Like many of you, we’ve grilled a truckload of chicken on the back porch grill over the years, maybe even a couple of truckloads, and have a handful of favorite recipes we reach for time and time again when doing so.
This recipe, what we’ve come to call The Family “Original Recipe” Grilled Chicken is one that I unwittingly cobbled together back when I was in high school grilling now and again for the family.
The idea first came from a family friend named Butch who ran a family ranch along the breaks of the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle, a ranch eventually buried beneath the waters of the then in development Lake Meredith.
We attended several big parties out on the ranch way back in the day, and even as a youngster I watched the men cooking over the open fire slather chicken with a baste made principally of grass-fed, ranch-churned butter and Worcestershire sauce. Even as a kid I learned that complimenting the cook and asking reasonable questions is a great way to learn all sorts of useful things, including some time-tested delicious recipes.
Over the decades since we’ve fiddled with all sorts of additions and modifications to the recipe and approach to cooking, settling on a pre-grill dusting of paprika and garlic powder (or granulated garlic), followed by a frequent turn and baste cook – with the simple basting sauce we’ve closely guarded until now – until the chicken is a golden-mahogany brown and ever so flavorful.
The time and turns needed to get a great crust on the chicken always precipitated a balancing act requiring a watchful eye – the fats in the baste will burn if applied too early, wait too long to start basting and the chicken could end up overdone, dry, and under-flavored.
Lately we’ve been adding a nifty par-cook using a sous vide technique, and it’s clearly producing the best Original Recipe Chicken we’ve ever done, and I mean ever. The point of using a sous-vide par cook is to gently precook the chicken, with a light application of spice, at 140 degrees (for about an hour and half for those interested), then go right to the grill and layer on the flavor via a series of baste and turns. This guarantees you won’t overcook the chicken – it’s incredibly moist and tender, and packs all the flavor of the traditional all-grill-cooked approach.
Either way, this is one fine recipe, and makes the best damned chicken salad or cold chicken sandwiches you’ll eat this summer. And by the way, it’s awesome with the Gochujang Curry Peanut Sauce recipe I’m posting next week (last image below).
2-4 pounds chicken breasts, thighs, leg pieces (see above)
Garlic powder
Paprika
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp grass fed butter
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 tbsp chile powder of choice (optional)
1-2 tsp molasses (optional)
Sous Vide + Grill Method
After dusting your chicken pieces with a light sprinkle of paprika and garlic powder (or granulated garlic), seal in the BPA-free sous vide bags of your choice.
Now sous vide at 140 degrees F for 1.5 hours, then remove and pat dry.
While the chicken is in the sous vide bath, combine the 5 sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until simmering, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and let cool in place.
Fire the grill during the last 15 minutes of sous vide time.
Dust the par-cooked chicken pieces again with a light sprinkle of paprika and garlic powder, then grill for 2 minutes per side. After the first turn, begin basting the chicken pieces with the prepared basting sauce, turning every 2-3 minutes until a deep, rich, mahogany-colored glaze and crust develops on the chicken.
Pull and rest for 5-6 minutes, then go to it.
Grill Only Method
Prepare the sauce as per above while you’re firing the grill.
Dust the chicken pieces again with a light sprinkle of paprika and garlic powder, then grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side, you’re not looking to cook the pieces through, but to set the spices and partially cook the chicken. .
After the first turn, begin basting the chicken pieces with the prepared basting sauce, turning every 2-3 minutes until a deep, rich, mahogany-colored glaze and crust develops on the chicken. If using a gas grill, you’ll want to turn down your grill to medium-low during the basting phase of the cook.
Pull and rest for 5-6 minutes, then go to it.
Enjoy.
Two, I’ve been cooking these using a two-hour sous vide bath (130-134) followed by a quick sear finish producing incredibly moist burgers with a great crust, though they’re of course equally tasty grilled or sautéed on the stove.
