Grilled Chicken Drumsticks

While we live in a rural area, we are only about sixty miles form the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) metroplex which has a multitude of supermarkets including many ethnic markets. What this means for us is that our local Walmart actually price matches all the sale ads from the DFW area. Almost every week someone has chicken thighs and or drumsticks on sale. As I am writing this article 'Save-A-Lot' supermarkets has chicken drumsticks and thighs on sale for $0.69 per lb, while the Mexican market 'Rio Grande' has drumsticks regular or marinaded for $0.39 per lb. Chicken breasts on the other hand were $1.69 per lb on sale. The drumsticks I am cooking for this article we comp'd at our local Walmart for $0.49 per lb a few weeks ago. While not as nutritious as chicken breasts, legs and thighs can help you to put good quality food on your table for a quarter of the cost ($1.69 / $0.39 = 4.33). And I do not have to tell you if you are cooking on a budget or fixed income, every little bit of savings you can find helps to stretch your food dollars.

Cooking chicken on the grill is pretty easy, but my brother-in-law “bless his heart” just cannot seem to get the hang of it. His chicken either looks like it is cooked but ends being raw and bloody in the middle, or he cooks the bejesus out of it and it is so burned on the outside that it is not only unappealing to look at, it's not very tasty either. The sad thing is that he thinks he is a grill master, but everyone is just to polite to say anything. It is not all his fault, part of the problem is the equipment he uses. The recipe for this chicken is quite simple, season the chicken with salt and pepper and grill it for 36 minutes and then apply the sauce of my choice and cook for another 5 minutes. No rub, no marinade, simply put, this grilled chicken could not be easier.

The Grill Matters

Multi-burner gas grills are great for cooking foods, the old single burner type of gas grill (which is 20 years old) that my brother-in-law uses is terrible. It is simply to hard to regulate the heat effectively without either burning the food or having it be undercooked. The problem with single burner grills (as well as cooking directly over charcoal) is that you have to stand there and constantly monitor the cooking process and most often you have to grill with the lid open to be able to manage flareups and keep the food from burning. This not only causes you to lose heat, but it uses up more of your valuable gas and or charcoal costing you money. So why is this important? Well the key to cooking moist and delicious chicken on the grill is indirect heat, regardless of whether you are using a gas or charcoal grill.

Gas grills with multiple burners help you to maintain an even heating and cooking source, as well as allowing you to cook foods throughly while using less gas. Your gas grill does not have to be fancy. I cooked for years on a small two burner Char-Broil grill without a temperature gauge with amazing results. All you need is the ability to turn off the burner that is directly under the food during the cooking process. Have not fear, if all you have is a charcoal grill you can still cook fantastic chicken. While the process for cooking with indirect heat on a charcoal grill is slightly different, it is not difficult, and I will quickly cover how to do so later in this article.

Saving The Sauce For Last

Before we get into the actual instructions for grilling the drumsticks, there is one key thing that you must do to keep your chicken from burning, and that is saving the sauce for last. When it comes to grilled meats, the sauce that you apply will not absorb into the meat, rather the sauce is used as an additional flavor component to the poultry. Almost all sauces contain sugar which when heated will burn and increase the number of flareups during the cooking process.

Properly grilled chicken only needs to have the sauce applied during the last five minutes of cooking. Apply the sauce liberally to one side, then turn the chicken and apply the sauce to the other side and cook for 5 minutes. Adding multiple applications of sauce during the grilling process does nothing but waste sauce, increases the chance the chicken will burn and does not add any additional flavor to the chicken. It simply falls down into the bottom of the grill. If you want to add an additional layer of sauce, then when you remove the chicken from the grill and place it on your tray or plate add another light coat of sauce. Then allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving. This not only allows the additional layer of sauce to slightly thicken, but keeps you and your guests from burning your mouths when you bite into your hot and juicy grilled chicken.

Grilling The Drumsticks

A lot of people prefer the flavor of cooking meats on a charcoal grill, and I must admit I do like the flavor of charcoal, but to be honest it is down right inconvenient when you have a group of hungry guests or family members and you need to quickly throw something on the grill. The biggest disadvantage to using a charcoal grill is that it is more difficult to cook on consistently using indirect heat. It can be done, but you have less control of the temperature range of the grill so it requires a more experienced hand managing the grill.

