There’s an unspoken rule in our house that when there is pork butt, it had better be smoked. And pulled. By a man. And while I think I have a pretty great recipe for oven pulled pork, it often gets scoffed at by the self-declared pit master I reside with. Problem is, I have barbecue cravings during the 50 weeks he’s not out back drinking beers and worshiping fire. So I found a loop hole. (Apparently the “pit master” doesn’t have any beef with me cooking chicken.)
It took a few tries, but I think I perfected my barbecue chicken recipe—a bold statement—but just ask my fiancé. He gave it his hard-earned seal of approval, which I gladly accepted. The secret is not really in the braise (although it helps) but in what comes next. To get the blackened, crispy ends that you expect from a barbecue joint, you’ve got to throw the chicken under the broiler. As for the results? You could fool anybody that’s not in on your scheme.
Since it’s finally football season, I prefer this barbecue chicken to make ultimate tailgate sliders with. Soft, fluffy potato buns and a quick vinegar slaw work as the perfect vehicles to cut the richness of the meat, and they make the sandwiches pretty cute, too. Sports fans: I believe we’ve got ourselves a touchdown! (Now, if only these were good enough to help my team win? Fat chance.)
Barbecue Chicken Sliders
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Yields: 4 – 6 servings
For the barbecue chicken
4 – 5 pounds skinless chicken thighs* (I use a mix of boneless and bone-in)
Southern spice rub (recipe below)
1/2 cup pilsner-style beer
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Favorite barbecue sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray’s)
For the vinegar slaw
2 cups coleslaw mix
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
For the southern spice rub
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Rub the chicken thoroughly in the spice rub. In a large Dutch oven, whisk the beer, cider vinegar, ketchup, liquid smoke, and Worcestershire sauce until combined. Nestle the chicken into the Dutch oven, overlapping if necessary, and bring the mixture to a boil.
Cover the pot and move to the preheated oven. Cook the chicken until it is falling off the bone, about 75 – 90 minutes. Remove chicken with tongs to a large sheet pan or bowl. Allow to cool a few minutes, then shred using two forks (or my favorite bear claws). Discard any bones and gristle. Place the shredded chicken back into the cooking liquid and cool completely. (This step can be made up to two days in advance; just cover and refrigerate until ready to move forward.)
Turn the oven on broil. Push the chicken through a fine mesh sieve to remove excess sauce (do not discard the cooking liquid.) Arrange the chicken on two sheet pans and broil (working in batches) until the chicken is crisp and some of the ends are blackened, about 6 – 10 minutes each.
Toss the pulled chicken with your favorite barbecue sauce, a few tablespoons at a time, to your taste. Add a few tablespoons of cooking liquid to moisten, if desired. (I always save some liquid to add to the meat when reheating.) Serve barbecue chicken with steamed potato buns and vinegar slaw.
*Don’t use chicken breasts for this recipe because the meat will become very dry under the heat of the broiler. The fat in the dark meat will help keep the chicken moist.
For the vinegar slaw, combine the cole slaw mix with vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. Taste, and adjust any seasonings if desired.
For the southern spice rub, mix all ingredients until well-blended. Refrigerate excess for later use.
Nealey moved from Alabama to the West Coast to follow her dreams, only to realize once there how much she missed good ol’ country cooking. So she took to the kitchen and began re-creating the dishes of her past, but this time without any help from a can. What started out as a hobby turned into an obsession, so she quit her day job to pursue cooking, and eating, fulltime. Dixie Caviar is where you can follow her pursuits of all things Southern.
More Southern Favorites From Nealey
- Texas Sheet Cake
- Creamy Corn Hush Puppies
- Pulled Pork Nachos
- Smoky Mac and Cheese
- Peach Cobbler
- Bourbon Banana Puddings
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
be.top bloggers often incorporate photos, jokes, quotes,…
videos, infographics and other items of interest and make the whole thing fun! the more you write, the better you’ll get at it, so give it a go. make sure you stick to google’s webmaster guidelines so that you don’t end…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Excellent website…
the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Excellent website…
the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the…
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
a rapport with editors, maintain contact lists…
for experts i could interview and request inputs for across different publications and manage varied interests under one umbrella as a freelance professional.good writing habit #2 – i started reading blogs by top literary agents and writers i admired t…
Woman of Alien…
Perfect function you may have done, this web site is absolutely interesting with great information and facts. Time is God’s strategy for trying to keep all the things from going on directly….
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……