Chipotle Barbecued Chicken

Sorry, but this will be a long entry. It's hard to describe barbecuing technique with only a few words.

First, a bit of a rant. Thanks to the overabundance of barbecue cookoff shows on TV, featuring competitors describing their top-secret seasoning rubs made by specially-blessed virgins at the height of summer solstice, I think a lot of people now are intimidated by the thought of even trying to barbecue. Well, you shouldn't be. I'll say it if all those world-class competitors won't....making barbecue is easy. HAH! There, I said it! I'm sure that making award-winning barbecue takes a ton of practice and skill, but even a first-timer can turn out something that tastes pretty good. Kinda like how we're not all pastry chefs, but pretty much anyone can make a batch of homemade cookies that taste great.

The premise behind decent barbecue is basically two things: 1. Watch your fire; 2. Watch your meat. That's it. It has nothing to do with secret sauces, 75-ingredient barbecue rubs, or the Pit Master 3000 Fireball Extraordinaire Adamantium-Lined Smoker. All you need to make good barbecue are a few chunks of wood and a pit that lets you build an offset fire. Meaning, that your fire is not directly beneath the meat. An instant-read cooking or meat thermometer of some kind is also a huge help, until you get the "feel" for the temperature.

I think chicken is an ideal meat to start barbecuing with. It's inexpensive (there's my cheapness factor again!), it retains flavors easily, it doesn't require the marathon tending session of brisket, and it doesn't have the intimidation factor of ribs. This particular recipe is different from traditional American barbecue. This chicken has more of a southwestern or Mexican feel, and is great served with sides like Spanish rice, beans and tortillas.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, 3-5 lbs. Just a plain old fryer, not one of the large roasting birds.
3 tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped. You can buy these in the can or jar almost anywhere.
2 tblsp. salt
1 tblsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tblsp. chili powder
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. whole cumin seed or 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup tequila, triple sec or whiskey. Beer or chicken broth also works, although the flavor may be a bit different.
1 can of chicken broth, for mopping

After removing the chicken from the bag and taking out the organs and such, the first step is to butterfly the chicken open so it lies flat. First lay the chicken breast-down on your cutting board. Take a knife. Starting at one side of the tail, cut straight down along the side of the backbone until you cut completely through, from the tail to the neck. Follow the joints...when you get to junctions like the leg or wing, slide the knife through the cartilage joining the bones, not the bone itself. It should take very little effort. If you're hacking and swearing, you're doing it wrong. Easy hint to find the joint: grab the leg or wing and give it a wiggle. Watch the point near the backbone where the swivel action takes place. That's where you need to cut. Once you cut through one side of the backbone, make a second cut down the other side. The entire bony chicken back should come out in one long strip. Some people throw it away, but I save it in the freezer. It's wonderful for making chicken stock.

At this point, the usual butterflying process involves cutting out the entire central rib cage of the chicken to make it lay perfectly flat. I don't recommend that for barbecue chicken. Chicken breast meat tends dry out during slow cooking, especially because it usually cooks faster than the rest of the bird. Leaving the rib sections intact gives the breast meat some much-needed bulk, which slows down the cooking process and helps keep it moist. Instead, I do this: after you've taken out the backbone, you should be able to see straight inside to the breastbone. It looks like a very long, white, downward-pointing triangle. Take your knife and cut straight through the breastbone. It's a pretty soft bone, so it shouldn't take much effort. Try to cut just the bone. Don't cut so deeply that you're going into the breast meat. After you cut the breast bone, you should have a relatively flat chicken.
Now, for the marinade. Mix all the other ingredients except the chicken broth together. I do my marinating in a gallon sized freezer bag, but you could also use a bowl or other container. Slide your chicken in the marinade. If using a freezer bag, be sure to squeeze out as much excess air as possible. Put the chicken in the fridge and let it marinate overnight.

