Grilled Half Chicken with BBQ Glaze [Archive]

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Keltin

03-20-2009, 02:55 AM

I love grilling half chickens. They are incredibly easy, and spend most of their time bone side down meaning little chance of messing them up. I typically like to leave the backbone in so that it aids in diffusing the heat and gives the chicken half a bit more stability. If you do opt to leave the backbone in, you’ll need one of those cheap-o “Ginzu” type knives to saw through the backbone. Go slow and make sure your cut is straight.

I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Original sauce for this.

Grilled Half Chicken with BBQ Glaze

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut in half
3/4 favorite BBQ Sauce.

Procedure

Cut Chicken in half. There are two ways to do this. Either use sheers to completely remove the backbone by cutting up each side of it, of use a “kitchen saw” to cut through the backbone and leave it in.

Season the chicken halves on both sides.

Grill cavity side down over medium coals for 10 minutes. Flip and grill skin side down for 8-10 minutes. You want to brown the skin, but not burn it. Flip again and so the bird is bone side down once more. It will stay that way from here out.

Grill another 5 minutes, then liberally coat the chicken with your BBQ sauce. Grill another 10 minutes or until done and sauce is set. If you like, reapply sauce after the first 5 minutes of saucing for a thicker glaze.

------- Now for the pics -------

Ever wonder what those cheap Ginzu type knives are for? Sawing! I got this one at a Wal-Mart demo years ago for 1 dollar!
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step1-13.jpg

You’ve got to get through the skin first. Go slow, and make light cuts to begin with to get your “line” started. Once the groove is formed, begin sawing carefully, but firmly. You’ll have to adjust your holding hand position as you get near either end.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step2-9.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step3-7.jpg

Once the backbone is in half, saw through the breast bone and skin.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/step4-6.jpg

Now they are in half.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/step5-5.jpg

Season with your favorite rub. I mix mine and keep it in one of those red pepper flake shakers. Works really well.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step6-3.jpg

Grill according to the recipe above.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step7-3.jpg

Cut the leg quarter off from the breast and wing piece. This gives you two servings. In the old days, they called the breast with wing attached an “Airline Breast” or a “Supreme”. I like the dark meat, and DW likes the light meat, so this works well for us!
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step8-2.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step9.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step10.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step11.jpg

Then finally plated in country style with sides of meaty baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, and macaroni salad.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/step12.jpg

Calicolady

03-20-2009, 03:34 AM

Looks good, K. And I'm not a big fan of BBQed chicken.

JoeV

03-20-2009, 06:28 AM

Mighty fine groceries ya got there Ketlin. And I'd probably be right if I said you didn't bring enough for the rest of us, huh? I thought so....:yum::yum:

I grill my chicken the same way, and we love SBR sauce. Thanks for the pics. We enjoy food porn, and we also know you really made the recipe.

chowhound

03-20-2009, 06:47 AM

Luckytrim

03-20-2009, 12:12 PM

Hey !!
I've got that knife !!
Thought I was the only one who fell for it .................

Mama

03-20-2009, 12:20 PM

Looks good Keltin! I cut mine down the breast bone and butterfly it and cook the whole chicken. Love the pics!!!! I have a cheap Chicago Cutlery Chef's knife that I use for anything with a bone.

chowhound

03-20-2009, 12:27 PM

Hey !!
I've got that knife !!
Thought I was the only one who fell for it .................

Yeah, buy one, get 60 more free, but the knife block costs you... and I went for it. :glare:
I do like the steak knives though.

Keltin

03-20-2009, 05:16 PM

Interesting, you cut the backbone in half... I haven't seen that before. You may have found a use for my Ron Popeil "Showtime" knife (lol).
It looks fantastic and I love the idea of all three salads. Do you make those or buy them? If I made all three, surely a couple would start to turn before they got used up. And I can eat a lot of macaroni salad.

Actually DW is a sidedish nut! Big time. She just doesn't seem happy if we don't have 3-4 sides! :huh:

It's good eats though. She made the beans and potato salad, but picked up the cole slaw and macaroni salad at the Publix Deli.

I began experimenting with leaving the backbone in years ago, and really like it on half chickens. It gives a little more stability to the half, and the bone helps with the cooking. For a Cornish Hen though, I'll cut it out.

Keltin

03-20-2009, 05:25 PM

Hey !!
I've got that knife !!
Thought I was the only one who fell for it .................

