• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
DadCooksDinner
  • Home
  • Rotisserie
  • Recipes
  • Tools
  • Books
  • Merch
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Merch
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Books
    • Tools
    • Merch
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Grilling

    Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine

    Published: Mar 1, 2016 · Modified: Apr 26, 2017 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    Grill Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine
    Grill Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine

    This has been such a weird winter. 6 inches of snow on Tuesday, then 60°F on Saturday…in February? 2After writing that, I checked the weather…and we’re getting snow on Thursday. Sheesh. To take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather, I picked up a 5 pound roasting chicken this afternoon.

    Now, I prefer to dry brine chicken, but that takes a while. I need it for dinner to cook tonight, so I’m going with a quick wet brine and some crushed garlic - it’s always good to add garlic.

    That’s it for seasoning. I like a simple bird, with salt, pepper, garlic, and the key ingredient for grilled chicken: smoke. I’m using what Chef Michael Ollier calls “opportunity wood.” A cluster of black cherry trees in my back yard were not doing well, and needed to come down. Thanks to the tree service, I now have enough cherry firewood to last me for years - and it makes for great smoking.

    One last note - this 5 pound roasting chicken is bigger than the 4 pound broiler/fryer birds I usually get. I couldn't do my usual indirect heat setup of two piles of charcoal on the sides, because the bird was so wide. I went with all the coals on one side of the grill, and the chicken on the other. This also lets me cook the legs more than the breast meat, by putting the legs closer to the fire. Dark meat can always use a little extra heat.

    Recipe: Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine

     

    Equipment

    • Grill (My trusty Weber kettle)
    • Instant Read Thermometer (The best way to tell if the chicken is done)
    • A container large enough to hold 2 quarts of brine and the chicken (I use a 4-quart food service container)
    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

    Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine


    • Author: Mike Vrobel
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine recipe - Cut out the backbone, give it a quick wet brine, and a five pound chicken will be grilled in about an hour.


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 5-pound roasting chicken
    • 2 fist sized chunks of cherry smoking wood (Or 2 cups of wood chips.)

    Brine

    • 2 quarts water
    • ¼ cup table salt or ½ cup kosher salt (3 ounces)
    • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    • 4 cloves garlic, crushed

    Instructions

    1. Brine the chicken: Butterfly the chicken: remove the backbone with poultry shears by cutting up one side of the backbone, then down the other side of the backbone. Flip the chicken skin side up, and flatten the breastbone by pressing down hard with the back of your hand. Fold the wing tips back under the wing to lock them in place. Stir the water, salt, black pepper and garlic until the salt dissolves, then submerge the chicken in the brine. Brine the chicken in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours.
    2. Set the grill for indirect high heat: Set up the grill to cook on indirect high heat (450°F or higher internal temperature). For my Weber kettle, I light a full chimney of charcoal, wait for it to be covered by gray ash, then pour it in a tight pile on one side of the grill. Then I put on the grill grate and brush it clean.
    3. Grill the chicken using indirect high heat: Add the smoking wood to the coals, then put the chicken on the grill away from the heat, skin side up, and with the legs facing the coals - we’re cooking with indirect heat. Close the lid and grill the chicken with the lid closed as much as possible. The chicken is done when it reaches 160°F in the thickest part of the breast, about 1 hour of total cooking time.
    4. Crisp the skin over direct heat (optional): At this point, you should have nice, crispy skin. If you don’t, move the chicken directly over the fire and sear, turning often, until the skin is crisped up, about 4 minutes. Watch out - dripping chicken fat causes flare-ups, and you don’t want to burn the chicken at the last minute.
    5. Serve: Let the chicken rest for ten minutes, then cut into pieces and serve.

    Notes

    For butterflying instructions, see my How to Butterfly A Chicken video.[br]This is a large chicken; a smaller 4 pound bird will take about 45 minutes.[br]Smoking wood: I use cherry, but use what you have on hand: hickory, oak, or apple are also good.

    • Category: Grilling
    • Cuisine: American

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @DadCooksDinner on Instagram and hashtag it #DadCooksDinner

     

    Brining the chicken
    Brining the chicken

     

    Setting up the grill - indirect heat, all on one side of the grill
    Setting up the grill - indirect heat, all on one side of the grill

     

    Chicken over indirect heat - away from the coals, legs pointing towards the heat
    Chicken over indirect heat - away from the coals, legs pointing towards the heat

     

    Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Wet Brine - Almost done
    Almost done

    What do you think?

    Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

    Related Posts

    Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Dry Brine
    Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter
    Grilled Butterflied Chicken, Thai Brinerated

     

    Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via eMail or RSS reader, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, and buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

    More Grilling

    • Grilled Frozen Ribeye Steak
    • Grilled Short Ribs with Smoked Spanish Paprika Rub
    • Matt’s La Caja China Pig Roast
    • Grilled Beef Sirloin Kabobs

    Sharing is caring!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Linda Hildebrand says

      February 08, 2017 at 9:30 am

      Please remove me from your twitter. Your recipes are showing up as though I wrote them. On my profile, you are not showing up as me "following" you so I can't delete. Help!

      Reply
      • Mike V says

        February 08, 2017 at 9:44 am

        Linda, I'm sorry. I'm also confused- I don't know what is causing it, and I don't know how to remove you from my twitter - your twitter is your own?
        I don't see you in my twitter followers, I'm not following you, and the only thing I have set up is to publish my tweets under my own twitter account.
        What is your Twitter @ name, so I can see what you are talking about?

        Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner! I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
    • Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soaking)
    • Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
    • Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice

    Recent

    • Instant Pot Shrimp Risotto
    • Instant Pot Mexican Black Beans (no soaking needed!)
    • Instant Pot Thai Panang Curry (With Beef)
    • Instant Pot Pork Adobo Recipe (Filipino Style)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2022 Dad Cooks Dinner

    104 shares
    • 7