If you want to cook your chicken over direct heat regardless of the type of grill you are using, you need to get yourself a cold beverage because you will need to stand outside and monitor the grill as there will be multiple flareups due to the fats released from the skin of the chicken during the cooking process. Now, depending on your house guests and your cold beverage of choice, standing outside by the grill cooking over direct heat just might be considered an advantage. Anyway, when cooking over direct heat, the outside of the chicken tends to cooks quickly and while the drumsticks may look cooked on the outside, the inside often remains raw and bloody. So keep in mind that if you are cooking your drumsticks over direct heat you may need to turn them every 5 to 7 minutes to keep them from burning. Cooked drumsticks are fantastic, burned and blackened drumsticks not so much; and no one I know likes to eat bloody chicken.

So the million dollar question is at what temperature do I grill my chicken? My basic answer is somewhere between 325 to 400 degrees. That may seem like quite a temperature range and it is, but to be honest when I used my old Char-Broil gas grill, it had no thermometer so I just cooked the chicken with one burner on high and the one under the chicken turned off. My new Char-Griller has a temperature gauge that reads a consistent 400 degrees (if this is accurate) when it comes up to heat and one burner is kept on low. The optimum temperature would be 350 degrees. For this recipe the gauge on my grill was always at 400 degrees. If cooking at a slightly lower temperature 325 to 350 you may need to increase the overall cook time by about 10 minutes.

Using A Gas Grill – When using a gas grill, heat with both burners on high for 5 minutes, then turn one burner off and place the meat on the side of the grill in which the burner is off and cook for 12 minutes. Then turn on both burners and turn the meat and place it on the other side of the grill and turn the burner under the meat off and cook for another 12 minutes. Repeat this process for three times or a total of 36 minutes. After 36 minutes, baste the chicken with the your sauce of your choice and then turn and move the chicken to the opposite side of the grill and baste the other side (at this point you should have sauce on both sides). Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Using A Charcoal Grill – If you are using a charcoal grill heat the coals until they turn ash white. To cook the chicken indirectly on a charcoal grill you will need to move the coals either to the middle of the grill and cook the chicken on the outside of the grate away from the coals, or push the coals all to one side and cook on the side away from the coals. Follow the same cooking process as if you are using a gas grill.

Conclusion

Buying meat and poultry when it is on sale and freezing them for later use can be a valuable way to stretch your families food budget. At our house, we rarely any purchase meat or poultry unless it is on sale. Having purchased chicken when it was on sale is only half the equation, if you cannot grill it correctly, you are simply throwing your money away. The great thing is that grilling chicken thighs and drumsticks on the grill is easy and anyone can learn to grill juicy, delicious chicken, all it takes is a little practice. Just because I did not use a rub or a marinade for this recipe does not mean that you cannot. I have several recipes such as jerk chicken in which I use a marinade, and I have my own barbecue chicken rub that I also like to use. Rather my goal was to show you just how easy you could cook great grilled chicken with just a liberal amount of salt and pepper and a quick grilling sauce of your choice. Heck you do not even have to use a sauce. I grilled a couple of pieces for the wife without the sauce because she likes her grilled chicken with just salt and pepper. As always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

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Grilled Jerk Chicken and Rabbit

Dry Heat Cooking Methods

Dry Heat Cooking Methods

In this article, we are going to examine the different types and techniques of dry heat cooking. Dry heat cooking generally uses higher temperatures to cook foods than moist heat cooking methods because air, fat, and metal can be heated to temperatures much higher (300°F or more) than the boiling point of water which is 212°F. While moist heat cooking methods transfer heat to food through a liquid, dry heat cooking methods transfer heat to foods through air, fat, metal, and/or radiation. For more information regarding moist heat cooking methods, check out my article on our blog Moist Heat Cooking methods.

Meats, vegetables and seafood cooked using moist heat techinques may get light applications of salt and pepper before cooking, but for the most part the flavor and seasoning for the dish comes from the sauce or juice in which it is cooked, or the accompanying sauce in which they are served. Foods cooked using dry heat techinques on the other hand, get their flavor and seasonings from a variety of different applications depending on the specific technique employed.

Roasted and baked meats tend to get liberal applications of salt and pepper and are basted during the cooking process to not only help keep the meat from drying out, but to evenly distribute seasoning on the surface of the meat, whereas broiled meats are more likely to marinated before cooking. Grilled meats may be marinated or rubbed with wet or dry spice rubs and or mixes prior to cooking and finished with a sauce during the last 15 minutes of grilling. Foods that are deep fat fried may be marinated or seasoned with dry spices before the application of the batter. In addition, the dry portions of the batter (flour, bread crumbs, cereal, etc...) as well as the wash or dipping liquid may be seasoned as well. On top of all that, fried foods such as 'chicken hot wings' may be coated with a sauce after frying to add an additional flavor component to the food.

