Barbecue Chicken with White Sauce
This past weekend I was all giddy to smoke up some gargantuan apple-brined turkey legs and share the results here. I also picked up a couple chickens to smoke alongside the turkey, just out of curiosity to see how they'd go with Big Bob Gibson's White Sauce. The turkey legs were delicious, but the true power of the white sauce was unbeknownst to me. After the first bite of that tender, smokey, tangy white sauce-dipped chicken I knew that even though I've already served up a couple of chicken recipes, I'd be doing a huge disservice by not sharing this one as well.
I picked up a bottle of white sauce at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, but after reviewing the simple recipe of mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and cayenne, I decided to make a batch myself. Once I whipped up the sauce, all I had to do was smoke some brined chicken and give it a quick dunk. The sauce almost completely drained off after the dip, but what seeped in totally transformed the chicken's flavor, leaving a piquant chicken that I was certain was reserved for menus in heaven.
Don't let this seemingly simple recipe fool you as it did me—the white sauce packs the strength to convert smoked chicken into the truly sublime, and it's sure to be dressing almost all my birds from now on.
About the author: Joshua Bousel blogs about grilling on his blog, The Meatwave, and appears weekly here on Serious Eats during grilling season.
Barbecue Chicken with White Sauce
Adapted from Peace, Love, and Barbecue by Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe.
Ingredients
For the Brine
1 gallon cold water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 whole chickens, cut in half
For the Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, finely ground
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Finely ground kosher salt and ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-4 light wood chunks (like cherry or apple)
Procedure
1. Mix the salt and white sugar in the cold water until completely dissolved to make the brine. Wash the chicken halves, place them in the brine, and weight down keep submerged. Brine the chicken in the refrigerator for 4 hours, then remove from the brine, wash again, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken on a rack placed over a baking sheet and put it back in the fridge to air dry overnight (optional).
2. Combine mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, black pepper, salt, and cayenne in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Place in an airtight container or bottle and refrigerate until you're ready to use. Keeps up to 4 days.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper and smoke between 300°F-350°F, using light wood chunks, until the thickest part of the breast registers 165°F on an instant read thermometer. Halfway through the smoking process, baste the chicken with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper once more. After finished cooking, you can transfer the chicken, skin side down, to a hot grill to quickly crisp the skin.
4. After you take the chicken off the pit or grill, immediately place it in the bowl of white sauce, turning the chicken to coat evenly. Allow it to rest for a few minutes prior to serving. Discard any sauce that you've used for coating chicken.
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14 Comments:
Oh my! I WANT THAT CHICKEN LEG NOW. Why did you put this up just before lunch, Robyn?!?!
Adam Kuban at 12:19PM on 07/11/08
Do you think the sauce would taste as good with just grilled chicken?
Dolcezza at 12:42PM on 07/11/08
@Dolcezza: I think it would be just as good with plain grilled chicken, you'd only loose the smokey flavor, but still get all the tang of the sauce.
Joshua Bousel at 12:53PM on 07/11/08
Hmm it must have been the vinegar that made it tender?
When I saw the 'white' barbeque sauce, my first thought was yogurt!
Sounds delicous. I'll be keeping the recipe!
hungrychristel at 12:57PM on 07/11/08
@hungrychristel: The chicken stays moist and tender from brining and not overcooking it, the sauce just adds amazing flavor.
Joshua Bousel at 1:00PM on 07/11/08
Your white sauce recipe is what I dress my coleslaw with, except I add in 1tsp dry mustard, a few shakes of paprika and lots of freshly coarsely ground pepper.
gracepiper at 1:15PM on 07/11/08
I admit, I'm a leetle beet skeptical - I can't help but think of hot mayo, which is, well, hot mayo. But you make it sound so delicious, and the vinegar seems to transform it.... so I have to give it a shot!
BangieB at 2:43PM on 07/11/08
I used to live about 20-30 minutes away from BBG. Some of the best barbecued chicken I've had in my life. They would give little containers of the sauce to dip the meat in. Oh so good......
Asado at 4:26PM on 07/11/08
@Asado: I'm jealous. If I lived close to BBG I'd probably sustain myself solely on their pulled pork...best I've ever had.
Joshua Bousel at 5:11PM on 07/11/08
The Food Network site has a recipe for the Gibson's white sauce. Looks like it differs from this recipe to the tune of some horseradish and actual apple cider plus white vinegar. Sounds quite interesting.
bygnerd at 5:33PM on 07/11/08
Yep! Grew up on Gibson's, and every backyard BBQ-er in Decatur had their own mock up of the white sauce.
ZenKimchi at 1:00AM on 07/12/08
I dont live to far from Big Bob's and their white sauce is awesome. But Huntsville has i think its 3 Gibson's BBQ joints all different branches of the family. and some of them have even Better white sauce than BBG in Decatur. I usually go down to one of them and buy 2 bottles of sauce every couple of weeks, SO uses it on just about everything, including a ham and cheese sandwich, I thought he was nuts till i tried it, actually pretty tasty.
huneybumper at 9:09AM on 07/12/08
I am having a really difficult time wrapping my brain around this one. ~8-O
izatryt at 12:57PM on 07/12/08
each restaurant is owned by a different branch of the Gibson's family the owners of big bob gibson's are cousins to the owners of gibson's bbq in huntsville & little paul's gibson's is owned by louise sanford's (gibson's BBQ owner) youngest son.
fozziebear2508 at 11:00PM on 07/31/08