An hour before you're ready to cook, pull the chicken out of the fridge and take it out of the marinade. Mix together yet another dose of the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, cumin and chili powder mixture. Rub the spices all over the bird, on both sides. Don't discard the leftover spices.

Okay, now for the barbecue part. Like I said, one of the main ideas behind barbecue is watching the fire. That's the part that can take practice to get perfect. The goal is to create just enough fire to keep the cooking surface at around 275 degrees F for most of the cooking time. The occasional variance won't hurt anything. Don't panic if you add wood and the temp spikes to 350 for a few minutes, or if you don't check it soon enough and the temp drops to 200. Barbecue is pretty forgiving.

Unlike grilling, you don't want your fire directly beneath your meat. You want it a respectful distance away to one side. If your smoker or grill has a smokestack or outlet hole, you want your fire at the opposite side of the smoker. That forces the smoke to fill the chamber and flavor the meat within instead of going directly out of the vent. You can make your fire with all wood, or charcoal with a few wood chunks added for a smoky flavor. Be sure to use at least some wood! That's where the flavor lies! You can find bags of wood chunks next to the charcoal in most grocery stores. I prefer to use pecan or hickory for chicken, although you can use anything you want. I personally would avoid mesquite, because I think the flavor is too strong for chicken. Just be sure you don't use any treated woods, like plywood, since you don't want the chemicals in them to end up in your food.

Here's my setup. The fire is far to one side. Notice I removed the grate covering the fire portion. If you can take off the grate, do it. You will be adding chunks of fuel periodically, and the easy access is a blessing.

I would get the fire started about 30 minutes to an hour before actually adding the meat. It will give time for your pit to come to the right temperature. If you're using a food thermometer to monitor the temperature, lay the probe on the cooking grate where you will be putting your chicken. You want that thermometer around 275 degrees. Many barbecuers and smoker pits now have thermometers built into the lid. If you're using the built-in thermometer to keep track of temperature, keep in mind that heat rises. It's hotter near the lid than it will be on the cooking surface. To compensate for that, you want your temperature reading on that thermometer to be about 25 degrees higher than your desired temperature. So, you want it on 300 degrees.

When your pit is ready, put the chicken on with the skin side uppermost. Be sure to put it with the breast facing away from the fire. That will help keep it from overcooking. Then, close the lid and let it cook.

Barbecue the chicken anywhere from 3-4 hours. Time varies based on how steady your fire is and how insulated your smoker is. Check your grill temperature periodically. I check on mine every 15-20 minutes. If I'm using a thermometer, I position my pit in such a way that I can see the thermometer from the window. I just walk to the window and check the temperature. If the fire needs feeding, I walk outside and throw a few chunks of wood on. You'd be surprised how little fire it takes to maintain a steady temperature. If smoke stops coming out of the pit, throw on another chunk. That steady smoke is what gives the distinctive flavor.

Remember that extra spice rub you saved? Throw it in a bowl along with the can of chicken broth. That's your mop to help keep the chicken moist. You can also add another tablespoon or so of chipotle peppers if you want an extra kick. Every 45 minutes to an hour, you want to liberally douse that chicken with the mop. You can use a basting brush or a barbecue mop. You lose heat every time you open the lid, so don't baste too often.

Your chicken is probably done when the meat is tender and all juices run clear. Just like a baked chicken. To test, I give it the "wiggle test". Grab the leg and give it a shake. If it's stiff or still feels like a hinged joint, it's not done. If the meat almost comes off the bone, it's probably done. To be sure, poke the thickest point of the dark meat (usually the area between the thigh joint and the body) and see if the juices run clear. At this point, I sometimes build up my fire to a nice blaze of around 400-450 degrees for a few minutes, just to insure that the internal temperature reaches the right point. If you're taking the meat's temperature with a thermometer, you want the chicken at 165 degrees.

Don't panic if the meat is pink! That's a side effect of the smoke and is a distinctive trait of barbecue. Let the meat rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Since this entry has gone on long enough, I'll write about the sides in the next one.