Big Bob Gibson's Chicken with White Barbecue Sauce

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At Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, chef Chris Lilly butterflies a whole chicken, smokes it, then dunks the bird into a vat of tangy white barbecue sauce. Home cooks can grill pieces of chicken until crispy and nicely charred, then serve them alongside Lilly's terrific white sauce.

Big Bob Gibson’s Chicken with White Barbecue Sauce. Photo © Marcus Nilsson
Photo: © Marcus Nilsson
Active Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
50 mins
Yield:
4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup hickory wood chips

  • One 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces

  • Vegetable oil, for brushing

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 cup mayonnaise

  • 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

  • 1/4 cup apple juice

  • 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

  1. Light a gas grill. Wrap the hickory wood chips in heavy-duty foil and pierce the packet all over with a skewer. Add the foil packet to the grill. Cover and let the wood chips begin to smoke, about 5 minutes.

  2. Brush the chicken with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken, covered, over moderately high heat, turning and shifting the pieces occasionally, until lightly charred and cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a platter.

  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the vinegar, apple juice, horseradish, lemon juice and cayenne and season with 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Transfer the barbecue sauce to a pitcher and serve with the chicken.

Make Ahead

The barbecue sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Suggested Pairing

Beer Grapefruity IPA: Samuel Adams Latitude 48 from Massachusetts.

Wine Full-bodied white such as Viognier.

Originally appeared: June 2011
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