This month we cook with Grill Master and Charcoal Snob Paul Holzschuh (pronounced Hole-Shoe)
We show you how to make your own charcoal in the back yard with a minimum of equipment and expense. Pretty cool. Now I have all the high quality natural lump charcoal I want. No petrol flavor in my BBQ !
Paul also shows us how to grill a whole chicken in under 30 minutes using a brick ! Yes a brick… well a paver or big flat rock works just as well. Yeah yeah, I was skeptical myself …..until I had some. Its good, REALLY GOOD! Somehow the brick keeps the juices in the chicken making it one of the best ways to grill chicken. One of the awesome things about this technique is that its very easy and the skin doesn’t burn into an asphalt like consistency. It did take me 2 tries to get it just the way I like it, but now its a no brainer.
My Weber grill cooks a little cooler than Pauls with the lid on and all vents open so I had to adjust the time to 15 minutes per side. (gave the second side an extra 5 minutes) I guess I should mention that I have a “thing” about chicken….I like mine well done. SO ….15/10 minutes is probably the “correct” time but I freak out when I have squishy chicken so I cook mine 15/15 minutes.
BRICK CHICKEN
1 whole chicken with back bone removed (use poultry shears) and sternum cracked from inside with sharp knife. Don’t cut all the way, just break the bone so the chicken lays flat when finished.
Lightly oil the chicken with Olive Oil
Basic Seasoned salt.
Good sprinkle of granulated garlic
Sprinkle of Oregano
Teaspoon of Rosemary (crush with your fingers and sprinkle on chicken.
Brick Paver or flat rock wrapped in Foil (keeps the grit off your bird)
DIRECTIONS
Start a chimney of charcoal and spread an even layer of hot coals in the grill.
Clean and prep grill.
Prepare Chicken by washing then remove the backbone, split the sternum and lightly oil.
Sprinkle with basic seasoned salt, garlic, oregano, and rosemary.
Put chicken skin side down on grill and place brick on top of chicken. Cover and grill for 15 minutes.
Remove brick to clean spot and flip chicken. Replace brick, cover grill and cook an additional 10-15 minutes depending on your grill and desired doneness.
Allow Chicken to rest 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Enjoy! (Photos to follow when I figure out what memory card they are on)
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