Recipe: Grilled BBQ Chicken*

These hot summer days call for lighter foods and easier meal preparation.  I’m often enticed by new grilling recipes, yet it seems I always come back to my old standbys, like BBQ Chicken.  This is what I made for our 4^th of July dinner, and since I did change up my old method a bit, I thought I’d share it with you.  

My first rule of cooking chicken is to remove the skin.  If you need convincing as to the health benefits of this, you should have seen the amount of skin and fat I threw away—I’ll bet it weighed almost as much as my cleaned chicken did!  I worry about chicken getting done enough on the grill, especially dark meat, bone-in chicken, (which to my way of thinking is superior to boneless breasts since it doesn’t dry out), so I usually steam the pieces a bit on the stove before grilling—just to give them that little head start. This time, however, I decided instead to marinate it all day, allowing for an hour of slow cooking on the grill before we were ready to eat.  My husband is very patient with lengthy processes, so he carefully babied it along, turning as needed, until every piece was fully cooked and ready for the last minute sauce.  It turned out great and would work well for any large or small events you have planned this summer, or just dinner for the fam.  Easy to prepare and economical, you can usually find legs and thighs for $.99/lb, which is the price I paid for mine at Maceys last week.

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs and Legs (Bone-in)

McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic & Herb Seasoning

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade (or other flavor of your choice)

Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ Sauce (or other sauce of your choice)

  

1.     Skin all the chicken.  This can be done easily by pulling off the skin with a sharp paring knife (a paper towel is very helpful for grasping that slippery skin on the legs).  After pulling off the skin, use the paring knife to scrap off any pieces of fat you see. 

2.    Rinse all the pieces in cold water; pat dry with paper towels.

3.    Sprinkle the pieces on all sides with the McCormick Seasoning. 

4.    Place the chicken in a large bowl.  Pour the Lawry’s Marinade over the chicken and use hands to coat all sides.  You may not need the whole bottle, depending on how much you’re making.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  

5.    Cook chicken on low heat on the grill with the lid down for 45 minutes to an hour, until the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees.  It doesn’t hurt to get it a bit higher than this to ensure all pieces have reached that minimum temperature right next to the bone.

6.    Once the temperature is above 165 degrees, brush the BBQ sauce on both sides and continue cooking until desired crispiness (usually only five minutes more.  It will burn easily once the sauce is on, so keep an eye on it).

*Originally distributed July 2014