SINCE YOUNG BATTERY CHICKENS ARE SO BLAND today, they need to be either marinated or, as I learned at a
barbecue competition in Huntsville, Alabama, seasoned with a spicy dry-rub before being grilled. (Even organic
chickens, which may or may not have a bit more flavor, benefit from a dry-rub when being barbecued.) Indirect, slow cooking over fairly mild wood chips (not hickory) is the best way to produce optimum flavor and maintain the chicken’s moistness, so be sure to use a drip pan and to push the coals as far to the edges of the grill as possible. The chicken is ready when, pricked with a fork, the juices run clear and are not in the least pink. For crisper skin, move the chicken directly over the coals during the final minutes of cooking.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

• One 3- to 31⁄2-pound fryer chicken, cut into serving pieces
• 3 tablespoons Basic Dry-Rub Barbecue Mix
• One good handful of apple or oak wood chips, soaked in water 30 minutes
• Vegetable oil for brushing

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lightly rub the chicken pieces with the dry-rub mix.
2. Place the chicken in a large bowl.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Refrigerate the chicken for 4 to 5 hours or overnight.
5. Ignite a layer of charcoal briquets in an outdoor grill.
6. Let the briquets burn until they are ashen (30 to 45 minutes).
7. Push the hot coals to the sides of the grill.
8. Position a drip pan in the center of the grill.
9. Sprinkle the soaked wood chips over the coals.
10. Place the grill rack about 6 inches from the coals.
11. Brush the grill rack with oil.
12. Place the chicken pieces, skin side up, in the center of the grill.
13. Close the lid of the grill and open the vents.
14. Cook the chicken for about 20 minutes.
15. Turn the chicken over.
16. Cover the grill again and cook for 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until the juices run clear when the breasts and thighs are pierced with a fork and the chicken is tender.
17. Transfer the chicken to a platter.
18. Serve immediately.