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BBQ Chicken
Sam Sifton
2584 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,584
45 minutes
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The day before cooking, spatchcock and season the chicken: Remove the spindly wing tips by cutting through the first wing joint with heavy-duty kitchen scissors. Lay the chicken breast side down. Using the scissors again, snip along both sides of the spine to remove it. (Reserve or freeze the spine for stock.) Open up the chicken and flip it over, placing it breast up and with the legs toward you on your cutting board. With one palm on top of the other in the center of the breast, press down until you feel the cartilage crack and the bird lies flat.
Use the tip of a sharp knife to make three parallel slices in each breast, then three in each leg; each incision should go down to the bone and be about 3 inches long. Rub the sea salt all over, including in the incisions, seasoning more heavily on the underside of the bird.
In a small bowl, mix the juice of 2½ lemons with the honey, oregano, chile flakes and pepper. Pour ⅓ cup of this marinade over the chicken and refrigerate the remaining marinade for grilling.
Trim the ends of the ½ lemon, then slice it into 12 very thin half-moons and remove any seeds. Tuck the lemon slices into each of the incisions on the chicken, sliding the cut side in and leaving the peel exposed.
Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet, breast side up, and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 12 or up to 24 hours.
Two hours before cooking the chicken, take it out of the fridge to come to room temperature.
Prepare the grill: Clean the grate thoroughly and light the coals. The bird should cook over low, indirect heat. The coals are ready when they’re gray and dusty, rather than glowing red.
Place the bird on the grill, breast side down, discarding any liquid left behind. Watch your chicken like a hawk for the first few minutes and flip the bird if the skin starts to char. When the chicken is lightly colored, or after 10 minutes, flip it over and baste with the reserved marinade. Close the lid on the grill and cook for 40 to 50 minutes more, flipping and basting the chicken every 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the chickpeas: Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic, oregano and ½ teaspoon sea salt. When it’s a chunky paste, stir in olive oil and lemon. In a large shallow serving bowl, toss the chickpeas with ¼ cup dressing and season to taste with sea salt. (Reserve the remaining dressing for the chicken.)
When the chicken has been cooking for 60 minutes, take its temperature: The meat should feel firm and an instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees when inserted near the bone of the thickest part of the breast and leg. The chicken may need another 5 to 10 minutes grilling with the lid closed. If you want more char on the breast, cook breast side down; if there is enough color, continue to cook breast side up.
Once the chicken is cooked, set it on top of the chickpeas. If you have any remaining baste, pour it over the bird. Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving on a cutting board.
Use a large knife or cleaver to remove both thighs and legs. Separate both breasts, then cut each in half crosswise, creating 8 pieces. Place the chicken pieces back on the chickpeas and drizzle the chicken with the reserved oregano dressing. Cut the remaining lemon into quarters for squeezing on top, and dollop with Greek yogurt, if desired.
Baked it in a convection oven at 350, flipping it twice. The skin came out crispy and brown. Delicious. Also added cut up potatoes and carrots to the pan that my husband really loved. Nice zing to the recipe.
Have not tried this recipe. But a fool-proof recipe is the Exceptional Grilled Chicken recipe on Smitten Kitchen.
"Watch your chicken like a hawk for the first few minutes and flip the bird if the skin starts to char." Brilliant!
Or just Spatchcock a bird (easy - def utilize backbone & wing tips & please don't puncture the breast meat), rub it down with your desired fat and seasoning. blend (massaging it under the carefully loosened skin.), sprinkle it over-top w/a bit of baking powder in order to expedite skin-drying in your effort to achieve crisp skin, leave it out in its cooking vessel (pref cast iron) for about an hr. 400 oven/about 12 mins/lb. Walk away & 160 is what you want. It will come to 165 once it's rested.
The recipe for the marinade has 1/3 cup honey and the juice from 2.5 lemons as the wet components. This will be about 1/3 + 2.5 tablespoons of wet or 0.48 cups. You want us to use .33 cups for the marinade, and save the rest (or 0.15 cups for basting.) That's not a lot.
The recipe for the marinade has 1/3 cup honey and the juice from 2.5 lemons as the wet components. This will be about 1/3 + 2.5 tablespoons of wet or 0.48 cups. You want us to use .33 cups for the marinade, and save the rest (or 0.15 cups for basting.) That's not a lot.
I did!! It was perfect- Turning off the burner directly under the bird worked for me (I have three “burners” in my grill).
