Sometimes you just need a smokey, gooey barbecued chicken. This was one of those times.
Normally, I use a spicy rub on my chicken but She Who Must Be Obeyed likes the Cabela’s Open Season Pecan Honey Seasoning I got for Christmas. What can I say, she must be obeyed.
I took a 3 pound chicken and spatchcocked it. No, that isn’t some form of poultry abuse. It is a method of preparing a whole chicken so it lays flat You cut out the spine with poultry shears. Then you cut around the centre breast bone and pull it out. Voila! Your chicken lies flat.
I carefully worked my fingers under the skin on the breast of the bird. I rubbed a generous portion of Cabela’s Open Season Pecan Honey Seasoning on both sides and under the breast skin.
Then I put it in my Bradley smoker over pecan (surprise) smoke set as high at will go. In the dead of winter, that is only about 250 F. That is enough to cook the chicken but not enough to crisp the skin. So I only cooked it to an internal temperature of 150 F so I could finish it on my Weber Barbecue to crisp the skin.
After about 2 hours it was up to an internal temperature of 150 F. I pulled the chicken and put it, skin side down, on the barbecue at medium low.
Normally, I would just brush it with my homemade barbecue sauce (you can use your favourite store bought if you want). But as I had used a sweet rub, I added a little hot cajun spice mix to the sauce. If you don’t like heat, don’t bother.
Watch the chicken carefully. It will be juicy and can easily flare up. If it does, move the chicken immediately to another area of the grill. After 10 to 15 minutes, the skin should be crispy and browned. Turn the chicken over and brush the skin side with barbecue sauce. Cook until the internal temperature in the breast is 170 F and the thigh is 165 F.
Cut the chicken up by cutting the drumsticks off, cutting the wings off, cutting the thighs off, splitting the breast into halves and cutting the halves into quarters.
We served this with french bread and salad.
The Verdict
I was concerned about using the sweet seasonings for a rub. However, She Who Must Be Obeyed was right (I hate it when that happens). The sweet nutty taste was great with the sweet/spicy barbecue sauce. I will make this again but I will claim it was my idea.
The Old Fat Guy
