Cooking Whole Chicken Successfully on the BBQ

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If Sunday chicken is an institution for many, when it is barbecued, it is a delight for young and old alike. Between its golden, crispy skin and its soft, juicy flesh, its taste is inimitable! But cooking it in its entirety is tanning for some people, so at Kokko we decided to give you our tips to make sure you don't miss it anymore!

How do I prepare the chicken for full BBQ cooking?

Whether cooked on a rack or with toad, to be tasty, chicken needs to be marinated. The secret to full cooking is to flavour it on, but also under, the skin. Before brushing it on the outside, remember to rub garlic, herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage, etc.), a few knobs of butter or a little olive oil under the skin to flavour the flesh more intensely. On the skin, so that it browns and crumbles as you like it, coat it with the marinade of your choice: with lemon, herbs, condiments, wine, beer, honey, maple syrup, etc. without forgetting a few pinches of fleur de sel and pepper. But be aware that with chicken, creativity is the order of the day. Free yourself from the classic associations for new flavours and why not take it to other regions and revisit its barbecued chicken.

Recipe ideas with surprising marinades:

Crunchy Chicken Skewers with Peanut Butter

Chicken drumsticks with sweet and sour sauce

Orange Marinated Chicken

Spicy Chicken Skewers with White Sauce

Chicken Tikka

Also remember to avoid thermal shocks by taking your meat out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before cooking it on your Kokko so that the outside of the chicken does not burn and the flesh does not harden.

Cooking chicken on a rack

Cooking whole chicken is particularly tasty for one simple reason: when the meat is cooked with the bones, it retains its juices better in the flesh. The flesh does not dry out and remains soft and tender. There are two ways to barbecue whole chickens for juicy meat. The first is to use a chicken cooking rack. Poultry placed vertically will then be cooked evenly and gently. 

In the tray of the cooking utensil, you will collect all the juices from the chicken that will be able to feed the garnish also placed inside, and of course, use it to baste the chicken several times during cooking to give it taste as in this delicious recipe of chicken roasted "à la canette" with Kokko.

Cooking on the grill

Another cooking technique, which can be found in the tradition of the Portuguese barbecue and its unmistakable Churrasco chicken, is to cook it directly flat on the grill. To do this, it is opened in half in the middle to obtain a chicken that is shaped like a toad, hence its name "chicken toad" as in this "American-style" grilled chicken recipe. This type of cooking will particularly appeal to lovers of grilled taste! At the time of cooking, since the chicken is in direct contact with the embers, brushing it is inevitably risking dripping the marinade over the embers, potentially fanning the flames and thus burning the chicken. It is preferable to brush the chicken with a brush in the last minutes of cooking, when the embers are less hot.

As for temperature and cooking time, be patient! To avoid burnt chicken, be careful with the temperature, which should not exceed 200°. For a whole chicken of about 1.2-1.5 kg cooked on its support, count at least 1 hour of cooking time. Grilled directly over the toad embers, count more or less forty minutes depending on the weight of your chicken.

And if you don't know what to serve it with, take a look at our food and wine pairing ideas to find the best combination and treat yourself!

Posted in: The Kokko lover's diary