I appreciated what Ted said and will check out the recipe. I've been watching early 80's French cooking shows. I speak French but you don't really need to speak the language if you are familiar with cooking. The point is, these shows we have been watching since Emeril are incredibly derivative, as are most recipes one reads online or in the papers. I don't believe there are more than a very very few cookbook writers who can be called authors, nor tv cooks bringing much new. But it is entertainin
Not true. If you know what you’re doing, every meat needs to come to room temp before cooking.
Delicious. I usually do a much simpler spatchcocked grilled chicken and was doubtful about slashing the chicken but I and my hungry men were very happy with the results. Chicken had wonderful flavor, stayed juicy and tender and the skin was crispy and delicious. Cooked on a gas grill over indirect heat and had no problem with flare ups. I forgot to baste while it was cooking so simply poured the saved sauce over the chicken as it rested.
cooked this in my big green egg using the plate setter for indirect heat - did not have to flip at all. delicious chicken that also happens to look like a piece of art. roasted potatoes at the same time and served the chicken with those vs. the chickpeas.
Wow, this chicken came out awesome! We cooked it on a gas grill and it took about half the time since it doesn’t get quite as low as charcoal, but it was still super juicy. The marinade seemed a little in-your-face on its own but it was great on the chicken. Maybe a little heavy on the oregano. We ended up skipping the chickpeas and making a potato salad with it (also an NYT Cooking recipe) and it was very good. Will definitely make again, was worth the slightly involved prep.
Bell and Evans sells chickens already spachcocked.
I didn't do the chickpeas, but I did the chicken and it's amazing! The only difference is I used lemon pepper in the overnight dry brine because I love lemony food. But overall, a showstopper.
Made it with chicken breasts and made it without chickpeas.
This was really delicious, but perhaps our definitions of low heat differ. I cooked this on a Big Green Egg on indirect heat at about 300°F, and it took a total of 2 hours to get the meat up to safe temp.
Has anyone roasted chicken in oven? What temp did you use?
Tried it tonight with bone in chicken thighs, but otherwise following the recipe. So not worth the trouble. The chicken was fine, but the chickpeas were absolutely pointless.
Delicious and stunning although quite a bit of work. This would be a wonderful roast chicken to make for guests as it just looks so good. The yogurt was superfluous in my opinion. Served with the chickpeas and sauteed Swiss chard on the side. The chicken cooked over cherry wood on a wood-burning grill. Next time the gas grill.
Dick used pellet grill on 325. That ok about an hour and a half, and he tired and basted it about every 20 minutes.
This was so good. The lemon and honey permeated the whole chicken. I was prepared to grill, until a vicious thunderstorm and downpour started. I roasted it on a rack at 350, basting every 15 minutes, and broiling it at the end to crisp the skin. Just delish.
Made this tonight and it was good, but not great. First, I’ll admit that I did not let it dry brine for the recommended time. Aside from that, the indirect method and flipping and basting was a pain and added unnecessarily tot he cooking time. I would also recommend finding a 3 or 3.5# chicken. Four pounds serves 6. The sauce for the chickpeas was the best part!
Or just Spatchcock a bird (easy - def utilize backbone & wing tips & please don't puncture the breast meat), rub it down with your desired fat and seasoning. blend (massaging it under the carefully loosened skin.), sprinkle it over-top w/a bit of baking powder in order to expedite skin-drying in your effort to achieve crisp skin, leave it out in its cooking vessel (pref cast iron) for about an hr. 400 oven/about 12 mins/lb. Walk away & 160 is what you want. It will come to 165 once it's rested.
This recipe looks delicious. How long and at what temperature would I cook this in the oven?
I made the chicken following the recipe. It was great. The leftovers were even better. Will definitely be making this again. Highly recommend!
Good but doesn't hold a candle to Publican Chicken (also NYT Cooking) which is the best spatchcocked/grilled chicken ever.
Lynn from NJ1 year ago Baked it in a convection oven at 350, flipping it twice. The skin came out crispy and brown. Delicious. Also added cut up potatoes and carrots to the pan that my husband really loved. Nice zing to the recipe. Jennifer1 year ago Or just Spatchcock a bird (easy - def utilize backbone & wing tips & please don't puncture the breast meat), rub it down with your desired fat and seasoning. blend (massaging it under the carefully loosened skin.), sprinkle it over-top w/a bit of b
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