Convection oven BBQ chicken drums!

It was day number meh of my self quarantine. Periods of being alone interrupted by sporadic dashes to the local grocery store for needed supplies. My persona adobe was a condo complex where I was surrounded by top priority targets for the CoVid-19 disease. The feeling of dread was palpable. Me? I shrugged and padded off to the kitchen to make up a batch of roasted barbecued chicken legs, a personal favorite.

The convection oven I would be using was a popular model made by Breville. I'd had it for about five years and to my surprise, it was my most often used appliance! Today, I was going to attempt something a bit more complex than toast. Chicken can be a bit of a challenge, in the beginning of my learning cycle, but I have learned from past mistakes!

Cooking procedure:

Washing a chicken leg, prior to cooking is optional. I like to do it as a matter of choice. I pat each piece dry with a paper towel, lay them onto a plate and them spray it piece lightly with Pam cooking spray. A bit of pepper is also added as an optional choice.

Ready for some cookin

Next, I set the oven to 400 degrees, made sure the grate was at the 'roasting' level and set the time for 20 minutes. While the over was heating up, I then inserted a temperature probe into one leg close to the bone. A ding from the oven announce that the correct temperature had been reached and Ii was all set to go! Note that I like to add the barbecue sauce towards the end of the cooking cycle. Note: The chick pieces get turned once halfway through the 20 minute period

Twenty minutes later...

BBQ chicken on home stretch

The temperature probe informed me that the chicken was then at about 167 degrees. The next step was to lower the cooking temperature down to 325 degrees. Turn each piece, add some sauce to the top sides and set the timer for ten minutes. After five minutes, I turned each piece and cover the other side with sauce. At the end of ten minutes, the chicken temp was reading 16x degrees...

Ten minutes later....

  So, was I done here? Not hardly. The chicken pieces were re-coated with sauce, placed on a clean cooking rack and place back into the oven with the grill raised to the middle position. I then proceeded to broil each side for about 5 minutes in order the lightly caramelize the sauce. Now I was done!

I like to let them rest for a bit. Saw 15 minutes to cool a bit and for the meat to set. Now, where did I put that potato?

After nuking a medium sized Russet potato for about5 minutes on high, I cut it in half and added that to my plate containing two chicken legs and some fruit salad! And, yes, it was and awesome meal! my next post will cover my weight problem since my quarantine period began.

BBQ Chicken drumsticks in a convection oven!

I've written at least one other post on making barbecued chicken in a counter-top convection oven in the past. This post was more or less a refresher for me.

After purchasing a package of Tyson chicken legs at a local market, I was anticipating making myself up a batch of barbecued legs for lunch. The total weight was 1.69 pounds for five pieces at a cost of $2.86.

Now rather than going through very many hoops, I simply washed the chicken, patted them dry and set the oven to 400 degrees. After it reached that temp on the roast setting, I placed the chicken on a grilling pan that had been sprayed with Pam. I then set the timer for 25 minutes and came back once during this cooking cycle to turn each piece.

After the 25 minutes were up, I lowered the temperature to 365 degrees and continue cooking for another ten minutes. About halfway through, I applied some barbecue sauce to all sides.

In order to achieve some browning, I change over to the broil setting for about ten more minutes.

My final finishing touch was to nuke those puppies on high for just over a minute. That was to insure doneness. The end result was heaven-ish. (Q: Does preparing chicken this way compare to outdoor grilling over coals? No way Jose)!

My memorial weekend BBQ chicken!

Whenever a holiday like Memorial Day comes around, I like to cook myself up a batch of BBQ slathered chicken drumsticks to eat and enjoy. Of course anyone can cook chicken, but it takes a very 'special' person who knows the art of grilling to come up with a batch like you see above!

Best ever Holiday weather with temps close to 90!

Now appearances notwithstanding, there's a lot that goes into both the sauce and the method of cooking. First off, while I do use a commercial BBQ sauce like Bulls-Eye, I've never been content with leaving well enough alone! No sir! I will normally add a touch of hot sauce as I like my chicken to bite me right back when I'm eating! That's why I add a squirt or two of Tabasco sauce to liven the party up a little! Just before grilling, I wash the chicken, pat everything dry and spray on a light coat of cooking oil. They are then placed in a small Weber styled grill and cooked for about 45 minutes to an hour over hot coals.

Needles to say, the food was great, especially when served with a side of potato salad. 

Random thoughts to close out January 2016!

Cranking out some incredible barbecued chicken lags!

Yes, it was a warmer than normal Sunday in late January. A time of year when most everyone should have been found hiding inside as the cruel winds of winter raged outdoors. Only, that wasn't the deal down here in southwest Missouri at least on this particular day! Happily, from time to time, us 'pseudo southerner's' get a much needed reprieve in the form of dishwater styled southerly winds. And then, as soon as the mercury gets much above 60 degrees, those of us that like to grill are out doing our grilling thing. Note, however, the strange behavior of the outside temps early on...

Tongs in hand and a hot charcoal grill set the stage for one aging gnome standing on his condo balcony in shorts! I had placed eight check legs into the grill about an hour earlier and was getting ready to slather them with from official KC Barbecue sauce. Does it get any better than this? I mused to myself as I idly contemplated the word 'slather'. That word sounded somehow both sexy and a little sick at the same time. (According to the Webster dictionary, to slather is to spread or smear (a substance) thickly or liberally. As in to "slather on some tanning lotion"). The chicken took a lot longer than they had last time I grilled, of course it was in the 90's then.

'Well!' I said to no one. 'I'm gonna slather the living be-jesus out of these legs!' I then got down to the business of turning a so-so gathering of cooked chicken flesh into a tangy assembly that made my mouth water in anticipation! That job accomplished, I eased myself down into a cheap folding chair to better contemplate strange English words, hot n tangy chicken and my place in the scheme of things. As I sat there, sipping my beer, I thought about grilling and temperatures.

What's the perfect grilling Wx temperature, anyway?

While there is little scientific evidence to go on. My best guess is that for most, there is an acceptable 'grilling range temperature' below which grilling is not done. (Sure, there are a few hardy souls who grill out all year. But, those are the really oddball types who do all sorts of zany things anyway. While they are fun to watch, the more sane members of the grilling clan choose to get their equipment cranked up after the mercury is above at least sixty degrees). Other factors that may influence the decision to grill out probably include; the chef's state of sobriety, clear or partly clear skies and calm winds. (As I can only speak for us men, I can tell you from experience that alcohol consumption often sometimes plays a pivotal role in there somewhere)! Getting that urge to grill is also linked to the first day in the new year when a really awesome weather day presents itself. Sort of like it did on January the 31^th!

On that day, I arose promptly at about 9AM and gathered together all the tools I needed to proceed. I had purchased some chicken along with a six pack the day before and thus shuffled out onto my condo third floor balcony to go and 'get er done'.

As you can see, my minimal efforts paid out as just an hour later the chicken looked freaking awesome!