If you love the taste of the barbecue grilled chicken that you are served at catering events, then you should know that you can create the same type of meat at home like what is cooked by the professionals. However, you will need a few tips and tricks to cook the chicken correctly to get the taste, texture, and appearance right.

Get The Skin Crispy

The crispy, golden, and crunchy skin that sits on the exterior of professionally cooked barbecue chicken is one of the best features of the meat. However, it can be difficult to get the crispy exterior that you want without ending up with either an undercooked or overcooked center. You can get a crispy skin easily though, by grilling the chicken under a brick. To use this technique, you will need to start with a very clean grill since you will be forcing the chicken into the grates. Remove the grates from the grill and use a metal coil brush or a crumpled piece of aluminum to scrape the front and back of the grates. Do not use a wire brush or the bristles may break off, end up in your chicken, and cause a potentially serious health issue. Once some of the grease is removed, use a handheld steamer along the grates to help pull up debris, scrape again, and use a wet cloth to wipe the debris away.

Once the grates are clean and you are ready to cook, start the grill. Turn the gas on high, shut the cover, and let the grill heat up for 10 to 15 minutes. While you wait, cover a brick with a piece of tin foil. You will want to use a new brick to grill with. A standard king sized brick that is about four pounds is perfect for a full or half chicken, and a thin king brick that is a little over one pound is right for chicken breasts and chicken wings. 

Turn your grill down to medium heat once it heats up and cover the outside of your chicken with butter or olive oil. Use grilling tongs to set your chicken on the grill. Place it between the lit burners so it will receive indirect heat. Place the foil-lined brick on top of the chicken. Allow the chicken to cook on one side for about 10 or 15 minutes. Use the tongs to remove the brick, flip the meat over, and replace the brick. Allow the other side of the chicken to cook for 10 or 15 minutes. Afterwards, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken to make sure it is at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit so the meat is safe to consume.

Add Barbecue Sauce Late 

Whether you decide to use the brick method to create chicken with a crispy skin or not, you should make sure that you add your barbecue sauce to the meat during the last stage of the grilling process. If you do not do this, then the water in the sauce will stop the skin or exterior of the chicken from browning and becoming crispy. Also, most barbecue sauces contain sugar that will burn when exposed to heat for too long, To prevent this and to also create a glaze on the outside of the meat, wait until the chicken is about 5 minutes from being fully cooked. Use a basting brush to slather the chicken with a thick layer of sauce, wait about one minute for it to glaze over the chicken. Flip the chicken and add barbecue sauce to the other side of the meat. Keep doing this until the five minutes are up. 

You can purchase your barbecue sauce to add to your chicken, or you can make your own signature sauce that is perfect for your taste buds. Start your sauce with a base of vinegar, tomato sauce, or mustard. Add sweetness to the sauce with brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses. Mix in some seasonings as well like garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder. It may take some experimenting to make your sauce, so start mixing up a few varieties well before you begin grilling.  To learn about BBQ, click here for more info.