I used to live on the third floor of an apartment building and they had a rule against using open flames, so grilling was out of the question while I lived there. That means we had to do the next best thing. Tonight's project was simple, but very tasty: an attempt to mix together my own barbecue sauce and make barbecue chicken in the oven. I certainly like how it turned out, and adding cast iron to the mix made this, a step above just using a baking sheet. Of course, you can use your own favorite barbecue sauce with this, and the results should certainly be as good as this, or even better.
Pans needed: One large cast iron skillet, 12 inches or greater in size. One large bowl to marinate the chicken before cooking. A metal dish or bowl to reserve the extra grease or liquid from the cooked chicken.
Ingredients
- 3 to 5 pounds chicken pieces (I prefer dark meat, but you can use any chicken parts)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground pepper
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups BBQ sauce (see below)
And that's it for the ingredients!
Place chicken pieces into large bowl. Add salt and pepper. Mix the chicken around to spread the salt and pepper all over the chicken. Pour about half of the barbecue sauce into the bowl, and mix it around so all the chicken is coated with the sauce.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a large cast iron pan or skillet on top of the stovetop, and heat the pan on medium while the oven is heating. This will get the pan good and hot, for searing the chicken.
When the oven reaches 400 degrees, place the marinated chicken pieces into the hot pan to sear them. Because the chicken is coated with marinade, you don't have to add extra oil or grease to the pan. After about 30 seconds, turn the chicken over and sear the other side. After searing both sides of the chicken (30 seconds each side), place the entire pan with the chicken into the hot oven. Bake at 400 degrees F, uncovered, 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, coat the top of the chicken pieces with the BBQ sauce, and bake for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, take the pan out of the oven. Remove the chicken onto plates, and drain the extra liquid from the cooked chicken into a metal bowl or other container. Return the chicken to the pan, placing the sauced side of the chicken down on the surface of the pan. Coat the other side of the chicken pieces with BBQ sauce. Place the pan back in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes, still at 400 degrees F.
After ten minutes, remove the chicken from the pan and serve hot.
BBQ Chaos
I've never been a person who enjoys heavy spices that destroy your taste buds. As such, I hope this sauce is not your typical hot sauce. You might say it has a sweet heat to it, in that there's definitely a bite you'll feel when eating this. But it doesn't drown out the taste of the chicken, or the coating.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2/3 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Mix ingredients together in a 1-quart saucepan. Heat on the stovetop at just under medium heat, until the sauce begins to bubble and smoke. Remove from the heat. Let cool, unless you want to serve it hot.