Grandma's Barbecue Chicken

Let's climb into the wayback machine and take a trip back 40 years or so to my Grandma Williams cottage.  We land on a fall Sunday afternoon, leaves need to be raked and life jackets put away for the winter.  After the leaves are raked in piles and lit on fire we head for the dock on the lake and catch a few bluegills with kernels of corn.  Meanwhile, grandma drags the old red reliable charcoal grill (I'm not sure gas grills existed in those days), piles up the charcoal in a neat pyramid and douses the charcoal with lighter fluid.  After the lighter fluid soaks into the charcoal she touches a match to the coals and fire slowly spreads from coal to coal until the coals were completely covered with white ash.

While the charcoal is getting ready we know within the next couple of hours we will be treated to barbecue chicken by the unmistakable smell of lighter fluid and charcoal burning.  (Years later, in one of my first attempts to use a charcoal grill, I thought the only way to light charcoal was with lighter fluid.  Of course, being a young buck and impatient, thinking if a little lighter fluid is good then more must be better.  Needless to say those burgers tasted just like lighter fluid and that day I swore off charcoal and shortly thereafter purchased my first gas grill.  A few years later, while in a local store, I came across a chimney starter for lighting charcoal without lighter fluid that would change my grilling life forever.)

I don't now what grandma did to get the chicken ready for the grill, I was too busy being a 13 year old boy to care how barbecue chicken was made.  However, I do know she made the best barbecue chicken on this planet.  My guess is she kept it simple, probably salt and pepper, before she tied it to the rotisserie.  There was no mistaking when the chicken finally made it to the grill.  The constant whining of the rotisserie motor told you chicken was cooking.  The chicken was never balanced properly on the rotisserie and the motor changed to a lower growl when the breast portion of the chicken was lifted upwards.  Once the chicken breast cleared the top the motor pitch increased as gravity helped push the rotisserie motor down.  This continued for a 1-1/2 to 2 hours until the chicken was done.  She would start slathering barbecue sauce on half way through and continue until the chicken was done. The smell was incredible and one of my favorites while growing up. Anyway, back to our trip.......

The chicken is fall off the bone good.  Caramelized barbecue sauce on the skin from the thigh is my favorite part of the chicken with the legs coming in a close second.  Oh so good but it's time to get back in the wayback machine and come back to the present.

A couple of years ago I made barbecue chicken for little sister and asked her if it was as good as grandma made back in the day, much to my disappointment she said no.  Needless to say, I expected that answer and that started my quest towards duplicating grandma's barbecue chicken.  I've made barbecue chicken many different ways, and all are good, but I always knew until I bought a rotisserie I couldn't match grandma.  So a couple of weeks ago I broke down and bought a rotisserie for my Weber grill and it turns out to be one of the better gadgets purchased in the last couple of years.  

I knew simpler was better but I a big believer in brine for anything poultry. I usually keep it simple, apple juice, brown sugar or sugar in the raw, salt, and peppercorns.  I heat it all up on the stove top until the salt and sugar are dissolved and cool it all down with a couple handfuls of ice.  The chicken is submerged in the brine overnight.  The next day I remove the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels.  Once dry, I message canola oil onto the chicken and liberally salt and pepper the outside as well as inside the cavity.  Other seasonings can be added but like I stated earlier, simpler is sometimes better.  

Once the chicken is seasoned it's time to put it on the rotisserie and tie it down so it can't flop all over the place.  On to the grill it goes and spins........

.............and spins..........

 ........and spins.......

 ......and spins for 1-1/2 hours until the chicken is cooked through and the barbecue sauce is caramelized and delicious.

 Is it as good as grandma's?  I won't know until little sister gets a taste but I like to think it is.