Anyone know how to cook NC BBQ chicken?

Not really qualified as i hail from South Carolina. I use to run food operations at a location (want disclose where) in Charlotte, and we use to hire out a guy who would come and produce chicken for outdoor large scale events. I could prolly run down his name but have to believe he is retired now. That said, he had a large trailer type smoker. He cooked his chicken pieces on it using a mesquite brisket. Like the ones you referenced, he cooked them for about an hour and a half. They were direct but there was prolly a good 12-15 inches above the coals. Mesquite is a funny fuel source. It will actually turn the inside chicken meat to a pink color....often mistaken as being under cooked. I have no idea this is helpful to you, but his process was simple and used only salt and pepper on the chicken if i recall correctly. The secret in my mind was the slow direct cook with quite a bit of space between the heat and the bird.

At any rate, I hope qualified NC folks will join in and help you out. You can't trust and South Carolinian when you talk NC cookin.

Edit....The guys name was Sam Wilson....and he had a store called Sam Wilson Meats and was located not far from Sam Wilson road north of I85. I have no idea if the store or Sam is still alive as he was a good bit older than me at the time.....which was many years ago. He made some bad ass chicken though.

Check with @JohnInCarolina he knows everything just ask him. 😂

What do you consider NC BBQ chicken? Here in NE Ga and other areas maybe, our bbq chicken is cooked over a charcoal pit made of cement blocks about 2.5-3 feet above the coals on large racks. The entire rack is flipped periodically. As the chicken nears being done, it is mopped with a sauce that typically consists of white vinegar, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and poultry seasoning. This is how it is cooked for large events and fund raisers, usually several hindered halves. Of course this is way too labor intensive for restaurants but the sauce is similar.

@GaBGE wrote,

That sounds like a recipe I have for "Cornell Chicken" except for the lemon juice, which sounds good. Do you have a specific recipe for that? Is it like this, just subbing lemon juice for some of the vinegar? (Cornell Chicken also has an egg and some oil.)

• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (or Simon & Garfunkel rub)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Thanks!

Takes a good Kentuckian. Typical.

....if we could just find a good Kentuckian.