I watch American’s Test Kitchen (and its extension, Cook’s Country) regularly. Recently, I was inspired by the way they grill chicken.
The science of this method is to eliminate the chicken’s (and, really, all fowl’s) anatomical difficulty for cooking them whole. The meat of all fowl are distributed unevenly. It is quite difficult to make both the breast and drums cooked and juicy at the same time. The trick is rather straight-forward: just flatten the whole thing. With a good pair of kitchen shears, one can easily cut through the back bones. The result is a whole-piece butterflied chicken.
Pat it dry, salt and pepper, and let it sit until the whole thing reaches room temperature. During that time, think what rub to put on it. The typical recipe involves something citric, such as lemon zest, and something sweet, like brown sugar or honey. For us, garlic paste, lemon juice, and soy sauce do the trick.
Heat up the grill and put the chicken on it, skin side down, for about 5 minutes. Then move the chicken to an indirect area, that heat does not directly apply to the meat, close the lid, and leave the whole thing alone for 20 minutes.
Open up the lid, apply whatever sauce you have concocted up earlier, and close the the lid for at least 10 minutes before repeating the basting process. This is also the time to insert the meat thermometer into the center of the breast. Check the temperature every 10 minutes until it reaches 170°F.
Put the chicken on the serving plate, tent it with foil, and wait about 5 minutes. I like to eat them with my hands. You? I really don’t have time to worry about that now.