As with moist heat cooking methods, many of the dry heat cooking methods are similar and may at times overlap or may be used in combination in a particular recipe. In fact, even moist heat and dry heat methods can be used in conjunction to cook foods such as pork ribs which may be blanched or poached (moist heat) before being grilled (dry heat). Having said that, it is important that the home cook know the subtle differences of each technique to help them employ the best cooking options for the food they wish to purchase and prepare. The Dry heat cooking methods that we will be discussing today are generally broken down into three primary categories 1) roasting and baking, 2) broiling and grilling, and 3) frying.

Roasting and Baking

The terms roasting and baking are used interchangeably by many chefs in that they both describe a hot dry air method method of cooking foods generally inside your oven at temperatures greater than 300°F. Despite their similarities, roasting generally refers to the process of cooking meats, poultry and vegetables, and baking generally refers to bread, pastry, cakes, and cookies. Delicate foods such as fish and other seafood are also considered to be baked, as opposed to roasted. When in doubt, just remember that roasted foods are cooked at quite a bit higher temperature than baked foods. This higher temperature causes the foods to not only cook faster, but have more pronounced browning.

Both roasting and baking cook foods fairly evenly as all of the food's surfaces are exposed to the same air temperature. As mentioned previously, these two dry heat methods use hot air to transfer heat to food yielding a wide variety of results depending on the temperature, rack position, and type of baking dish used. Unlike baking, foods that are roasted are often basted with a fat or other liquid to prevent them from drying out during the cooking process. Roasting differs from pan-searing, a technique in which the surface of the food that touches the hot pan gets much hotter than the side that facing up. When roasting or baking, the food is cooked uncovered, so that the hot, dry air cooks the food rather than the steam from the food. Roasting of meats in dry heat allows the meat to not only brown, but develop complex flavors that just cannot be attained using moist heat cooking techniques.

Roasting and baking can be performed in a conventional or convection oven. The choice of the type of oven does not affect the technique, but it may affect the time necessary to cook the food. Cooking foods in a conventional oven uses uncirculated hot air, whereas a convection oven uses a fan to force air to circulate over and around the food as it cooks. Convection cooking transfers heat more quickly and efficiently to foods thereby decreasing the cooking time (20 to 30%) of foods compared to a conventional oven.

Broiling and Grilling

Broiling and grilling, like roasting and baking are dry heat cooking techniques that rely on heat conducted via the air to cook food. The difference being that foods that are broiled or grilled are cooked at higher temperatures. While they two techniques (broiling and grilling) are different, they produce similar results. Because air is a relatively poor conductor of heat, broiling and grilling require the food to be quite close to the heat source, which may be an open flame or heating element. Thus the surface of the food cooks very quickly, making this type of cooking ideal for poultry, fish and the tenderest cuts of meat. In fact, due to the extremely hot and dry nature of these cooking methods, most meats that are broiled or grilled are marinated prior to cooking. With both techniques meats and or vegetables are typically cooked on a grid or grate of some kind and are turned at least once during cooking which gives the food the distinctive grill marks that are the hallmark of these cooking techniques. As with sautéing, preheating the broiler or grill prior to putting the food on it is essential to achieve the desired results.

As mentioned previously, broiling is the technique of placing food in the oven very close to a heat source located above the food that can attain very high temperatures in a short period of time. Most home ovens only have one temperature setting for broiling and the amount of heat applied to the food is controlled by moving it closer or further away from the heat source by adjusting the grates in the oven. In many instances broiling is a finishing technique used to brown baked meats or other casserole type dishes.

Grilling, like broiling, uses very intense high temperatures to cook meats, vegetables, and on occasion seafood. Unlike broiling however, the heat source is located beneath the food to be cooked. The heat source for grilling can come from either direct or indirect flames from either gas, charcoal or wood, or direct or indirect radiant heat from charcoal briquettes.

Pan and Deep Fat Frying

Frying is a dry heat cooking technique that uses fat (butter, oil or shortening) to transfer heat to food. Because frying does not involve the use of water or stock it is considered a dry-heat cooking method. Techniques such as sautéing, stir-frying, and pan frying are all methods for frying food that use a small amount of fat to give cooked foods a brown and crispy texture. If you've ever seen the violent reaction of hot oil when water hits the pan or deep fat fryer, you know full well that oil and water just don't play well together. Getting a burn from hot oil can ruin any aspiring cooks day, take it from me, been there, done that, got the t-shirt. To minimize your chances of being burning from hot oil splatter, make sure anything you place into the hot fat is free from excess moisture before frying. For non-battered items, I recommend that you pat the food dry with a paper towel before frying it.

