

Add:

Something sweet. I like brown sugar. (What makes it taste so good?) Some people like molasses, I don't care for the sulphery tadte, but it does taste sort of "right". Plain table sugar works. Corn syrup works, too. Sweeten until its a little "too sweet"

Then balance the sweet with something sour. Vinagar (experiment with different kinds) pineapple juice, citrus, i like to add mustard, it adds vinegar, and the mustard flavor gets lost, but makes and interesting note in tge background.

Add some kick. I like some red-hot or Lousianna hotsauce. Or chilli powder.

Ad a little of this, a little of that.

I add a couple drops of liquid smoke if I have it.

You will just need a lot more sweetening agent if you start from tomato sauce in a can because ketchups about half sugar.

 

[thør]

I agree with brining, making a home-made sauce, and not poking the meat first, and cooking/smoking for a long time at a low temperature.

I haven't tried this, but perhaps you could sous-vide cook the chicken in the brine, then put on sauce and just briefly cook/smoke? Or add the sauce afterwards? My main problem with barbequed chicken is the burning of the sauce, but I love the sweetness of the sauce itself when it's not burned.

Too many people put the sauce on too early. Sauce is a finishing step.

 

[KingOrfeo]

And this is a serious thread.

Right now I buy frozen chicken breasts, thaw them in the fridge for a day, then poke fork-tine holes in them while dipping them in sauce. I put them in a bowl, pour the leftover sauce on them, then let them marinade overnight.
I grill the breasts for about a half-hour, basting with the barbecue sauce in the bowl.
The chicken is pretty good, but I'm sure it can be better.

I get the sauce off the shelf. The latest batch was Jack Daniels something or other.

Suggestions, serious and otherwise, welcome.

You're not making BBQ, you're making grilled chicken with BBQ sauce. You need to start with bone-in chicken parts and cook them for hours over a low smoky heat.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Too many people put the sauce on too early. Sauce is a finishing step.

And should only be added at the table, not on the grill.

 

[Aquagal]

That sauce carmelizes on the grill at the end. Too soon and the sugars burn.

At the table...?