Happy Foodie Friday! This recipe review and taste test comes courtesy of Penny and Eleazar Martinez.
Each of our Taste Test Reviews comes with the original recipe and the tester's notes/changes listed with the ingredient list in blue. We hope you enjoy!
This Barbeque Chicken was seriously flavor-packed. Between the Texas Rub and the BBQ sauce you’re in for a real treat. When you’re seasoning the meat, if you intend to let it sit and marinate for a bit, lower the amount of rub you add. The Salt-Grass Steakhouse seasoning we used called for a 30-minute marinade, however with the full amount added the chicken ended up quite a bit on the salty side. In fact, if you use a rub with salt, it is best to put it on right before cooking. Salt can dry out your meat. So, either pop the chicken on to the grill really quickly or lower the amount of seasoning if you’re going to let it sit and marinade.
We bought a full chicken to be able to try a variety of cuts. Both of us liked the chicken breast and drumsticks the most. The wings and thighs ended up so salty from the marinade that we’re thinking they’ll make a great addition to a big salad later this week! If you buy a pack of either thighs or wings to cook, we recommend lowering the amount of seasoning that you apply. If you buy a full chicken, when you’re washing the chicken be sure to have paper towels near you and already ripped off the roll as you don’t want to drip any chicken juice on the floor. Second, after cutting it up, instead of throwing away the scraps like the ribs and bottom you can freeze these to use as a base for stock in the future.
Make sure the grill temperature is around 400-450F before putting the chicken on or else it will cook too slowly. It will get tough on the outside while the inside is left undone. We let the meat sizzle for 6 minutes and 30 seconds on each side before checking the internal temperature. The wings and thighs hit 165F quickly, but the breasts and drumsticks took a little bit longer. Keep monitoring the chicken until it hits that magic number. Make sure you check each piece of meat at the thickest point and right next to a bone as this area takes longer to cook. After you pull them off, try them before adding BBQ sauce and then enjoy!
Serves 12
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
4 pounds, 8 pieces cut chicken on the bone (Whole chicken cut up, or your favorite cut of bone-in chicken)
1 cup Texas-Rub spice (Recommend halfling this amount)
1 cup olive oil
Kansas City BBQ sauce (or your favorite brand)
Salt and pepper, to taste (Check your dry rub flavor before adding extra)
Cilantro or Parsley for garnish
Preparation
Wash your chicken under running water, pat dry and place in a large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and mix all together until chicken is coated.
Cook the chicken on a hot grill (At least 400F) or in an oven at 375F for 30 minutes, or until chicken pieces reach internal temperature of 165F. (If grilling, let sit 6 minutes 30 seconds before flipping to the second side for the same amount of time. Then check the internal temperature)
Place cooked chicken in a clean, large mixing bowl and pour BBQ sauce to taste.
Toss well until chicken is nicely coated.
Garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley.
Recipe and Taste Tester - Alina Gersib