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BBQ Chicken

Posted by: Bob Hart | 18 October, 2010 - 5:43 PM

Chicken, even when you don't insert an opened beer can in its orifice, is one of the great meats for the barbecue or, indeed, for the grill. You can roast it whole, especially if you brine it and/or apply a barbecue rub the night before, and use a trivet over a strip of foil on your gas barbecue.

Just moderate the heat, using it judiciously to crisp up the breast skin at the end of the cooking process. Use a meat thermometer and take the chicken off the heat when it approaches 70 C. Never undercook chicken but remember, overcooking dries it out, and a bird will continue to cook after you have taken it off the heat.

But there is a better way to cook a chook on a barbecue, and that's to butterfly it: slice through either side of the backbone and remove it, then press the bird flat, breast up. Use poultry shears or kitchen scissors for this job. And then apply a rub.

If you are lazy, and there is nothing wrong with lazy in my view, simply pop into Jonathan's in Smith St, Collingwood, for a chicken already butterflied and with a rub applied.

And there is one further dish that works well, ideally cooked by the indirect method over charcoal or gas and with a good burst of hickory smoke. It is my barbecued version of an Italian classic called chicken alla diavola - a wonderfully spicy dish. Try this:

Brine a free-range chook of about 1.8kg by immersing it, for two hours, in a mixture made by pounding 8 garlic cloves with 3 dried bay leaves and 1/2 cup sea salt and adding a bit over a litre of water. Remove and pat dry.

Make your diavola oil by heating 4 minced garlic cloves, 2tsp ground black pepper and 2tsp chilli flakes in 1/4 cup EV olive oil until garlic sizzles. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Butterfly the chicken as outlined above. Open out and flatten the chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and, with a mallet, pound it flat. Apply half of the diavola oil to the chicken _ at least some of it worked under the breast and leg skin with your fingers.

Cook the chicken, skin side down, over indirect or moderate heat on a covered gas or charcoal barbecue. It will take about 30-40 minutes to cook through. Rest, carve into segments, drizzle with the remainder of the diavola oil, and serve with lemon wedges and a green salad.

Blog comments

Bob
Have put in an order for your book Heat and Smoke from santa. Your 3aw segment is very inspiring and often amusing. I love your no nonsense approach.
Cheers for christmas.

Allan Kline Monday 19 December, 2011 - 4:07 PM
I heard you on 3aw this afternoon (17/12/11) talking about your split chicken recipe. As I was driving I couldn't write down the ingredients I know it had lemon juice and dried chilli flakes I want to cook this for family down from QLD over Christmas.thanks Nola

Nola Saturday 17 December, 2011 - 4:39 PM