Grill-Roasted Chicken with Potlatch Sauce
Cooking a whole chicken on an outdoor grill makes an impressive presentation, and it’s easier than you might imagine. The trick is to butterfly the bird. This creates a uniform thickness so the meat cooks faster and more evenly, and the skin emerges beautifully browned. Our Potlatch BBQ Sauce—a robust combo of tomatoes, molasses, citrus, fragrant spices and dried chiles—is all you need to give the chicken terrific sweet-smoky flavor.
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken, 4 to 4 1/2 lb. (2 to 2.25 kg)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 bottle Potlatch BBQ Sauce
Directions:
Using kitchen shears or a heavy chef’s knife, cut through the chicken on both sides of the backbone, then remove and discard the backbone. Place the chicken on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Tuck the wings under the chicken and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, prepare a grill for indirect grilling over medium-high heat.
Transfer the chicken, breast side up, to a steel grill roaster. Pour 1 cup (8 fl. oz./250 ml) of the BBQ sauce into a small bowl and set aside for serving. Brush the chicken lightly with some of the remaining BBQ sauce.
Place the roaster on the grill over indirect heat and cover the grill. Cook until the skin is well browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, away from the bone, registers 160°F (71°C), about 45 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, brush the chicken with more sauce. Adjust the burners as needed to maintain the internal grill temperature at 375° to 400°F (190° to 200°C).
Transfer the chicken to a carving board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes. Carve the chicken into serving piece, arrange on a platter and serve immediately. Pass the reserved BBQ sauce at the table. Serves 4.
Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen
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$104.95
