Spice Rub Charcoal BBQ Whole Chicken

Today we are going to take a look at cooking a whole chicken on the charcoal BBQ using a spice rub. This will make the chicken well seasoned, slightly spicy and nicely smokey.

To begin we want to prepare the rub. The amounts we used here should be enough to season two normal sized chickens.


Spice Rub Ingredients:

1 tablespoon hot chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Combine all the spices thoroughly.

Prepare your charcoal BBQ as usual.

Place you chicken on a platter or in a tray and drizzle some olive oil over it rubbing it around to make sure it gets on the whole bird. Then drizzle over the juice of half a lemon.

Thoroughly and evenly coat the chicken with the spice rub. Then season it with freshly ground sea salt to taste.

When your BBQ is ready place the chicken directly over the coals for one minute a side. Use tongs to carefully turn the chicken so you do this on all four sides.

Place the chicken in an aluminum BBQ or oven tray oiled on the bottom with olive oil. If you used the tray to season the bird make sure you rinse it out before reusing it and oiling it for cooking or any spices on the bottom of the tray will burn.

Cook the chicken in the tray over the coals for between 1 1/2 and 2 hours until done depending on the size. A chicken is thoroughly cooked when it has reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees at its thickest part according to Health Canada. 

To regulate the heat and the coals you want to cook primarily with the BBQ lid on (flue open) taking the lid off to get the coals going again every once and a while. I generally do lid on for 10-15 minutes, then lid off for around 5 minutes, then lid back on 10-15, etc.

When the chicken is cooked let rest on a platter 10 minutes before carving.

This delightfully smokey and flavorful dish pairs perfectly with sides of rice, grilled zucchini, and a garden salad. It also goes well with your favorite chilled white or rosé wine.

Enjoy.

See also: Charcoal BBQ Jerk Style Chicken

See also: Clay Baker Tandoori Style Chicken