15 votesA barbecue chicken recipe that falls off the bone and is moist and tender inside with a smoky char-grilled skin, this one is made with chicken drumstick or thighs, or both with the bone in and the skin on. The meat is simply seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper and coated with a delectable barbecue sauce made with roasted garlic, lemons, fresh rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. For an unforgettable barbecue or backyard party, serve this barbecue chicken with a bucket of ice-cold beer or soda. Serve baked or mashed potatoes on the side. Coleslaw, grilled corn, pasta salad, or macaroni also work well with barbecue chicken.
One of the most common problems when making barbecue chicken is that the outside gets cooked faster and easily gets burned while the inside takes longer to cook and thus can lead to dry and stringy meat. Cooking too long will scorch the skin leaving you with blackened, unappetizing barbecue chicken. In this recipe, the technique is to first cook the chicken in the oven until it falls off the bone and then to brown and crisp the skin on the grill after. The chicken is coated with the sauce in the last ten minutes of cooking to give it a nice color, awesome flavor and to keep the skin from burning. Flavor will also come from the smoke of the fire from the grill. For even better flavor, use a charcoal grill and cook the chicken over a medium fire. You can test the temperature by holding your hand over the grill and if you can keep it there fore five seconds then it is good and ready.
Baste the chicken using a soft brush, coating the skin with the paste well for at least 10 minutes into the end of the cooking. Use tongs to handle the chicken. Chicken is done if the juices run clear when it is pierced and should have an internal temperature of 170 to 180 degrees F.
In a big rectangular pan lined with tin foil, arrange the chicken with the bulb of garlic in the middle, and 1 lemon cut in half.
Season chicken with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil. Cover chicken with tinfoil (like a package) and bake in preheated oven (350ºF) for 35 minutes or until chicken falls off bone.
When done, take chicken out of oven and carefully take it off the tinfoil and put on preheated grill.
As soon as your chicken is on the BBQ, make your sauce. Use the roasted garlic and squeeze each clove into a bowl. Squeeze in lemon juice from the roasted lemon, add some more salt and pepper and olive oil and mix until you have a nice paste. Juice the other lemon, and add the rosemary.
Baste the chicken with the sauce for about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter and serve!
