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@johnhutch
that is correct. how do you guys think bbq places do it? barbecue = slow and a long time. basically you will never be patient enough to overcook it. it'll get nice and sticky-crispy, you just gotta be patient. man we cooked a cabrito for 14 hours once.

Please tell me how to get good grilled chicken on a gas grill. I have a 4 burner (horizontal burners) Weber. I think I get the idea of 2 zone heating, certainly for non-gas grills, but I'd like to know how you can achieve the same good results with my grill. The answer is NOT to buy a "real grill" ;-)
I can't manage it. I admit to being a wuss when it comes to fire.

Hey jfitz...wish you could just tell us how you feel. ;)

As a competition barbeque guy, I'm glad to see this post...good info and comments (except for the boiling suggestion...blasphemy!). Though I am going to do my part to make sure my catering clients don't see this post...don't want them to know the 'secret' to excellent barbeque chicken, and how easy it really is to make. :)

Carpe 'Que,
Jim Rhino

DO NOT BOIL ANYTHING TO BE BBQ'ed!
Burnt sauce, meat or any other food produces turpentine as a by-product and it tastes bad
I used to burn alot of grilled food and have learned quite a bit.
Use a high quality fuel you are comfortable with
DO NOT USE STARTER FLUIDS or any other quick start chemicals
Invest in a chimeny charcoal starter only uses paper and is cheap
Control your heat [avoid rocket engine white hot heat]
Learn your grill and how to use it
Be prepared have all tools and food in place and ready to use
Pay attention to your grill [dont leave especially when cooking hot]
FIRE EXTINGUISHER !
Start with quality ingredients [doesn't have to be KOBE or Waygu beef] just fresh and wholesome
It doesn't take a high dollar rig to produce great food. I'm sure others like myself have fashioned a grill out of mostly or all found materials and produced great feasts.

#1 Top Secret Texas Barbeque Sauce Recipe. Guarenteed success no matter what you are barbecuing!

Another alternative to grilling chicken, is putting it in the microwave for 5 minutes. It is partially cooked, and then complete cooking on the grill with your barbecue sauce. It doesnt burn, since the chicken is partially cooked when in the microwave, and it is juicy,crispy and delicious when completed on the grill with your favorite sauce.
We also use this method for ribs. Except we boil the ribs in water until they are partially cooked, and then take them out and grill them with sauce. The meat is tender, juicy, delicious and crispy w/ the sauce that we basted on the ribs. There is no burning on the grill, because most of the fat was removed when the food is precooked.

Slow and low is the true meaning behind the term BBQ. It has nothing to do with the sauce that's put on the meat, or what the grill is called. That's a pet peeve of mine. Even a bigger pet peave for me, than Josh's hatred of lighter fluid I am willing to bet. (I've seen people use gasoline before. No joke. I bet Josh would have lost it!)

I pretty much use Johns method when cooking bone in chicken in the smoker. There are times I have used Josh's method as well. It more or less depends on how much wood or charcoal I have on hand at the time.

If you go with the slow and low method, you can get crispy skin every time if you rotate the chicken regular and pay close attention the pit temp.

Either method you use, will result in some good eats though.

winebill mentioned the good ol' brine. I only use that method when cooking boneless chicken on the grill. It works like a charm every single time.

I gotta say, I think you've got it backwards. I like to cook my chicken slow and low, at around 250-300 or so for an hour or so -- as long as I can take it, really -- turning every now and again. No sauce, just a basic bbq rub of brown sugar, salt, and spices. Once the chicken is fully cooked, then I put the sauce on and let it sit on there for another 15-20 minutes or so, letting the sauce slooowly carmelize. You still get that sticky-sweet, beautifully carmelized bbq flavor, but the chicken, at this point, has been cooked to an indescribable perfection and falls right off the bone (without being at all dry -- especially if you brine beforehand). And the skin! You don't know chicken skin till it's been slow-cooked for an hour or so. It's almost as good as fried and it soaks up the bbq sauce like salt soaks up a wine spill.

I thought your picture above was an example of how your bbq should NOT look! Look at the poorly cooked skin peeling back, all that blackened bbq sauce... it's horrid!

A good brining will also keep the meat moist.

Seems like an awful lot of work to cook some chicken. What I like to do is put the chicken right over the flame then baste it with more barbecue sauce every minute or so until it is nice and crispy.

For a light meal instead of a side dish, I'd add very crisp crumbled streaky bacon, some shavings of cheddar, Tussers or Colchester cheese, and avocado. Cherry tomato wouldn't do any harm, either...

Interesting idea to grill the lettuce - doesn't it turn romaine more bitter than it is already? I do often stir-fry leftover salads - as long as they don't contain avocado - and mix them with rice or pasta (and cheese, when I feel like a bit of extravagance) for a make-shift lunch. Cooked lettuce is delicious, but expect a sizable reduction in quantity!

blue ribbon BBQ in Arlington, MA. (for easterners.)
Peggy Sue BBQ in Dallas, TX, for real real bbq.