Grilled Split Chicken

1 Whole Chicken, rinsed well

Marinade:
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tbls. chili powder
1 tbls. black pepper
1 tbls. salt
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cup onion, quartered
BBQ Sauce of your choice.

Flip chicken over breast side down.  With a sharp knife starting at the top of the chicken, cut along one side of the backbone all the way to the bottom.

Cut the other side of the backbone just the same. 

With the tip of your knife, make a small slice in the top middle of the breast and flatten the chicken with your hands. 

Turn the chicken over, skin side up and put in glass or stainless container large enough to hold the chicken and the marinade.

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over chicken. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Remove from refrigerator one hour before grilling, letting it come to room temperature.  Just before putting chicken on the grill, remove from marinade and pat dry will paper towels. 

Heat grill to 350 degrees.  Rub grate liberally with olive oil and place chicken on the grill, skin side down so that the juice will stay in the chicken.  Turn chicken over when skin is browned.  Cook until the leg bone starts to slip out of the meat, about 30-40 minutes.

Remove chicken from the grill and apply BBQ sauce all over.  Let it sit covered loosely with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes.  Cut into serving size pieces and pass along with grilled corn on the cob.

Bits & Pieces

This is, without a doubt, one of the most moist chicken that we have ever had.  The marinade wasn’t overwhelming so if you’re looking for a bit of bite, you can bump up the spices.  For that matter, you can use any spice of your choice.  The key is the vinegar, water and olive oil marinade. 

If you will notice, my chicken is missing some skin.  Not enough olive oil on the grate.  I used Bulls-Eye BBQ Sauce Original because it’s so good I could just eat it plain!