Published July 1, 2006.
For an excellent barbecued pulled chicken recipe that wouldn’t take all day, we choose whole chicken legs, which combine great flavor, low cost, and resistance to overcooking, and then used a roasting rack, which allowed us to barbecue 12 legs at once. The legs cooked gently but thoroughly over indirect heat, absorbing plenty of smoke flavor along the way. Once the chicken finished cooking, we hand-shredded half and machine-processed the other half to produce the perfect texture. The chicken then just had to be combined with a quick barbecue sauce for a truly bun-worthy pulled chicken recipe.
Chicken leg quarters consist of drumsticks attached to thighs; often also attached are backbone sections that must be trimmed away. Supermarkets may also sell chicken legs, which are chicken leg quarters with the backbone sections already removed; they require less trimming and may weigh less than leg quarters. When trimming the fat from the chicken legs, try to leave the excess skin intact, as it will keep the meat moist on the grill. For equipment, you will need two cups wood chips (we like hickory or mesquite) and a 16 by 12-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan to catch the fat as the chicken cooks. If you would like to hold the dish once the chicken and sauce are combined and heated through, transfer the mixture to a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish, cover with foil, and place in a 250-degree oven for up to an hour. Serve the pulled chicken with hamburger rolls or sandwich bread, pickles, and coleslaw.
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