Bird Meets Grill

I’m standing at a rotisserie at a market in Provence, where rows of chickens slowly rotate on spits in front of a wall of fire. I could just as easily be in Turkey or Bali or Tuscany or the West Indies. Grilled chicken ranks among the world’s most popular barbecue. The diversity of its preparation is limited only by the imagination of the world’s grill jockeys.

In this chapter you’ll learn how to grill all forms of chicken and other poultry, from quick cooking cuts like wings and breasts to whole chickens, ducks, and turkeys, which take advantage of the indirect grilling method to achieve smoky, fall-off-the-bone tenderness. I’ll tell you how to avoid the dual perils of serving undercooked chicken and burning the highly flammable skin.