Barbequing in the Oven.

Normally I enjoy barbequing chicken on, what else?, the barbeque; but there are times I do not want to deal with the outside. The alternative is using the oven; and yes, you can do some decent barbeque chicken right in the oven. Usually, I leave the skin on my chicken for outdoor barbequing; the fat melts away and the skin will crisp up. Not so in the oven though, so you need to remove the skin and fat before hand if you don't want to see the chicken swimming in a greasy pool of diluted barbeque sauce.

To help me out with all this is a pair of Poultry Shears; a heavy duty pair of scissors specifically designed to cut through skin, bone and any other tough parts of poultry.  Simply snip the skin from the cut end of the chicken leg all the way up to the "knob".  Work your fingers under the skin to help release the membrane from the meat and pull it down towards the knob of the leg.  Then grab that skin and pull it completely off; if it doesn't come completely off, use the poultry shears to snip away around the knob.  If you're also working with thighs and breasts, use the poultry shears to easily remove the bone from the underside of these pieces too.  Then you'll have boneless, skinless chicken parts that you did yourself; and saved money since the butcher didn't have to do it for you. Well except the legs of course, you need those little handy dandy handles for easier eating.

Now we want to get rid of the excess fat; if you don't, it will melt in your baking dish, dilute your barbeque sauce and just be an unappetizing greasy mess. Place the chicken in a stock pot and add enough water to just cover the parts; let it cook on the stove on highheat for 10 minutes.

The chicken will have a more cooked appearance, but believe me, they are still absolutely raw inside. Remove the chicken to a strainer and rinse with warm water to remove any excess "scum" that might be clinging to it.

If there was any skin still on the chicken, the fat has been removed, so instead of becoming gooey and chewy to eat; it will crisp up a bit during the oven baking process.

Preheat the oven to 375F.; spray a three quart baking dish with nonstick spray. Believe me, this will certainly make clean up less painful with all the barbeque sauce you'll be using. Yes, you can line the dish with aluminum foil, but I find this tends to make the sauce burn and stick to the foil, so you lose about 20% of it. Why do that? Now spread a cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish; oh the sauce, use homemade or bottled, whichever you're comfortable with. If you're using bottled though, I highly recommend KC Masterpiece, Jack Daniels or Sweet Baby Ray's; they each have an excellent assortment of flavorings, and that thickness you know will stay on your barbequed meats and poultry. A full dozen of legs, 15 thighs or 6 breast halves will fit comfortably in a three quart baking dish; slather sauce on top and all around the sides of the chicken.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes; remove and slather on a second generous helping of sauce before placing back into the oven. Bake for another 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 F. If using several different parts, place each type of part into separate dishes as they will cook completely at different times depending on their thickness, and if there are still bones inside the chicken parts, like with legs.

Remove the chicken to a serving platter and spoon the sauce, which has gotten more thick, over it all.  Absolutely delicious!!!  So next time you don't think you can do any barbequing; think again.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour