Hey I have another question if you don't mind. I want to pre-cook some chicken parts (if it gets cool enough because I hate the having grease dripping flare ups on the BBQ) then cover with dry rub and let sit in fridge overnight. Then BBQ till nice and brown before finishing with BBQ sauce. What would be the best way to pre-cook the chicken? Poach, roast other? And this will be done at night so hopefully it will cool down or else I may need to rethink chicken. And is this a good idea? Sorry about all the stupid questions but I don't do much fancy grilling. Mostly just dogs, burgers and steak on the grill.
I wouldn't pre-cook the chicken. There are many "tricks" you can do on the grill to avoid a flare-up.
What kind of grill do you have?
If it is a kettle style (domed lid & curved body), those are designed to eliminate flare-ups if the lid is kept on. The design funnels air through a lower vent and up to the top vent in such as fashion as to allow the coals to stay lit, but to retard flare ups. You only get flare-ups when you pull the lid off and more oxygen rushes in.
To ensure you don't get flares ups, reduce your coal count. For an 18" to 22" kettle, count out 55 coals and use just that many. Spread them out in a circular pattern - kind of like a doughnut with a small space in the center of the grill that is blank or is the "hole" of the doughnut. Keep the lid on the grill at all times except when flipping or saucing the chicken.
If you have a square type grill, then put all of your coals on one side, and leave and open spot on the other. So all the coals would be on the left, and on the right would be a blank spot with no coals. Put your chicken on bone side down above the coals for 5 minutes. Flip to skin side down for 5 minutes. Then flip again and move it all to the right where there are no coals and let it sit for 15-20 minutes - by now the coals are low enough that flare-ups won't be a [problem, and the chicken is about 3/5 of the way done. Now move the chicken back over the coals and finish grilling, making sure to flip every 6 or so minutes.
If it is a gas grill, hopefully it has two burners. Turn on the left burner and leave the right one off. Let the grill heat up covered for 10 minutes. Put the chicken on, boneside down over the lit burner. Flip after 5 minutes and cook another 5 minutes. Now flip again and move the chicken to the right side where the burner is off. Close the lid and let it sit 15-20 minutes. Now finish grilling and saucing over the lit burner. by this time, the chicken is 3/5 of the way done, and most of the fat that would cause a flare-up has been rendered out.
Alternatively, no matter what grill you have, just put all the coals on one side, and leave the other side open. Start by putting all the chicken on the side that has no coals (or no lit burner). Close the lid, and position the vent (on a kettle style grill) so it is above the chicken. Now walk away and leave the chicken alone for 25 minutes. This will basically smoke the chicken and render out the fat. Now spend 10 - 15 minutes grilling and saucing the chicken directly over the coals which should be cool enough now that flare-ups won't be a problem at all.