HOGS ‘N HEAT BBQ DIP

Spread 8 oz softened cream cheese on plate, pour 8 oz Hogs ‘N Heat BBQ Sauce on top and spread, sprinkle and spread 1-16 oz package shredded cheese on top, add 1 pound fried bacon (broken in small pieces) on top of cheese, finish with green onion bits and eat with Frito Scoops or Tortilla Chips…Enjoy!

Fast Indirect BBQ Chicken

Unlike competition chicken that we cook for about 3.5 hours this recipe takes only about 1.25 hours. This recipe uses a Weber kettle grill, and very high cooking temperatures– about 450 degrees. Only legs & thighs should be used as white meat does not have adequate fat to keep from drying out.

You can brine the chicken for a couple hours in the brine described below. If using brine, remove pieces from the brine & dry off with a paper towel before applying the rub.

Step 1: Fire a Weber charcoal chimney full of briquets (we use Steakhouse). A cajun burner makes lighting a chimney full of coals a snap. Pour the coals in a pile on one side of the kettle for indirect cooking. Throw a handful of wood chips or pellets directly on the coals. Do not soak the wood chips as wet wood smolders and creates nasty smoke that fouls meat in short order. Let grill get hot with top on. The vents should be wide open on top and bottom and the temperature should be way over 400 degrees. All cooking should occur with the lid on.

Step 2: Season about 8-10 legs or thighs with Hogs ‘N Heat BBQ Rub until uniformly seasoned on all sides. Pieces should not be covered thickly with rub, but should be seasoned moderately. Spray pieces with oil cooking spray to set rub.

Step 3: Place chicken pieces on the grill opposite the coals for indirect cooking. Thighs should start off skin side up for the first 20 minutes. After 20 minutes cooking with lid on, turn pieces over skin side down. Cook another 20 minutes with skin side down. Flip pieces skin side up and cook for about 20 more minutes. At about 1 hour cooking time flip to skin side down & apply Hogs ‘N Heat BBQ sauce to top side of the pieces. Cook about 8-10 minutes to let sauce glaze, but do not burn. Flip pieces back skin side up and sauce that side with Hogs ‘N Heat BBQ sauce. Let cook another 8-10 minutes till sauce has glazed. All cooking should occur with the lid on, and try to minimize the amount of time lid is off to turn pieces etc. A few additional wood chips or pellets can be added once or twice, but do not oversmoke. If too much white smoke is showing, open the lid till the wood catches fire to minimize smoldering.

This recipe makes awesome chicken pieces. The meat should be very juicy, and the nearly falling off the bone. Unlike slow-smoked chicken the skin in this recipe is very tender and slightly crunchy.

Chicken Brine

A not so secret weapon for great, moist chicken. This brine uses less salt and can be used for up to 4 hours on chicken pieces, up to 6 hours on half chickens, and overnight on whole birds.

1 gallon cold water
1/2 cup table salt
2 cups apple juice
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 t-spoons minced garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce or teriyaki sauce
1 Tablespoon Hogs ‘N Heat BBQ Rub
5-7 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce (thick)
2 teaspoons msg
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

Mix ingredients, stir thoroughly, refrigerate overnight before using. Let chicken float in the brine in a nonreactive plastic container. Dry off chicken with paper towels before applying rub or seasoning. Do not rinse off brine. The brine may cause a slight pink color in meat near the bones if left in longer than a couple of hours.