When I was a kid (a long time ago, before the Interstate highway network) we often packed a lunch for road trips. We'd pull into a roadside picnic area and eat what mom had prepared. Sometimes, though, we'd buy grilled chicken from roadside stands. The chicken stands were, I think, staffed by farm families and were the same structures that sold produce when it was in season. I suspect that they were farmyard chicken and the wood for the coals was cut from shelter belts and fencerows on the property.
This is my mother's version of the marinade and sauce recipe. She basted the chicken by pouring the sauce out of a pop bottle capped with what looked like a salt shaker stopper. It may have been the same bottle and stopper she used to sprinkle clothes as she ironed.
The chicken is not spatchcocked. It's cut through the ribs, along the sides. Doing so isolates the white and dark meat and allows the cook to remove them from the grill at different internal temperatures. (Thanks to Barry “CB” Martin for this tip.)
I brined the bird for a few hours before marinating it. I'm not certain if one interferes with the other but I wanted it moist (brine) and flavored (marinade). I welcome your thoughts on this issue.
The brine recipe was provided by an online acquaintance. It's good brine for pork shoulders, butts and poultry.
Mr. Jig's Basic Brine1 gallon water.
¾ cup kosher salt
½ cup sugar of choice, brown, white or turbinado.
Palm full of garlic powder
-OR- couple three Tblsp of minced garlic. (from a jar is fine)
Marinade Ingredients1 cup vinegar (I used balsamic)
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp salt (I used sea salt)
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp celery salt
Here's What I DidI started brining the chicken at 8:30 AM before church. It was 2:15 PM before I returned home to take it out.
I then marinated the bird for two hours.
I made a new batch of marinade and added ½ cup of vegetable oil. This was the basting sauce.
I set my Cookshack PG-500 to 375° with LHT at 10 and HHT at 100. I put the brined and marinated chicken on zone four.
I turned the chicken and basted it every time the temperature bottomed out; about every five to seven minutes.
After more than an hour we grew impatient so rather than raising the temperature I moved the chicken to zone two.
The skin was a nice brown until I moved the pieces to zone two. Then it quickly turned black (the sugar in the sauce?) but it didn't taste bad. The internal temperature rapidly climbed to 165° for the white meat and 175° for the dark.
This was an okay first effort. It had slightly more vinegar taste than I remember. I think that the next time I'll cook at a higher temperature, maybe zone 3, which will automatically cut back on the amount of basting and reduce the vinegar taste.
*Two-lane highways are blue on maps (read
Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon).
Edit: The photos are 800 X 600 but they're still way too large. I'll make them smaller as soon as I figure it out.