Published May 1, 1998.
We wanted a grilled chicken recipe with lemon flavor that went straight to the bone. Our method of choice, derived from one that the father of one of our editors had developed over the course of 40 years of making grilled lemon chicken, involved grilling the chicken till it was nearly done, pulling it off the grill to dip it in lemon sauce, returning it to the grill over low heat for about five more minutes, and then dipping it in the sauce once more before serving.
The 1 1/2-hour brining time is highly recommended, but not essential; skip it if you’re in a hurry. It’s fine to use chicken parts, such as eight leg/thighs, separated or not, or eight breast/ wings, separated at the joint connecting wing to breast. Grilling whole chickens is also an option, if you remove the backbones and butterfly each before brining. If flare-ups threaten to char the skin of the chicken, move the pieces temporarily to the cooler side of the grill. If you have it, 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary makes a nice addition to the lemon sauce.
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