The Best Grilled Chicken with Big Bob Gibson's White BBQ Sauce and Apple Brine

This is, like, BY FAR, the best grilled chicken I have ever had. Like, EVER. Usually chicken at a BBQ is so ho-hum. It's dry, it's bland, it's the ugly stepsister to those popularity queens, ribs and steaks. It's the obligatory white meat for picky kids and people who don't eat "real" meat. But this? Oh no. This sauce is transformational. It's the best damn BBQ chicken I have ever had.

I've never had a "white" BBQ sauce before, but apparently that's because I was born in the wrong state. Had I been born in Alabama (apparently), they would have pulled me from the womb and immediately spooned some white BBQ sauce into my mouth. Because that's JUST HOW SERIOUS some people are about their BBQ sauce.


And you know what? This sauce TOTALLY deserves it. It's won only approximately 1 million first place awards in BBQ competitions. I WISH it had been spooned into my mouth at birth, because them I wouldn't have spent 25 years without ever even knowing this BBQ sauce existed. When my mom tasted this she said "you could bottle this and sell it!" Thing is, someone already has. Big Bob Gibson, that's who. You can buy a bunch of sauces at www.bibbobgibson.com, but what I'm more excited about is Big Bob's new BBQ Book. You can buy it at amazon, but if you go to Big Bob's official website, you can buy an autographed copy. I think I know what I'm buying myself Nate for father's day.


So try it at your next BBQ already!





The Best Grilled Chicken with Big Bob Gibson's White Bar-B-Q Sauce and Apple Brine
from Bitten.
serves 8

You might think this makes a lot of sauce, and it does. Do not be tempted to halve the recipe. It keeps marvelously in the fridge, and you will want to eat it again. And don't just stop with chicken! Tastes great on veggies too.

Folks, can you believe how inexpensive chicken is these days? I bought 5 chicken breast halves (with rib meat and bones, I deboned them myself) for $5. That's really cheap protein people. And it tastes so good. Just eat it already, would you?

For the Apple Brine



1 cup apple juice
1 cup water
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Chicken for 8 (Mark Bittman recommends boneless chicken breasts, but I think and pieces would be great, and would benefit from this preparation).

For Big Bob Gibson's White BBQ Sauce



2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons "prepared horseradish" (it DOES exist. Check your condiments aisle)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (don't skip! It's not spicy, really, but adds great flavor)


Method


1. in a large bowl or tupperware, combine all of the brine ingredients and mix well (that honey is a bit sticky, it might require some elbow grease to get it mixed in). Add chicken, and let sit for at least 1 hour, or up to 5 hours (I don't know, maybe overnight? I brined mine for 5 hours).

2. Combine all of Big Bob Gibson's White BBQ Sauce ingredients, and mix well.

3. Preheat your grill. Remove chicken from brine, and pound with a meat hammer (or something else flat - I used a metal dinner plate, seeing as we were camping and neccecisty is the mother of invention and all that) so that chicken is of a uniform thickness and will cook evenly.



4. Place chicken on grill. Brush with BBQ sauce. Cook 6-7 minutes on first side, until chicken is cooked about 1/2 of the way through. Flip, and repeat. Chicken is done when it's firm to the touch, and (if you are really worried about doneness) registers 160 degress on an instant read meat thermometer.


5. Let chicken rest 5-10 minutes to allow juices to redistribute. Dip in white BBQ sauce. Enjoy!