Barbecue chicken consists of chicken parts or entire chickens that are barbecued, grilled or smoked. There are many global and regional preparation techniques and cooking styles. Barbecue chicken is often seasoned or coated in a spice rub, barbecue sauce, or both. Marinades are also used to tenderize the meat and add flavor. Rotisserie chicken has gained prominence and popularity in U.S. grocery markets. Barbecued chicken is one of the world's most popular barbecue dishes.
Preparation
Various techniques exist for cutting poultry for barbecuing, including skewering, butterflying, halving quartering and using individual pieces. Many diverse cooking and flavoring techniques exist for this dish.
Frango no churrasco is a Portuguese barbecue chicken dish. Piri piri peppers are sometimes used to flavor the dish. In Portugal, frango de churrasco is a common grilled chicken dish that is prepared at many churrascarias in the country. Portuguese churrasco and chicken dishes are very popular in countries with Portuguese communities, such as Canada, Australia, the United States, Venezuela and South Africa.
In North America, barbecue chicken is often seasoned with a spice rub, then coated with a tomato based barbecue sauce, and grilled. Some versions only use a spice rub and don't use sauce. Barbecue chicken can also be prepared in pressure cookers, in which the chicken is cooked inside the cooker with barbecue sauce, and in slow cookers.
In Cuba, some palladores offer barbecue chicken. Additionally, street vendors may offer the dish. In Jamaica, barbecued chicken flavored with Jamaican jerk spice is a common dish. In the past, spices and wild chili peppers were used to preserve meat in Jamaica. In the French West Indies, Buccaneer-style chicken is a popular dish. A modern preparation involves marinating chicken for 24 hours in a mixture of lime, spices, vegetables, vinegar and other ingredients, and then smoking the chicken.
Mexico
Street food stalls that serve breakfast and lunch dishes, called Loncherias, sometimes offer barbecue chicken.
United States
In Alabama, egg or mayonnaise-based white sauces are sometimes served with barbecue chicken at the table as a dipping sauce. This has been described in the book 1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die as being more common in Northern Alabama, particularly in Northwest Alabama. Per the same book, barbecue in Southern Alabama tends to have sauces that are tomato-based. California Pizza Kitchen, a restaurant chain founded in California, is the original creator of barbecue chicken pizza. In the U.S. state of Georgia, slightly sweet sauces with mustard are used on chicken. In Western North Carolina, thin tomato and vinegar based sauces are common. In rural Pennsylvania, egg is sometimes used to make the skin on the chicken crispy. In Kentucky, chicken is a favorite meat for barbecuing along with lamb and mutton. In Texas, barbecue usually refers to ribs, but many barbecue restaurants in Texas serve barbecue chicken seasoned with rub, sometimes called "dalmatian rub", that is made of salt and pepper. The chicken is often served with a very hot vinegar or even beer-based barbecue sauce. Texas barbecue tends to be slow-smoked, rather than grilled. Beer-can chicken involves the indirect grilling a whole chicken on a barbecue grill using steam from beer as a flavoring agent and cooking medium.
