I think that the secret to this chicken is in the brine. It’s really not all that difficult to brine meat that you plan on barbecuing. When you get up the day of your event, just throw the chicken in the brine and forget about it. For parties I prefer to buy all drumsticks. The other key step in this recipe is the slow cooking. Time allows the development of the flavor. I finish these on a charcoal grill and coat them with KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. If you do not plan on grilling the chicken legs and want to finish them in the oven, cook them at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until their internal temperature is 165 degrees. I wish I could take the credit for this dry rub recipe, it is from Smitten Kitchen.
The Best Barbecue Chicken
5 Lb chicken parts
Your favorite barbecue sauce
Brine:
4 cups water
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped onion
Dry rub:
6 tbsp packed brown sugar
4 tbsp sweet paprika
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground red pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Brine the chicken
Mix together all brine ingredients in a large tub. Add the chicken. Allow this to sit in the fridge for 6 hours. (If you are short on time, at least one hour.)
Prepare the chicken
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Mix together all dry rub ingredients.
Prepare two jelly roll pans fitted with wire racks. Cut two large pieces of foil that you can fold your chicken up into. Remove the chicken pieces from the brine and pat dry. Rub the spices on. Be generous! Place half the chicken in each of your foil packets. Place these on the prepared jelly roll pans with racks.
Bake the chicken for 1 hour and rotate the pans, bake for another hour. Transfer the chicken to the grill and cook until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. All grills are different, but on a medium heat charcoal fire this should take 15 minutes.
Brine and dry rub recipes adapted from Smitten Kitchen.