- 18 hours ago
Chef John has cracked the code on perfect barbecue chicken for your summer cookout, loosely based on the reverse searing steak technique! In this video, Chef John teaches you how to make reverse barbecue chicken, which involves marinating the chicken halves with a wet rub and precooking them gently in the oven until they’re fully done. If you’re going with the overnight method, grilling will reheat each half while giving them a golden brown finish, whereas same-day cooking is a faster method. Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Reversed Barbecue Chicken!
00:08That's right, gorgeous, perfectly cooked barbecue chicken is not the easiest thing to do,
00:13which is why, inspired by the reverse sear steak technique, I think I've come up with a very simple method.
00:19And hopefully your days of black on the outside, raw in the middle chicken are over.
00:24Oh, and I'm also going to tease a very exciting, possibly upcoming video.
00:28But first things first, and to get started, we're going to cut a chicken in half,
00:32since for me that is by far the best thing to use for barbecue chicken.
00:35And what we'll do is turn that chicken breast side down,
00:38and we'll simply use our scissors to make two cuts, right against the backbone on both sides,
00:43which of course we will save to make some broth later.
00:46Oh yeah, when you use a whole chicken, you get free broth.
00:50But anyway, once that's been removed, we'll bend the chicken open, and we'll find the breastbone,
00:54which is covered by a little piece of cartilage in the center,
00:57and we will slice in about a quarter inch deep, right there,
01:01and then flatten out the chicken until the breastbone reveals itself.
01:04At which point it's going to be very simple to finish cutting this in half.
01:08And yes, you might have to give it a whack or two with your hand to get through,
01:11but it's really not that hard.
01:13And that's it, besides trimming out any excess fat,
01:16the only other optional thing I like to do is cut the flat sections of the wings off,
01:21since I think it makes for a much nicer presentation.
01:24And also we can add those to our broth,
01:26and then pull them out later and have a little chef snack.
01:29And once our chicken's prepped, we'll go ahead and make our wet rub,
01:32which includes some salt,
01:34some brown sugar,
01:36some garlic powder,
01:37some freshly ground black pepper,
01:39some smoked paprika,
01:41and of course a few shakes of cayenne to stay in shape.
01:45And then we'll finish up with some prepared barbecue sauce.
01:48For our dealer's choice, use whatever you like,
01:51whether it's from the store,
01:52or possibly homemade using our famous all-American barbecue sauce recipe.
01:57And what we'll do once we have that all mixed up,
01:59is transfer in our chicken,
02:01and we'll give it a toss until it's thoroughly coated,
02:03which is probably easier to do with your hands.
02:06But I used tongs because I was filming,
02:08and I didn't feel like washing my hands.
02:10But anyway, once coated,
02:12we'll transfer that into a baking dish,
02:14or a shallow roasting pan like this,
02:17with the skin side up.
02:18And then we'll use a spoon or a brush
02:20to transfer any and all of that wet rub on top,
02:24applying that as evenly as we can,
02:26and once that's been accomplished,
02:28we're going to cover this in foil and pop it in the oven.
02:31Okay, if you're familiar with the reverse sear technique for steak,
02:34the meat is cooked gently in the oven first,
02:36and then finished in a pan over high heat to get some nice brown color.
02:40Well, we're basically doing the same thing here,
02:42only we're going to finish on the grill.
02:45So once that's wrapped,
02:46we'll pop it into a 325-degree oven
02:49for exactly 45 minutes,
02:51at which point we'll pull it out
02:53and do absolutely nothing.
02:55For one hour, that is.
02:57Okay, we want to let this sit and rest for 60 minutes,
03:00during which time it's going to cool down
03:02while that cooking process finishes.
03:04And once that happens, we'll unwrap it,
03:06and if we want,
03:07we can move on to the grilling and finishing step.
03:09But not me.
03:10I'm doing the overnight method,
03:12which involves brushing the pan juices and wet rub over the top.
03:16And once we have that thoughtfully applied,
03:18and this has cooled down enough to put in the fridge,
03:20we'll wrap it back up and do just that.
03:23And we'll let it sit absorbing all those beautiful flavors overnight,
03:27which I really think gives us a better final result.
03:30But as I said, it is optional, so you decide.
03:33I mean, you are, after all, the pit master
03:35of whether to go faster.
03:37But either way, to prep this for the grill,
03:39we'll take a spatula or a stiff finger,
03:42and we will scrape off any what actually became a marinade
03:45off the surface.
03:47And we'll do that to both halves,
03:49at which point we'll let that chicken warm up
03:50for about 30 minutes before we hit the grill.
03:54And while we're waiting,
03:55we'll transfer everything that was in the pan
03:57into a small saucepan,
03:59and we'll place that over medium heat
04:01and bring it to a boil.
04:03And we'll give it a stir,
04:04and reduce it for a few minutes
04:06until it starts to thicken up a little bit.
04:08And as you might suspect,
04:10that's going to make an amazing sauce to mop over our chicken
04:12once it goes over the coals.
04:15Speaking of which,
04:16we're not going to use that many coals.
