Barbecued Dry-Rubbed Chicken

It’s truly incredible chicken. Rubbing meat with spices is an excellent way to season meat for the grill. But then you miss out on the sticky, savory glaze that screams ‘barbecue’. Basting your meat with barbecue sauce gives you that great glaze and sticky fingers, but the glaze doesn’t have time to really penetrate and season the meat. With this recipe you get the best of both worlds! It’s mmm mmm good, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy a bottle of store bought barbecue sauce again.

Grilling Takes Practice, Here’s what I’ve learned about using Charcoal and Gas.

Back in the day whenever I tried grilling, epic fails resulted every time. I have stomped and thrown fits and seriously wanted to throw our grill on some train tracks somewhere. I would follow the recipe instructions exactly~ and end up with black lumps of coal for food. So for the longest time I relegated all the grilling to my husband. Eventually I graduated from the school of hard knocks and ended up with a whole plate full of YUM! Like anything else, it just took practice :0)

Don’t make these Charcoal Grilling mistakes:

• Learning to use a chimney starter really helped me out, like this Weber Charcoal Chimney Starter from Amazon.

• Once your coals are hot and placed inside your grill, move them to one side if you need indirect heat to cook your chicken (like for this recipe).
• Scrape your grill clean and brush it with oil -best done with a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil and held with tongs.
• Cuts of meat with bone included (like this recipe for Barbecued Dry Rubbed Chicken) must be cooked over INDIRECT HEAT, so place these types of meat on the grill over a spot with no coals.
• Boneless meats can be cooked over DIRECT HEAT, so you don’t need to worry about piling your hot charcoals to one side, place meats on the grate right over hot coals.
• Use a simple food thermometer to check the temp of your meats- it’s foolproof. 

Don’t Make these Gas Grilling Mistakes:

• Preheat your grill super hot and clean off the char left behind with a metal grill brush. Then turn the burners to low and wait a few minutes for the temps to come down before cooking your food.
• Once the grill has reached cooking temps, (like around 350° F) dip a paper towel in oil, grab it with some tongs and oil your grill so your food doesn’t stick.
• Use a food thermometer to check your meats; repeat from above- it’s failproof!
• Stay by the grill and check your food. Don’t even multi-task; just don’t.

Every delicious bite is well worth the effort to learn your grill and have Barbecued Dry-Rubbed Chicken on your dinner plate tonight! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Please let me know how it goes, I always love feedback! Tag me on instagram @TheGoldilocksKitchen if you make this incredible recipe. I love to see!

This recipe inspired from one found on Cooks Country.

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Barbecue Dry Rubbed Chicken

Prep 10 mins

Cook 30 mins

Inactive 45 mins

Total 1 hour, 25 mins

Author Emily

Yield 7-10 pieces of chicken

The magic of this incredibly delicious chicken is that the dry rub used to season the meat, also melts into a barbecue glaze on the grill.  

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (drumstick and thigh work best)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients for the dry rub and divide evenly in two separate bowls. Set one bowl aside. Prepare the chicken by blotting dry with paper towels. Rub one bowl of seasoning under the skin and all over chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate seasoned chicken pieces for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour.

2. Preheat your grill and scrape clean. When the grill has reached a temperature of about 325 degrees,  oil the grate with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil gripped with tongs.

3. Place the chicken skin side down and grill over indirect heat (switch the burners off under the chicken if using gas) until the skin is crisp and well browned, turning occasionally. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Dredge the skin side of the chicken pieces in the second bowl of seasoning and return to the grill, skin side up. Grill, covered, until the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees for white meat, and 165 for dark, about 5 to 10 minutes more. The rub should melt and turn into a deeply colored glaze on the chicken. Remove, tent with foil for about 5 minutes, and serve.

Notes

Bone in, skin on chicken breast can also be used, just slice them in half crosswise with a sharp knife and proceed with the recipe as written.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine American

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 piece of chicken

Amount Per Serving
Calories 275
% Daily Value
Total Fat 21.7 g		33%
	Saturated Fat 7.3 g	37%
Cholesterol 98 mg		33%
Sodium 304 mg		13%
Total Carbohydrates 3.4 g		1%
	Dietary Fiber 0.3 g	1%
	Sugars 2.8 g
Protein 17 g		34%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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