Drunk Chicken Jack Daniels

I don’t know about you, but I can name the place and time I first tasted Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce. He was on the levee, on the bank of the Mississippi, at a New Year’s Eve bonfire. An old man in shrimp boots and suspenders was turning chicken on the grill. When I approached with my plate, he complained “JD or so-so?” Not knowing what “JD” meant at the time, of course I responded with “JD, please.” I don’t know… it sounded better than normal. I remember trying that chicken and thinking it was the best chicken I had ever tasted. It took me a few years to put two and two together and realize that the old man sauced his chicken with Jack Daniels BBQ sauce. Now I don’t know if it was store bought or what. Judging by the way it looked, it was probably homemade. Times have changed and Jack Daniels has successfully infiltrated the world of barbecue where you don’t even think twice about spreading some of this delicious sauce on your meat. In the next article, we’ll show you how to make the perfect “JD Drunken Chicken.” If you’re skeptical, all I have to say is that you’re really missing out. This is delicious!

I first started with a 5 pound store bought chicken. For the injection I added 1 cup of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 chopped onion, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of garlic powder and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Boil for 10 minutes and drain the onions. Be sure to save the onion bits for some killer sauce later. I then let the mixture cool and then we inject the chicken using the 1 injection each leg, 1 each thigh and 1 each side of the breast method. Remember that the fewer holes, the better. If you feel like you’re not getting enough fluid in a certain spot, simply angle the needle toward that area without removing it from the skin.

I made my beer can solution by drinking all the beer and replacing it with 6 ounces of whiskey. Now the chicken was ready to receive the can. After so much alcohol, who doesn’t? I lit the traditional 30-piece briquette mound stacked on one side and placed the chicken on the grill on the opposite side. Always use the indirect heating method! While the chicken was cooking at a constant 325 F. I worked on a batch of BBQ sauce that an old friend recommended. I don’t know if they sell this in other parts of the country, but here in Louisiana “Pig Stand” or “Jack Miller” is huge. It’s called Cajun BBQ sauce and both are processed locally. I mixed together 1 cup of Pig Stand, the remaining onions from the shot, and a healthy shot of Jack Daniels for what is probably the most unique sauce I have ever tasted. After two hours, I spread some of the sauce on the chicken and proceeded to baste the bird 5-6 times before it was done. After 3 hours, the chicken had reached an internal temperature of 170 F and was ready to come off the grill. I let it cool, cut it up, and ate what turned out to be some of the best chicken we’ve ever had! I highly recommend trying this if you’re looking for something “little bolder”. You can find more beer chicken recipes on my website www.drunkenturkey.com