Barbecued Pulled Chicken For Gas Grill
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
2¼ hours, plus 30 minutes soaking
Yield
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Chicken
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken leg quarters (about 7 pounds total), trimmed of backbone (see illustrations below) and excess fatSauce
1 large onion, peeled and quartered¼ cup water 1 ½ cups ketchup 1 ½ cups apple cider 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard ¼ cup molasses ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 4 tablespoons cider vinegar 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)1 ½ tablespoons chili powder ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper hot pepper sauce, such as TabascoBefore You Begin
Chicken leg quarters consist of drumsticks attached to thighs; often also attached are backbone sections that must be trimmed away. Supermarkets may also sell chicken legs, which are chicken leg quarters with the backbone sections already removed; they require less trimming and may weigh less than leg quarters. When trimming the fat from the chicken legs, try to leave the excess skin intact, as it will keep the meat moist on the grill. For equipment, you will need two cups wood chips (we like hickory or mesquite) and a 16 by 12-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan to catch the fat as the chicken cooks. If you would like to hold the dish once the chicken and sauce are combined and heated through, transfer the mixture to a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish, cover with foil, and place in a 250-degree oven for up to an hour. Serve the pulled chicken with hamburger rolls or sandwich bread, pickles, and coleslaw.
Instructions
- Soak 2 cups wood chips in water to cover for 30 minutes; drain. Place chips in small disposable aluminum pan; set pan on primary burner (burner that will remain on during barbecuing); position cooking grate. Ignite grill, turn all burners to high, cover, and heat until very hot and chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. (If chips ignite, use water-filled spray bottle to extinguish.) Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Turn off all burners except primary burner.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle both sides of chicken legs with salt and pepper. Place chicken legs skin side up in single layer on cool side of grill. Cover and cook 35 minutes (internal grill temperature should register about 325 degrees after 30 minutes).
- Working quickly to prevent excess heat loss, remove cover, and, using tongs, rotate each leg so that side formerly facing burner now faces away (do not flip chicken): cover and cook until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thighs registers about 185 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes longer (internal grill temperature should register about 310 degrees). Transfer chicken to cutting board; let rest until cool enough to handle.
- While chicken is cooking or cooling, process onion and water in food processor fitted with steel blade until pureed and mixture resembles slush, about 30 seconds. Pass mixture through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids with rubber spatula; you should have 3/4 cup strained onion puree. Discard solids in strainer.
- Whisk onion puree, ketchup, apple cider, Worcestershire, mustard, molasses, pepper, and 3 tablespoons cider vinegar together in medium bowl. Heat oil in large nonreactive saucepan over medium heat until shimmering; add garlic, chili powder, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in ketchup mixture; increase heat to medium-high, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, until flavors meld and sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. You should have scant 4 cups sauce. Transfer about 2 cups sauce to serving bowl; leave remaining sauce in saucepan.
- Remove and discard skin from chicken legs. Using fingers, pull meat off bones, separating larger pieces (which should fall off bones easily) from smaller, drier pieces into two equal piles.
- Place smaller chicken pieces in food processor and pulse until just coarsely chopped, three to four 1-second pulses, stirring chicken with rubber spatula after each pulse. Transfer chicken to sauce in saucepan. Using fingers or two forks, pull larger chicken pieces into long shreds and add to saucepan. Stir in remaining tablespoon cider vinegar; cover saucepan and heat chicken over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Add hot sauce to taste and serve, passing remaining barbecue sauce separately.
for the sauce
Time
2¼ hours, plus 30 minutes soakingYield
Serves 6 to 8Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
For an excellent barbecued pulled chicken recipe that wouldn’t take all day, we chose whole chicken legs, which combine great flavor, low cost, and resistance to overcooking, and then used a roasting rack, which allowed us to barbecue 12 legs at once. The legs cooked gently but thoroughly over indirect heat, absorbing plenty of smoke flavor along the way. Once the chicken finished cooking, we hand-shredded half and machine-processed the other half to produce the perfect texture. The chicken then just had to be combined with a quick barbecue sauce for a truly bun-worthy pulled chicken recipe.
Before You Begin
Chicken leg quarters consist of drumsticks attached to thighs; often also attached are backbone sections that must be trimmed away. Supermarkets may also sell chicken legs, which are chicken leg quarters with the backbone sections already removed; they require less trimming and may weigh less than leg quarters. When trimming the fat from the chicken legs, try to leave the excess skin intact, as it will keep the meat moist on the grill. For equipment, you will need two cups wood chips (we like hickory or mesquite) and a 16 by 12-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan to catch the fat as the chicken cooks. If you would like to hold the dish once the chicken and sauce are combined and heated through, transfer the mixture to a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish, cover with foil, and place in a 250-degree oven for up to an hour. Serve the pulled chicken with hamburger rolls or sandwich bread, pickles, and coleslaw.
Instructions
- Soak 2 cups wood chips in water to cover for 30 minutes; drain. Place chips in small disposable aluminum pan; set pan on primary burner (burner that will remain on during barbecuing); position cooking grate. Ignite grill, turn all burners to high, cover, and heat until very hot and chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. (If chips ignite, use water-filled spray bottle to extinguish.) Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Turn off all burners except primary burner.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle both sides of chicken legs with salt and pepper. Place chicken legs skin side up in single layer on cool side of grill. Cover and cook 35 minutes (internal grill temperature should register about 325 degrees after 30 minutes).
- Working quickly to prevent excess heat loss, remove cover, and, using tongs, rotate each leg so that side formerly facing burner now faces away (do not flip chicken): cover and cook until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thighs registers about 185 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes longer (internal grill temperature should register about 310 degrees). Transfer chicken to cutting board; let rest until cool enough to handle.
- While chicken is cooking or cooling, process onion and water in food processor fitted with steel blade until pureed and mixture resembles slush, about 30 seconds. Pass mixture through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids with rubber spatula; you should have 3/4 cup strained onion puree. Discard solids in strainer.
- Whisk onion puree, ketchup, apple cider, Worcestershire, mustard, molasses, pepper, and 3 tablespoons cider vinegar together in medium bowl. Heat oil in large nonreactive saucepan over medium heat until shimmering; add garlic, chili powder, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in ketchup mixture; increase heat to medium-high, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, until flavors meld and sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. You should have scant 4 cups sauce. Transfer about 2 cups sauce to serving bowl; leave remaining sauce in saucepan.
- Remove and discard skin from chicken legs. Using fingers, pull meat off bones, separating larger pieces (which should fall off bones easily) from smaller, drier pieces into two equal piles.
- Place smaller chicken pieces in food processor and pulse until just coarsely chopped, three to four 1-second pulses, stirring chicken with rubber spatula after each pulse. Transfer chicken to sauce in saucepan. Using fingers or two forks, pull larger chicken pieces into long shreds and add to saucepan. Stir in remaining tablespoon cider vinegar; cover saucepan and heat chicken over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Add hot sauce to taste and serve, passing remaining barbecue sauce separately.
for the sauce
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