The A - Z of making the best grilled BBQ chicken

So how long should one grill chicken for the perfect taste? Some prefer low heating for at least an hour, never less, but going up to 2 hours produces the best taste. The barbecue must be slow and low as opposed to hot and fast.

The trick here is to moderate your heat. Which might mean that you stick around the sigiri (charcoal stove) with a bottle of cold water to regulate the fire. Set the charcoal far below the chicken for slow cooking. Slow and steady makes the best BBQ chicken.

The other trick to great-tasting chicken BBQ is BBQ sauce. This can be found ready-made in a supermarket or made at home.

Ingredients for barbecue sauce

For sweetness - tomato ketchup, dark brown sugar, and honey

For tang - white wine vinegar and ginger

For a bit of heat and smokiness - mustard powder, black pepper

For smoothness - A little vegetable oil to bring it all together and make it smooth and glossy.

The process

1 Oil and salt the chicken pieces:

Coat the chicken pieces with olive oil and sprinkle salt over them on all sides.

2 Prepare the grill

Prepare one side of your grill for high, direct heat. If you are using charcoal or wood, make sure there is a cool side to the grill where there are few to no coals.

3 Sear the chicken, then move to the cool side of the grill

Sear the raw chicken Pulse

Lay the chicken pieces skin side down on the hottest side of the grill in order to sear the skin side well. Grill uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how hot the grill is (you do not want the chicken to burn). Once you have a good sear on one side, turn the chicken pieces over and move them to the cooler side of the grill.

4 Turn over, baste, and cook until done:

Seared chicken Pulse

Apply BBQ sauce Pulse

Turn the chicken pieces over and baste them with with your favorite barbecue sauce. Cover the grill again and allow to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Repeat, turning the chicken pieces over, basting them with sauce, covering, and cooking for another 10-30 minutes.

The timing will depend on your grill set-up, the size of your chicken pieces, and how cold your chicken pieces are to start with! If you're grilling smaller pieces of chicken on a charcoal grill, they may be done much earlier. The goal is to maintain a low enough grill temp so that the chicken cooks "low and slow."

The chicken is done if you insert the tip of a knife into the middle of the thickest piece and the juices run clear, the chicken is done.

If the chicken isn't done, turn the pieces over and continue to cook at a low temperature.

4 Sear a final time, then remove from heat

If you want, you can finish with a sear on the hot side of the grill. To do this, put the pieces, skin side down, on the hot side of the grill. Allow them to sear and blacken slightly for a minute or two.