I demonstrate my favorite method for cooking a whole roasted chicken on a BBQ Grill. While I use my trusty Weber Kettle, any BBQ grill will work. Notes on modifying this technique to fit other grills can be found below.

*BASIC APPROACH*

Start by lighting a full chimney of charcoal, and letting it get to the point where most of the coals are red and ashed over.

Split the hot coals on either side of the grill, using bricks to contain them.

Add more coals on top to bring your grill temp up to at least 350 400 F. Add chunks of whatever wood flavor you desire. In this video I'm using pecan which is one of my personal favorites. I also find fruit woods like cherry & apple work great with poultry as well.

I tend to steer clear of harsher wood smokes like hickory or mesquite when cooking poultry. Oak can have great results, but it's easier to overdoit since it's a much stronger flavor than most other nut and fruit woods.

While your BBQ grill is heating, remove the backbone of the chicken as shown in the video.

Optional step; you can brine the chicken for 2436 hours ahead of time, submerging it in a 5% alkaline brine for added juiciness. Depending on your container size, the amount of brine you will need is 2000g water, 100g kosher salt, 60g sugar, 10g baking soda. For more information on the science behind brining, please reference my brining video on the subject (   • What is a Brine & How Does It Work? P...  ).

You can also dry salt the bird 2436 hours in advance (aka, dry brine), with 11.5% salt based on the weight of the bird.

Once the backbone is removed, lay chicken flat, breast side up, and press down on the breast, breaking the breast bone and flattening out the bird.

Tuck the wingtips back behind the first wing of the bird, and pour boiling water over the skin. The boiling water is optional, but it will tighten the skin, breaking down the collagen, leading to crisper skin at the end. A tea kettle is perfect for this application.

Season with your favorite BBQ rub; a good one is simply salt, pepper, tiny bit of brown sugar, and some dry herbs. In this video, I'm using Kinder's Brown Sugar Rub, which is a solid, ready to go seasoning at the price point.

Place chicken, still on sheet tray, sitting on top of a wire rack, in the center of the grill, with the two fires on both sides. Add about 16 ounces of water to the cooking tray to keep the drippings from burning and scorching during the cooking process. The steam from the underside of the bird will also help to thoroughly cook the chicken while keeping it moist. Steam also creates a humid environment, which leads to better smoke adhesion.

Make sure both top and bottom dampeners on your Weber Kettle are open for maximum air flow.

If your grill is in the 350400F range, you'll need to cook the chicken for about 1.5 hours.

If your grill temp is in the 450500F range, the chicken will take around one hour to cook.

The chicken is done cooking when the skin is a dark brown and crispy, and the internal temperature reads at a minimum of 160F.

Pull chicken from BBQ grill, and allow to rest for about 1015 minutes before carving, as shown in the video.

*Alternate Approach*

With offset smokers and ceramic kamodo grills, the process is pretty much the same. Just make sure your fire is at the proper temp as listed above.

If using a gas grill, set your temp to around 450F. Use a smoke box insert to get the wood smoke flavor. Because gas grills are designed to be well ventilated due to safety concerns, it is difficult to achieve a good smoke flavor like you would on the other grills listed above.

If you don't have a grill, no worries. Check out my video on Spatchcocking a Chicken in your oven here (   • Chicken Recipe  Spatchcocked Chicken...  ).

*WANT MORE CHICKEN VIDEOS?*

Then you're in luck. They can all be found right here: https://www.youtube.com/user/StellaCu...