A Kinder and Gentler Barbecue Chicken Recipe

It's one of the saddest sights of the summer barbecue season; a picnic table platter piled high with black, burnt barbecue chicken. Actually, the chicken isn’t burnt, that's probably juicy and delicious, it's the barbecue sauce on the skin that has incinerated.

Pouring barbecue sauce on an already cooked piece of chicken, while much safer, just isn’t the same. That's chicken with barbecue sauce on it, not barbecued chicken. When it comes to barbecued chicken, everyone wants that nice thick glaze of sauce attached to the skin, and the only way to do it, is brush it on as it cooks.

Therein lies the problem. Because of the sugar content, it only takes a minute for a barbecue sauce to go from brick-red to solid black. This video recipe shows my fairly simple solution to the problem. I just "mark" the chicken's vulnerable skin side, then cook it all the way through in a closed grill, brushing on the glaze as it cooks.

In addition to seeing how not to burn chicken, you'll also see a slash and marinade pre-grill prep that adds to this recipe's overall deliciousness. This will work with any prepared barbecue sauce, but is especially good with San Francisco-style barbecue sauce.

What is San Francisco-style barbecue sauce? That's a great question! Soon you will be able to buy my very first prepared food product. Michele and I have been working on this sauce recipe for years, and it's finally ready to unveil.

Of course, I can't give you the exact recipe, but it’s a traditional American barbecue sauce base kicked-up with spices from around the world, as well as three of San Francisco's favorite things; red wine, chocolate, and coffee. It is an incredible sauce, and you be seeing it here soon!

In the meantime, use your favorite barbecue sauce recipe or brand and give this a try. Enjoy!



2 chicken halves
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp San Francisco-style barbecue sauce, plus more for brushing
2 cloves crushed garlic

For the rub:
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne