Sweet and Tangy Chicken Goodness
April 4, 2010 1:01 PM   Subscribe

I need help making the BBQ chicken of my dreams, instead of the watery bland chicken I usually end up with.

I have a vision of the BBQ chicken of my dream, thoroughly glazed with yummy sauce, caramelized and delicious. Unfortunately, every time I try to make BBQ I end up with nearly naked chicken, all the sauce having slid off into a watery mess in the bottom of the pan. What am I doing wrong?

I live in an apartment, with no means for outdoor cooking. I have an oven, an electric skillet, an indoor grill (just a flat element, not one with a "lid" like a foreman; I'm not sure it gets hot enough to "grill" anything).

How do I take some boneless chicken thighs and a large bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ and end up with tangy, glazed BBQ goodness?
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit to Food & Drink (12 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you rinse your chicken in water before cooking it, be sure it's thoroughly dried before it goes into the pan. Coat the chicken with sauce, stick it in the oven, and then baste it with more sauce periodically if needed (there's no rule of BBQ chicken that says you can't peak in and add more sauce if some of it slips off the meat). Using a fairly thick BBQ sauce certainly helps as well. I do bone-in chicken breasts with BBQ sauce in a 375 degree oven for 50-60min, but I imagine boneless pieces would take less time.
posted by Meg_Murry at 1:14 PM on April 4, 2010


You're not using skinless chicken, are you? If so - get some with skin. Put the sauce on for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking, after the skin has dried out. Reapply sauce and boost the heat for the last 10 minutes of cooking to let the sauce caramelize. My mom would actually par-boil the chicken first and then put it in the oven on a higher temp to finish with the sauce - it worked pretty good.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:17 PM on April 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


The sauce is watery because the moisture lost from the chicken as it cooks is mixing with the BBQ sauce and watering it down.

If I were you, I'd focus on making great chicken and then glaze the meat for the last 10-15 minutes so that it doesn't get diluted. You may want to consider brining your chicken which helps it retain moisture as well as properly seasons the meat. If you like a lot of sauce, you could always serve a little extra on the side.
posted by mmascolino at 1:21 PM on April 4, 2010


As others have said, cook first, perhaps with a spice-rub, glaze after with sauce.
posted by DaveP at 1:36 PM on April 4, 2010


Call me a snob, but I find that when I use the cheapest chicken from the grocery store, it's bland and rubbery and gross. When I spend more for the fancier "free-range" (whatever that means nowadays) chicken, it's always much tastier, with a better texture and it seems to soak up the sauce much better. YMMV.
posted by OLechat at 1:45 PM on April 4, 2010


Best answer: This is going to sound crazy, but on the advice of a MeFite, and against what I thought was my better judgment, I put a whole chicken in a slow-cooker with a cup of sauce and cooked it on low for 6 hours or so, then crisped the chicken in a 450-degree oven for a few minutes while reducing the sauce on the stove. It was really super-good, especially the dark meat, and completely infused with the flavor of the sauce, but I don't blame you if you don't believe me. I thought I was just going to end up with a pile of dry mush, but it was so easy I went ahead and tried it.

If you don't have a slow-cooker, you might try braising on the stove-top on low for an hour or so, then finishing in a hot oven.
posted by palliser at 1:50 PM on April 4, 2010 [10 favorites]


Oh, and definitely only use this method on chicken with skin!
posted by palliser at 1:51 PM on April 4, 2010


Best answer: I don't think you need to brine chicken thighs, they're pretty fatty and luscious and can take a lot of abuse before getting overcooked.

I like pan searing chicken before throwing it in the oven, I like the crispy skin (skin's mandatory, yes)--so dry chicken thoroughly (Meg upthread was right, wet things don't get crispy, they steam), pat lightly with flour and dust of excess-it should be about the amount of baby powder you'd use on yourself, not caked on, in other words. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter over medium high heat until it stops foaming, which is a stage it goes through on the way to 'hot enough'. I would do skin side down for five minutes in a cast iron pan, flip, salt and pepper, then stick in a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes. Add the barbecue sauce at that point and cook another five to ten minutes.

After that you can take it out and make some barbecue chicken gravy, which is superb! by throwing a tablespoon of flour in the pan and cooking it for a few minutes over low heat (the pan will be very hot anyway) and scraping and moving everything around, then pouring in about a cup of milk or chicken stock, stirring, and letting it cook slowly for five or ten minutes.

Then you need mashed potatoes.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:23 PM on April 4, 2010 [4 favorites]


Take the chicken out first, before making gravy. If that wasn't clear.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks for the great tips. I just got through cooking my chicken using A Terrible Llama's technique. Although I had boneless skinless thighs, they turned out great and I'm sure would be even more delicious with the skin intact. I plan on trying that next time. Also besting Palliser's whole chicken method to try again time, too. Thanks guys!!
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 4:38 PM on April 4, 2010


A dry rub would be another option. Adds flavor to the meat without worrying about the sauce sliding off (or burning) in the oven, and you can always add sauce when the meat is done cooking.

Toss your chicken parts with some salt, black pepper, a lot of paprika, a bit of mustard powder, and maybe some sage or thyme. Those are the seasonings that make barbecue sauce taste like barbecue sauce, and not just any old sweet-and-sour glop. You can add a teeny bit of brown sugar too, but don't go overboard on it. Let them sit with the dry rub on for an hour or more in the fridge, so they start to absorb the flavor, and then roast them in a hot oven. When they're done, top 'em with your Sweet Baby Ray's and eat.

I'll also vouch for palliser's technique, although I wouldn't bother using a whole chicken, since it's not so great for the white meat. Just get a whole bunch of dark meat — drumsticks, thighs, or leg quarters — and do the slow-cook-and-then-roast with it.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:56 PM on April 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


If you don't have the time for 6 hours in the slow cooker, you could also drop the chicken pieces into a pot of salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Carefully drain the hot chicken into a strainer over the sink. Let it sit for 10 or so minutes then pat off any remaining moisture while your oven preheats to 400. Put the chicken into a pan and apply BBQ sauce generously. Cook for 20-30 minutes*. Flip the pan & baste on more BBQ sauce halfway through .

This is not as good as the slow cooker method since the sauce won't penetrate as much but you get dinner in about an hour. Works best on skinless chicken; also works on ribs both pork & beef.

*my oven takes 24 minutes, my mom's oven takes 21 minutes. You want the BBQ sauce to char a little so you'll have to experiment w/your oven.
posted by jaimystery at 8:27 PM on April 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


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