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BBQ Chicken Recipes

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There is a lot of confusion out there about BBQ chicken recipes and BBQ in general. Hopefully, I can clear some of that up here and point you to some tips for BBQ chicken that you will really like. So, the first order of business is to do a brief overview of what barbecue is, so we're not confusing each other.

BBQ recipes should be referring to meat that is cooked low and slow. In other words, it's not grilling, which is high and fast. Low and slow refers to cooking the meat for longer periods at lower temperatures. And quite often, it is closely tied into smoking which is the process of imparting smoke to the meat - especially in the early parts of the cooking period when it will actually take.

BBQ typically involves lesser, fattier cuts of meat. This low and slow approach servers to breakdown fat and connective tissue over the longer cooking period. Does it make the meat lean? Hell no! It just makes it less fatty and more tender.

BBQ chicken recipes don't necessarily fall into this category since chicken is a lot leaner to start than, say, a pork shoulder. But, using BBQ techniques on chicken can server to give it a flavor and juiciness you just can't by scorching it on a high heat grill like so many weekend cooks do.

BBQ Chicken Is Not

Cooked in an Oven - I don't care what you do to the chicken before, during or after cooking. This is not BBQ chicken even if you cook it at low temperatures.
Slathered with BBQ Sauce -If you cook it on the grill at high temperature, or in the oven, and slap barbecue sauce all over it, it's still does not qualify for a cookbook of BBQ chicken recipes. I'll let the recipe sites claim it as BBQ.
Coated in BBQ rub - and then cooked on a high heat grill or in the oven. Once again, BBQ is not about the rub or the sauce, it's about the method of cooking and all of the above.
Enhanced with Liquid Smoke - If you're using liquid smoke, don't call it BBQ

BBQ Chicken Recipes Are

Cooked on a low temperature, wood or charcoal fired grill - The essence of BBQ chicken, pork, beef or anything else, is smoke
May incorporate Rubs, Injections and BBQ Sauce - but these are typically subtle enhancement to a process which make each BBQ experience unique.

BBQ chicken recipes can come in all forms. For instance, most people are used to fried or oven baked chicken wings coated in sauce after they are cooked. These kind of wings have a huge following. I started going to a hangout a number of years ago that introduced something different. These were smoked chipotle wings. The key was they were smoked, not grilled, fried or baked. They were a hit.

Another classic recipe for BBQ chicken is based on roasting a whole chicken on a grill. There are many variations on this - beer can chicken, loaf pan chicken and Spatchcock chicken. These are cooking techniques that use indirect heat at lower temperatures than you would use for grilling. While the BBQ recipes will all differ to a small or large degree (rubs, brining, injections, marinades and sauces), they all center around a common method of cooking BBQ chicken recipes.

So, now you know my opinion on BBQ Chicken. To find the recipe that suits you, search this site, or check out some of the sites I've linked to back on the BBQ Recipes page. There are also some great books out there. Check out your local grocery store for books that don't say grilling on them. A book BBQ Cookbook I refer to a lot is Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book by Chris Lilly.