Beer-Brined BBQ Chicken
This American-style barbecue chicken is outrageously good. It’s my guess you’ll never barbecue a chicken any other way again.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- Generous 1/3 cup warm water
- 5 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1/4 cup superfine sugar (or blitz granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground but not powdery)
- 2 3/4 cups light beer such as lager
- 1 whole (about 3lb 5oz) chicken
For the spice rub
- 1 tablespoon sweet or hot paprika
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 1 to 2 teaspoons chile powder (chipotle, if you have it)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground coarse black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the sauce
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Generous 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground coarse black pepper
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar (or blitz granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground but not powdery)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon miso (optional)
- Salt
To serve (optional)
- 1/2 to 1 napa cabbage or other cabbage, cored, leaves thinly sliced
- 1/2 small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
- Good bread
Instructions
Brine the chicken
- In a large deep bowl or stockpot, stir together the warm water, salt, and sugar until dissolved. Pour in the beer and top off with 3 3/4 cups of cold water. Place the chicken in the brine, adding more cold water if necessary to completely immerse the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.
- Remove the chicken and discard the brine. Pat dry with paper towels.
- To spatchcock the chicken, place it on a large rimmed baking sheet, breast-side down. Using sharp kitchen scissors, cut along both sides of the backbone. Remove the backbone and flip the chicken over so that the breast side is now up. Press down firmly to flatten the chicken. If you have time, refrigerate, uncovered, for another hour to further dry out the chicken (this will help ensure crisp skin).
Make the spice rub
- In a small bowl, combine the paprika, mustard powder, chile powder, cumin, and black pepper. Rub this all over the chicken and then rub in the olive oil.
- Prepare the grill for indirect heat. (If you’re using a gas grill, this means turning off the center burner and reducing the side burners to medium. If you’re using charcoal, place the coals to heat up on one side of the grill.)
- Place the chicken, breast-side up, over indirect heat. Cook, turning every 10 minutes, until the juices run clear on the thickest part of the thigh and the chicken is cooked through, and the internal temperature reads 165°F [74°C] on a meat thermometer, about 60 minutes.
Make the sauce
- While the chicken is cooking, in a medium bowl, mix all of the sauce ingredients together and season with salt. Divvy the sauce equally between 2 bowls. After 20 minutes of cooking time, begin to baste the chicken using one of the portions of sauce. Do so every 10 minutes.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, move the chicken to cook over direct heat, breast-side down, until the skin is charred and crisped, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes.
- Carve the chicken and serve with the remaining sauce and with the cabbage and parsley and good bread on the side, if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portion | Calories: 727kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 64g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 461mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g