Gas-Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Barbecue Sauce
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We tested this recipe many times with a 3-pound chicken. Although grilling conditions vary, each time we cooked the chicken, it was done in less than 30 minutes—12 minutes on one side and 12 to 15 minutes on the other. For chickens that weigh closer to 3 1/2 pounds, plan on the full 15 minutes once the chicken has been turned. Use your favorite barbecue sauce, the related recipe, or a store-bought sauce (see related tasting).
Instructions
- Dissolve salt and sugar in 1 quart cold water in 1-gallon zipper-lock plastic bag. Add chicken; press out as much air as possible from bag and seal. Refrigerate until fully seasoned, at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.
- Turn all burners on grill to high, close lid, and heat until grill is very hot, about 15 minutes. use grill brush to scrape cooking grate clean. Turn all burners down to medium.
- Meanwhile, remove chicken from brine, rinse well, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and season with pepper to taste. Reposition chicken parts if necessary.
- Place chicken, skin-side down, on grill rack. Set rimmed baking sheet or other flat pan on top of chicken; put 2 bricks in pan. Grill until chicken is deep brown, about 12 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken skin-side up. Replace sheet pan and bricks, and continue cooking until chicken juices run clear and instant-read thermometer inserted deep into thigh registers 165 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes more. Brush both sides of chicken with barbecue sauce during last 2 minutes of cooking time.
- Remove chicken from grill, then cover with foil and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Carve according to illustrations below and serve.
Yield
Serves 4Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
For a grilled chicken recipe with evenly cooked meat that would require much less effort and attention than a whole bird, we butterflied the chicken—a simple process in which the bird is placed on its breast and the backbone is removed. Pounding the bird for our grilled chicken recipe made it slightly more attractive, and cutting slits on either side of the breast to tuck in each leg allowed the chicken to cook up neat, tidy, and flat. And since the butterflied, pounded, and tucked chicken was so much thinner than a whole roaster, it could be cooked over a medium-hot direct fire in just about half an hour.
Before You Begin
We tested this recipe many times with a 3-pound chicken. Although grilling conditions vary, each time we cooked the chicken, it was done in less than 30 minutes—12 minutes on one side and 12 to 15 minutes on the other. For chickens that weigh closer to 3 1/2 pounds, plan on the full 15 minutes once the chicken has been turned. Use your favorite barbecue sauce, the related recipe, or a store-bought sauce (see related tasting).
Instructions
- Dissolve salt and sugar in 1 quart cold water in 1-gallon zipper-lock plastic bag. Add chicken; press out as much air as possible from bag and seal. Refrigerate until fully seasoned, at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.
- Turn all burners on grill to high, close lid, and heat until grill is very hot, about 15 minutes. use grill brush to scrape cooking grate clean. Turn all burners down to medium.
- Meanwhile, remove chicken from brine, rinse well, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and season with pepper to taste. Reposition chicken parts if necessary.
- Place chicken, skin-side down, on grill rack. Set rimmed baking sheet or other flat pan on top of chicken; put 2 bricks in pan. Grill until chicken is deep brown, about 12 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken skin-side up. Replace sheet pan and bricks, and continue cooking until chicken juices run clear and instant-read thermometer inserted deep into thigh registers 165 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes more. Brush both sides of chicken with barbecue sauce during last 2 minutes of cooking time.
- Remove chicken from grill, then cover with foil and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Carve according to illustrations below and serve.
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Key Equipment
More Like This
Keep Exploring
0 Comments