Published February 12, 2007.
For a grilled chicken recipe with evenly cooked meat that would require much less effort and attention than a whole bird, we butterflied the chicken—a simple process in which the bird is placed on its breast and the backbone is removed. Pounding the bird for our grilled chicken recipe made it slightly more attractive, and cutting slits on either side of the breast to tuck in each leg allowed the chicken to cook up neat, tidy, and flat. And since the butterflied, pounded, and tucked chicken was so much thinner than a whole roaster, it could be cooked over a medium-hot direct fire in just about half an hour.
We tested this recipe many times with a 3-pound chicken. Although grilling conditions vary, each time we cooked the chicken, it was done in less than 30 minutes—12 minutes on one side and 12 to 15 minutes on the other. For chickens that weigh closer to 3 1/2 pounds, plan on the full 15 minutes once the chicken has been turned. Use your favorite barbecue sauce, the related recipe, or a store-bought sauce (see related tasting).
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