Another family favorite is barbecue chicken. This inexpensive meat is easy to barbecue with consistent results. The process for chicken is very similar to other meats. We'll cook both thighs and whole chickens. The thighs we'll marinate overnight, the whole chickens we'll split in half and rub with a BBQ rub.
To prepare the thighs, wash well and trim off any excess fat and skin
We'll marinate the thighs overnight. Put the chicken and your favorite marinade into a zip lock bag and put into the refrigerator. We are using Radich's Bor-Do-Lay which is an excellent marinade. It is available from Head Country. Goya brand Mojo Criollo is also an excellent chicken marinade.
Now we'll prepare the whole chicken. Wash the chicken thoroughly inside and out. Trim any excess fat or skin.
We are going to split the chicken in half. Barbecue chicken will be more flavorful and cook more evenly if it is cut into halves. Start by splitting the chicken down the center of the breast bone using a sharp knife.
Next, cut along either side of the backbone to separate the chicken halves. Save the backbone pieces for making chicken stock.
We now have two nice chicken halves ready to go.
Rub the chicken on both sides with a BBQ spice rub. It's best to apply the rub and then keep the chicken in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors can penetrate.
Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and spread on a cutting board or cookie sheet
Sprinkle the thighs lightly with a BBQ rub.
Put the chicken into the smoker or grill. If cooking on a grill, cook offset by putting the chicken on one side and the charcoal on the other. Keep the smoker between 225 and 250 degrees. At these temperatures we cook the thighs for four hours and the half chickens for six hours.
Start the chicken skin side down. The skin on the bottom will hold the juices in the chicken and they will turn out moist and juicy. About 3/4 of the way through cooking turn the chicken to finish skin side up. About 1/2 way through cooking start basting the chicken occasionally. On these thighs we used a mixture of 50% BBQ sauce and 50% apple juice.
We basted the chicken halves with apple juice only.
These are the finished thighs. Before serving brush with a coating of your favorite BBQ sauce. Heat the sauce first. If you like your BBQ sweet try mixing a little honey with the sauce. The half chickens are also done and have a nice, smoky color. Serve the chicken halves with warmed BBQ sauce on the side. It's so good that you may want to eat it without sauce.