BBQ Chicken

Name: BBQ Chicken
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 1 cup barbecue sauce (see recipe); 6 to 8 chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs) skin-on, bone-in, about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds; Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

By Sam Sifton

Updated June 7, 2023

BBQ Chicken — Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(2,703)
Comments: Read comments

Barbecued chicken isn’t, really: It’s grilled rather than smoke-roasted at low temperature. But it requires a similar attention to technique. You’ll want to move the pieces around on the grill to keep them from burning, and flip them often as well. Cooking barbecued chicken benefits from a basting technique used by the chef and outdoor cooking maven Adam Perry Lang, who thins out his sauce with water, then paints it onto the meat he’s cooking coat after coat, allowing it to reduce and intensify rather than seize up and burn.

Featured in: Mixed Grill, the American Way

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

1cup barbecue sauce (see recipe)
6 to 8chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs) skin-on, bone-in, about 3½ to 4 pounds
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

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Step 1
Build a fire in your grill, leaving one side free of coals. When coals are covered with gray ash and the temperature is medium (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 5 to 7 seconds), you are ready to cook. (For a gas grill, turn one of the burners down to low or off, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes.)
Step 2
Meanwhile, combine barbecue sauce with 1 cup water and stir to combine. Set aside.
Step 3
Sprinkle the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper, then put them on the grill directly over the coals and cook for about 15 minutes, turning once every 5 minutes or so, and brushing with the thinned barbecue sauce. When the chicken skin starts to crisp and darken, move the pieces to the cooler side of the grill and let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until a peek inside shows that the meat no longer has any red at the center.
Step 4
Move the chicken back onto the hot side of the grill and baste with sauce again, turning the meat a few times. Remove to a warmed platter and serve.

FAQS

There are so many dishes that make wonderful accompaniments to BBQ chicken, like pasta salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, cucumber salad and more.

Ratings

4 out of 5

2,703 user ratings

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Comments

breezyvalley7 years ago

Every recipe should start with "don't get drunk" lol

barry7 years ago

you forgot a most important step, maybe the most important: salt the chicken the day before.
and another important point: it's the 21st century: get an instant-read thermometer. when breast meat is 160-165F, it's perfect; thigh meat should be 185-205F.

William Shaw7 years ago

Brining helps poultry and pork. Just don't get drunk, as I have been known to do, and forget to take the meat out of the salt. In that case, don't try to salvage. It is not much good at that point. Throw the meat away and start anew.

This is apropos of nothing, but the NYT's cuisine-team is brilliant. I really do pay attention in my few moments of lucidity.

prisc6 days ago

can you use a gas grill?

gerry6 days ago

I have no BBQ. Will this work under an oven broiler? It looks wonderful!

John Brown6 days ago

Has anyone done this recipe on pallet grill, where you don’t have an option for indirect heating?

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