Chicken / How to cook barbecue chicken

Barbecue chicken is one of the best summer foods available and can be a special treat all year. As an added bonus we have provided the Knox family barbecue sauce recipe below (aka: Tim's homemade barbecue sauce and marinade).

Barbecue Chicken

The key to how to cook barbecue chicken: Cook over low heat, and brush on the sauce after the chicken has cooked then serve. If you baste with barbecue sauce while cooking you may burn the sugars in the sauce and create a black, bitter barbecued chicken.

Great barbecued chicken, with moist, tender succulent meat and sticky smoky skin, is made by cooking over low heat using a grill. You can get a great depth of flavor by using a spice rub such as Knox's Chipotle Barbeque Rub on the chicken before grilling. Salt and pepper can also be used in the same way. Salt will aid in keeping the moisture in the chicken while grilling and pepper will add to the aroma and bite.

Preparing the charcoal

A grilling temperature between 230° and 250°F, is optimal most of the time. To do this with out poisoning yourself and making your food taste off by using lighter fluid, use a chimney (pictured at right).

You can probably purchase one for about $14 or so from the grilling section of your local hardware, they are fairly common. Once you have one you have joined the ranks of people who know how to make much better grilled and BBQ' d foods.

How to do it? It is easy. You fill the bottom with loosely balled up paper and then set the chimney on the lower grate of your grill or cooker. Fill the top part up with charcoal. Through the holes on the bottom light the paper and in about 15 minutes or so it will be blazing hot and the charcoal will be bright red.

Now carefully pick it up and pour out the hot coals on the lower grate to make an even layer of hot charcoal. At this point we place another layer of charcoal on top to make a 4 inch or so layer of coals. Doing this really depends on how many people you are cooking for and what you are cooking. From here on out only you know how hot or how long you will be grilling so proceed with the knowledge of how to light charcoal properly.

Slowly cook chicken until internal temperature is approximately 170 degrees and then add the sauce (recipe below). Cook for another 5 minutes to allow sauce to stick to chicken and remove from heat. 

Recommendations for how to cook barbecue chicken

• Rub spices into chicken before grilling
• Cook over low heat for a longer period of time
• Add sauce after chicken has cooked, just before removing

Knox Family Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipe
(Tim’s Killer Barbecue Sauce)

This recipe was refined after many years of making homemade barbecue sauce. It is basically Tim Knox's recipe tamed down a little. The preparation for our BBQ sauce can be changed to your personal preference. If you like chunkier sauces cut the ingredients larger. We have made this recipe in every possible combination by now and it always tastes great. Read the directions before beginning because cook times are important.

Heat a large skillet or frying pan to medium low and melt the butter. Turn up to medium and add the onions, pablano peppers, jalapeno and red pepper.

Stirring every so often, begin preparing the brown sugar by mixing together brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce, ketchup, yellow mustard, and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

Do not forget to stir or assign someone to keep an eye on the vegetables.

Mix together heated chicken broth, garlic and tamarind paste until paste is dissolved. Set aside.

Check the vegetables.

In a small bowl zest and juice the lemon. Set aside.

When vegetables are brown and sticky add the prepared chicken broth and stir until bubbling.

Add prepared brown sugar mixture and stir until bubbling.

Add prepared pasilla chili powder, lemon zest and juice and stir until bubbling.

If you like thicker BBQ sauce, stir constantly until the sauce thickens. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add chicken stock and stir. If you like what you see, turn off stove an allow to cool for 5 or 10 minutes before serving. We have used this sauce on hamburgers, as a spread on sandwiches and as a marinade.

Enjoy!