I also got a matching Filet knife when I bought that one. Also a dollar. Surprisingly, it's a good filet knife and holds a nice edge. I use it all the time to skin and break down whole chickens.

chowhound

03-20-2009, 05:30 PM

Actually DW is a sidedish nut! Big time. She just doesn't seem happy if we don't have 3-4 sides! :huh:

It's good eats though. She made the beans and potato salad, but picked up the cole slaw and macaroni salad at the Publix Deli.

I began experimenting with leaving the backbone in years ago, and really like it on half chickens. It gives a little more stability to the half, and the bone helps with the cooking. For a Cornish Hen though, I'll cut it out.

Ahhh. That explains it. Here I thought you were onto a way to make a bunch of salads in smaller quantities so you wouldn't have to eat them every day before they started rearranging themselves in the refrigerator :wink:

Keltin

03-20-2009, 05:35 PM

Ahhh. That explains it. Here I thought you were onto a way to make a bunch of salads in smaller quantities so you wouldn't have to eat them every day before they started rearranging themselves in the refrigerator :wink:

Actualy, most of the cooking is for two here, so we do make smaller portions of everything. I only grilled the one half of the chicken last night and froze the other. The potato salad was made out of 3 medium potatoes, and the beans from 1 can of beans. The two sides she bought were little containers and just enough for 2. We've got a few baked beans left, and maybe one serving of potato salad. Not bad. Spaghetti on the other hand always seems to multipy in the fridge! :yum:

lifesaver91958

04-14-2009, 12:50 AM

looks good

Keltin

04-25-2009, 07:41 PM

Made another half chicken for lunch today. This time, injected with garlic butter, and glazed with French dressing. Gave the chicken a wonderful color, and outstanding flavor. Was extremely tender to boot.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step_1-2.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/keltin/Step_2-2.jpg

Love2"Q"

04-25-2009, 07:43 PM

looks great ..

Keltin

04-25-2009, 07:45 PM

looks great ..

Thanks! But, the poor guy had a broken leg. Oh well,still tasted great. :lol:

TexasGirl

04-25-2009, 07:51 PM

Actually DW is a sidedish nut! Big time. She just doesn't seem happy if we don't have 3-4 sides! :huh:

It's good eats though. She made the beans and potato salad, but picked up the cole slaw and macaroni salad at the Publix Deli.

I'm the same way:whistling:lol. I have to have sides with everything. I love all kinds of veggies at once, lol have to have bread of some kind too!!

Fisher's Mom

04-25-2009, 07:55 PM

BamsBBQ

04-25-2009, 08:28 PM

dandiamond

04-25-2009, 08:31 PM

The glaze looks better than the glaze they have on the ducks here in China Town SF.
YUM- Thanks Keltin

Keltin

04-25-2009, 08:44 PM

looks awesome as always Keltin... you really gotta try my baked potato salad next time... to me it mostly the texture of the boiled potatoes...

Bam's Bake Potato Salad (http://www.netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1324)

Sounds awesome Bam! I use pretty much the same recipe, but never tried the sour cream and Cajun spice. Will definitely give it a go!!! :thumb:

Sass Muffin

04-25-2009, 08:47 PM

Omg.. is this chicken going to be the next off the wagon venture? LOL!!
I could tear that wing piece off right now and gobble it down..:a1::yum:

Keltin

04-25-2009, 08:47 PM

The glaze looks better than the glaze they have on the ducks here in China Town SF.
YUM- Thanks Keltin

Thanks! I’m glad you like it (at least the way it looks :lol:). I’ve been experimenting lately using salad dressings like Catalina, French, Russian, etc, instead of BBQ sauce as a finisher. All of those dressing are thick with good flavor and cling well to the meat. Turns out, they make some great looking and tasty glazes. Who’d have thunk it??

Keltin

04-25-2009, 08:49 PM

Omg.. is this chicken going to be the next off the wagon venture? LOL!!
I could tear that wing piece off right now and gobble it down..:a1::yum:

Girl after my own heart! That's the piece I hit first as well!!! :yum:

Sass Muffin

04-25-2009, 08:52 PM

For some reason Keltin, I always went for the wings off both chicken and turkey.
They're fun to eat, in a barbaric sorta way lol

Keltin

04-25-2009, 09:10 PM

For some reason Keltin, I always went for the wings off both chicken and turkey.
They're fun to eat, in a barbaric sorta way lol

Like gnawing the bone huh? So do I......but I think it sounds better when you say it!!! :yum:

Sass Muffin

04-25-2009, 09:11 PM

Oh goodness!! lol