BBQ17/17 – Hang Fire Yardbird:
Hang Fire Yardbird: Since I started learning more about BBQ I have seen Big Bob Gibson BBQ White Sauce mentioned quite a lot and some of the UK guys have even managed to get hold of some to cook with. It’s been on my list for a while to make some try and recreate a white sauce as similar to Big Bob Gibson’s as possible!
I had a Herb Fed chicken left in the freezer lined up for the cook and found a recipe for Hang Fire Yardbird in the Hang Fire cookbook. The method looked quite simple but it had a recipe for a White BBQ Sauce and even mentions Big Bob Gibson BBQ so I knew this was the recipe for me!
I was meant to make other side dishes to cook with this but I was tired when doing all the prep the night before so decided to do some Sweet Hasselback Potatoes (also from the Hang Fire book) and use some leftover peas and beans.
For the prep I made the Bird Bath Brine (Water, sea salt, soft light brown sugar, coriander seeds, ground black pepper, garlic granules and bay leaves) then put a lid on the pan and left it to cool down quickly so I could put the chicken in!
I spatchcocked the chicken (see previous post for method https://kungfubbq.co.uk/bbq1017-bourbon-brined-spatchcock-chicken) then lay it flat in a roasting tray skin down and poured the brine over the top.
I left this in the fridge overnight and made the Yardbird Rub (fine sea salt, garlic granules, paprika, white sugar, dried rosemary, dried oregano, English mustard powder, ground black pepper, celery salt, fennel seeds and turmeric) – the rub smelt absolutely amazing, I can see me using this more often!
I then went on to make the Alabama white sauce (Mayo, apple juice, cider vinegar, lemon juice, horseradish, garlic powder, onion powder, English mustard powder, cracked black pepper, grated lemon zest, cayenne pepper and sea salt flakes) – I whisked this all together in a jug then added the chopped flat leaf parsley, stirred it and put it in the fridge overnight.
On the day of the cook I took the chicken out of the brine and dried it with kitchen towel then rubbed it with rapeseed oil and applied the Yardbird rub using my rub shaker.
I set the BBQ up with the last of my Orange Wood from Oxford Charcoal and added a couple of Oak Chunks (just spotted the recipe says Apple, Pear, Cherry, Beech or Alder – I have some Pear, would have been interesting to use that) then put the chicken in to cook indirectly for around an hour. The recipe says to cook the chicken on your smoker at 225F for 1 hour then raise the temp to 275F. I couldn’t be bothered using the smoker and BBQ so just put it in the BBQ from the start. I put the chicken on skin side up hoping the rub would firm up enough not to come off when I flipped it later.
I prepared the sweet hasselback potatoes by slicing the bottom to create a flat surface and then slicing them every 3mm down to 3mm from the bottom.I then brushed olive oil on and seasoned with salt/pepper and put them in the BBQ aiming for around 45m.
I used the iGrill2 again to monitor the temperatures and wanted to move it to direct heat around 70C taking it off at 74C. As with my last chicken cook I frazzled the outside a bit so next time I will definitely put the grill grates on just to protect from flare ups a bit. It looked pretty black in places but it tasted amazing, the rub is a winner and I will make that again in future!
I chopped the chicken in half as my wife wasn’t having the white sauce (eggs) and poured it over:
The sauce also tasted fantastic, I enjoyed it so much that I poured loads over my plate. So much that the next photos make it look like chicken tonight sauce! After I eat everything on my plate my oldest daughter and I were carving more chicken off and rubbing it in the sauce on the chopping board. Most of the chicken got eaten between 3 of us and we really enjoyed it.
I loved this meal, I was raving about it all evening and really enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day!
The rub and white sauce were great, I would have a go at using them with some chicken wings at some point too.
Changes for the next cook: Not a lot, just try and cook chicken over direct heat at the end of the cook to crisp the skin without burning it! Grill Grates, must remember next time!