Recipe Background
Every state in the union has its own way to grill chicken. Alabama Grilled Chicken is a delicious twist on a classic! The chicken is marinated in a sweet and salty brine and then grilled until savory and juicy. Brushed with a homemade white barbecue sauce that's got all that deep south tang, Alabama Grilled Chicken is just delightfully tasty! Your next cookout is going to be a hit!
Every state in the union has its own way to grill chicken. Alabama Grilled Chicken is a delicious twist on a classic! The chicken is marinated in a sweet and salty brine and then grilled until savory and juicy. Brushed with a homemade white barbecue sauce that's got all that deep south tang, Alabama Grilled Chicken is just delightfully tasty! Your next cookout is going to be a hit!
Ingredients
For the brine:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt plus more, to taste
- 2 cups cold water
- 2 (12-ounce) bottles amber beer chilled
- 1 head garlic unpeeled and cut in half crosswise
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
- 2 (4-pound) chickens cut into 8 pieces each
For the white barbecue sauce:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish drained
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- hot pepper sauce to taste
- vegetable oil to taste
Directions
- In a pot large enough to hold all of the chicken pieces, add 1/4 cup of the sugar, 1/4 cup of the salt, and the cold water and stir to combine until the sugar and the salt dissolve completely.
- Add the beer, the garlic halves, the bay leaves, and the black peppercorns to the sugar mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken pieces to the brine and cover the pot.
- Refrigerate the chicken pieces in the brine for at least 8 hours and up to overnight.
- In a medium bowl, add the mayonnaise, the vinegar, the horseradish, the remaining sugar, and the Worcestershire sauce and whisk until smooth.
- Season the sauce mixture with 1 teaspoon of the remaining kosher salt, the black pepper, and the hot sauce.
- Cover the sauce mixture and refrigerate until you are ready to cook the chicken.
- Preheat the grill to medium and prepare it for both direct and indirect grilling.
- Drain and rinse the chicken pieces and using paper towels, pat them dry.
- Lightly season the chicken pieces with the extra salt.
- Brush the chicken pieces lightly with the vegetable oil.
- Carefully brush the grill grates with the vegetable oil.
- Add the chicken pieces, bone-sides down, to the indirect-heat side of the grill and cover the grill.
- Cook until the chicken skin is golden and the chicken pieces are almost cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of about 130-135 degrees F, about 20-25 minutes.
- Flip the chicken pieces so they are skin-side down and cook, covered, until the thickest chicken pieces reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 15 minutes.
- Brush the chicken pieces evenly with about 1/2 of the sauce mixture.
- Transfer the chicken pieces, skin-side down, to the direct-heat side of the grill and cook just until the skin is crisp, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and let them rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve the chicken with the remaining sauce.
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