Need Some New Chicken Suggestions

[Dewesq55]

Pitmasters:

I cook a lot of chicken but it seems that pretty much recipe I have (or most, for sure) requires hours of advance prep/marinating, etc. I need some suggestions for more "spur of the moment" chicken cooking. I cook mainly parts, mostly dark meat - either thighs or leg quarters - and was wondering if anybody had some go-to recipes for last minute chicken?

Thanks.

DEW

[Huskee]

Is wet or dry brining part of 'advanced prep'? Are you looking for 'season it & get it on the grill now'? I have shaken my rib rub on chicken pieces and smoked them, both low & slow and hot & fast, with great results. Usually I brine ahead of time for an hour but not always. It's hard to mess up chicken legs & thighs, so a shorter seasoning time and a longer cooking time usually still gets great results. Marinades seem to take hours though.

[Dewesq55]

Thanks, Guest . An hour in a wet brine is not too much advanced prep most of the time. What do folks do with Simon and Garfunkel rub? Do folks put MMD on chicken parts?

[Huskee]

I have used MMD, not my favorite with chicken, but it might be someone else's. I like it better on pork myself. When using S&G, here's what I like to do:

Wet brine pieces for one hour in 1 gal water, 1 cup table salt, 1 cup white sugar, for 1 hr only. (Remember 1-1-1-1)
Dry the pieces off, shake on a light dusting of garlic powder all around, add fresh cracked (or course grind) pepper to whatever level looks good to you. Then sprinkle on S&G to whatever looks good to you.

Cook as you normally would. I happen to prefer 340-360. I cook them to well well done, since to me dark meat at the just-done level is too slimy and not a pleasing texture, but you're your own judge of doneness.

Hope this helps.

[Nate]

+1 on what Huskee said... If I need to I will just put some rib rub on them, Weber or McCormick spices and rubs, or some Tony Chachere's, which if I remember right is Jerod Broussard approved.

If I used a rib rub I will hit with some bbq sauce on the end and caramelize it...

If you are wanting something different then mix up some Alabama White Sauce, reserve some for the table, and then dunk the chicken in it as it comes off the grill or smoker... I usually just use EVOO, Salt, and Pepper as seasoning for the chicken when I do that. Chris Lilly has a pretty good and straight forward white sauce recipe in his Big Bob Gibson's BBQ book... I'm pretty sure you can google it and find it or Meathead might have one listed too.

[Dewesq55]

Nate If you check out the Show Us What You're Cooking thread you'll see that I made Big Bob Gibson chicken from Chris Lilly's book the past 2 nights. But thanks for responding.

[Nate]

Dewesq55 , the other one I thought of is Lolipop Chicken. Malcom Reed explains it well in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jt0c4cMN8o . Apologies if you have tried this one already.

[Dewesq55]

No need to apogize for anything. I thought it was funny, is all.

[RonB]

A little S&G for an hour or so - you can dry brine at the same time, but you want the salt on for at least an hour. I normally add some cracked pepper too. If I'm doing skinless, low and slow works, but with skin on, hot and fast - 350* +.

BTW - I don't make a S&G mix, I just sprinkle a little of each ingredient on individually.

[Breadhead]

This is for white chicken parts, breasts. My go to chicken is bone-in thighs with an overnight marinade so I'll not bother you with that.

The sauces:

Melt a cube of butter in a small bowl in the nuker...
Shake in a few squirts of Worchestershire sauce...
Stir in enough Dijon mustard to make it paste consistency...

The topping:

50% Italian bread crumbs
50% Parmesan cheese, grated.

Chicken breast:

Dip them in the paste and then dip them in the topping until fully coated.

Cooking...

Either on your grill or in your kitchen oven...
Bake at 350° until they reach 155°/160°, about 30 minutes.

Scary Mary likes them just as they come out of the BGE. I like to have some Catalina salad dressing to dip each bite in.👍

It's fast & easy, a game changer for white meat chicken parts.😜

[Thunder77]

Yum! Trying that, even though I HATE the term game changer.... :-)

[Thunder77]

Dewesq55 , this isn't a "recipe", but on drums and thighs I will often shake on Weber Roasted Garlic and Herb seasoning mix, and put it in the fridge while getting the grill ready. Grill as you normally would. The stuff is awesome on chicken! One of my favorites.