04:18Okay, I'm only using 14 briquettes,
04:21which I like to space out a few inches apart
04:24so that we get some very even heat,
04:26and we won't have to worry about any hot spots.
04:29And what we'll do is place that chicken skin side down,
04:32and we will give that side about three minutes or so,
04:35just to start the browning process.
04:37And then we'll go ahead and flip it back over skin side up.
04:40Since we're going to do the majority of the reheating
04:42with this side up,
04:44right, thanks to the pelvis and the ribcage and the breastbone,
04:47the other side has a lot more insulation,
04:50and we're really not that concerned
04:51if that side chars a little bit.
04:53And as usual, anytime we're grilling,
04:55it's not a bad idea to give things a turn,
04:58just to hedge our bets with that whole even heat thing.
05:02And at this point,
05:03we can start mopping our sauce over the top,
05:05since eventually we're going to turn this back over
05:07to get a little more browning.
05:09And as you'll see,
05:10we'll apply a bunch of sauce to the other side as well.
05:12And it was pretty windy out,
05:14so I did cover this occasionally between turns.
05:17And yes,
05:18I'm still rocking the $30 expert grill,
05:20which just refuses to fall apart,
05:22so I can get a new nice one.
05:24But anyway,
05:25we'll flip that over,
05:26and like I said,
05:27we'll apply some sauce to the other side.
05:29And again,
05:30we're just going to give that skin side a few minutes,
05:32facing the coals,
05:33since we want a fairly gentle browning and light charring.
05:37So after a few minutes,
05:38we'll flip it back over,
05:40and we'll basically just repeat those steps,
05:42two or three more times,
05:44until our chicken's nice and hot and safely heated through,
05:47and we've achieved an absolutely gorgeous finish.
05:50And of course,
05:51this is going to take longer if you do the overnight method.
05:53Right,
05:54this step roughly took like 30,
05:5635 minutes.
05:57Whereas if you toss this on the grill right after you bake it,
06:00it's going to go a lot faster,
06:01since you're basically just browning the skin,
06:04and making sure the chicken's fully cooked.
06:06Oh,
06:07and I should have mentioned,
06:08if you don't want to go with the chicken halves,
06:09I'm pretty sure this method is going to work no matter what you use,
06:12whether that's some bone-in thighs,
06:15or even some boneless,
06:16skinless chicken breasts.
06:17Okay,
06:18you obviously have to change the pre-baked times,
06:20but the idea of cooking the chicken perfect first,
06:23and then finishing it on the grill,
06:24should translate.
06:26But in any event,
06:27once we're happy,
06:28and we decide it's done,
06:29we'll pull it off the heat,
06:30and we will bring it inside,
06:32and transfer it onto a cutting board,
06:34being careful not to tear the skin.
06:37Whoops,
06:37I just tore the skin.
06:39But that's okay,
06:40that's what extra barbecue sauce is for.
06:42And once I covered up that little situation,
06:45I went ahead and transferred over some folded up cornbread crepes,
06:49which are basically tortillas made with cornbread batter,
06:51instead of masa.
06:53And once I perfect the recipe,
06:55which is hopefully very soon,
06:56I'd love to show you how to make those.
06:59And that's it,
06:59I finished up with some freshly sliced green onions,
07:03before I grabbed a fork and knife,
07:04and went in for the official taste.
07:06And that,
07:07my friends,
07:07was pretty much a perfect barbecue chicken.
07:09All right,
07:10by baking it first,
07:11and then letting it sit overnight,
07:13and all that goodness,
07:14once it is finished on the grill,
07:15as shown,
07:16not only do we achieve a perfect appearance,
07:19but the meat is going to be very moist and tender,
07:21and it would be fantastic no matter how you served it.
07:25But what I'm going to do next is cut a few slices,
07:28and I'm going to grab a little extra sauce,
07:31and some fresh lime wedges,
07:33and I'm going to tear one of these cornbread crepes in half,
07:36and I'm going to top it with the chicken,
07:38and one slice is probably enough,
07:40which is why I did three.
07:42And I'm going to drizzle on a little bit of sauce,
07:45and a few drops of lime juice,
07:47and I'm going to roll that up.
07:49And I cannot think of a better way to eat barbecue chicken than this.
07:53And if you know of one,
07:54please tell me,
07:55so I can check it out.
07:57But anyway,
07:58that's it.
07:59What I'm calling reverse barbecue chicken,
08:02which as I explained,
08:03is loosely based on the reverse sear steak technique.
08:06And by using this method,
08:08we take a lot of variables out of play.
08:10And as long as your chicken's cooked almost,
08:12if not perfectly,
08:13before we grill it,
08:14I think you're going to have some amazing results.
08:17And no matter what barbecue sauce you use,
08:20or how you decide to spice it up,
08:22I loved everything about this,
08:24and I really do hope you give it a try soon.
08:27So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
08:31a printable written recipe,
08:32and much more info as usual.
08:35And as always,
08:38enjoy!
08:45Thank you for listening to this episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of
08:51the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode
08:51of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the
08:51episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of
08:51the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode
08:51of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the
08:51episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of
08:51the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode
08:51of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the
08:51episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of
08:51the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode of the episode
08:51of
Comments