Deep fat frying is one of those cooking techniques that at first glance appears to be a moist heat technique. However, since deep frying requires food to be totally submerged in a hot liquid fat, it is actually a form of dry heat cooking. Foods that are deep fat fried are usually coated in a simple batter to protect and seal in its moisture as well as giving it that attractive golden brown color associated with foods cooked using this method.

 

Optimum deep fat frying is done in oil that has been heated to a minimum of 325°F and a maximum of 400°F. Any hotter than 400°F and the oil may begin to smoke, if the temperature of the oil drops below 325°F, the oil will begin to soak into the batter as well as the food making it greasy. When cooked properly, deep fat fried items actually have very little oil on or in them and when used in moderation can be a healthy addition to any diet. The most effective way to keep the oil hot is to fry items in small batches, so that the oil does not cool off too quickly. Overcrowding your frying vessel will cause the oil temperature to drop drastically increasing the amount of oil the food absorbs (up to 2 to 3 times the amount) making it soggy, greasy and extremely unhealthy. I am not saying frying is healthy, rather the technique of frying can be healthier when foods are fried properly.

Conclusion

Knowing how to use the proper dry heat cooking method is an important skill for the home cook or anyone who is cooking on a budget. Like moist heat, using the correct dry heat technique allows you to properly cook meats which are tender, juicy, and delicious that your family will surely enjoy. Whether you are roasting or baking in the oven or using a faster and higher temperature technique such as broiling, grilling or deep fat frying, knowing which foods work best with each technique will serve you and your family well. If you are looking to find additional ways to stretch your food dollars, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. 

And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles. If you want a good reference copy of Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking, you can download a free PDF copy by clicking on the following link 'Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking 7th Edition'.

Related Recipes On Our Blog:

Grilled Tandorri Rabbit

Grilled Jerk Chicken: Ya Mon!

King Ranch Chicken:Chicken Enchilada Casserole

The Humble Sandwich Loaf: Making Your Own Bread

References:

Labensky, Sarah, Hause, Alan. ON COOKING: A Textbook Of Culinary Fundamentals. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Cooking 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.

Tandorri Rabbit

One of my all time favorite grilled Indian/Pakistani dishes, the deep fiery red orange color of the meat really stands out, while the yogurt and spice marinade add a unique depth of flavor. This dish tastes great whether you make it with the more traditional chicken, or my favorite rabbit. More often than not, this recipe can leave your lips tingling with it's generous use of red chili peppers, but the dish does not have to be spicy hot. That is a major misconception about Indian/Pakistani food, that it is always served flaming spicy hot. There are indeed some dishes that are made that way, but tandoori is generally mild in regards to the heat factor.

There are a wide variety of commercially prepared tandoori spice mixtures available at your local ethnic (Indian or Pakistani) market. One of my favorite is the Pakistani 'Shan' brand, but like many package mixes, it tends to be hotter than the average American enjoys. And as we have previously discussed on multiple occasions, buying pre-packaged mixes is always more expensive than making the recipe from scratch. As always, using your own recipe allows you to control the ingredients. You decide if you want your tandoori to be flaming hot or not.

As almost no one here in the states has a tandoori oven at home, we will be cooking our rabbit or chicken on the grill. I will also include instructions on how to cook it in the oven, but I prefer the method of grilling. Again, I give you the options, you make the decisions. If you want to make your own Indian pastes to use in you dishes check out my blog article 'Basic Masala Paste' http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Tikka. Included in this article are recipes for more than 6 different curry pastes that you can use in recipes like this one instead of having to use the dry spices. I actually have some canned up in small jelly jars in my pantry.

The Recipe

This brine is a slight variation of my all-purpose brine used in my blog article: Brining: Adds Flavor and Juiciness to Chicken, Turkey, and Rabbit http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Brine. I highly recommend that you brine your rabbit before grilling, the flavor and juiciness of a rabbit that has been brined and grilled is phenomenal compared to one that has not been brined. I promise you, if you just try brining your rabbit once, before you grill it, you will never grill it without brining again.

Grilled Rabbit Brine

8 cups (2 quarts) water

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns

8 whole allspice berries
2 bay leaves dried

1-inch piece of cinnamon

In a large stock pot add all the ingredient except the cold water and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove the stockpot from the heat and allow to cool. After cooled down completely, place in the fridge overnight for use the next day. I try and always make a brine the day before we are going to butcher. If you like your rabbit with a kick, then add two whole jalapeños chopped with seeds to the brine.

Once the brine has been refrigerated, add your rabbit and allow it to brine for 8 to 16 hours. I usually place the rabbit in the brine and allow it to soak overnight or until I am ready to cook it the next day. About an hour before you are ready to begin cooking, drain the brine from the stockpot and add the marinade. 

The Recipe

8 to 10 pieces of chicken or rabbit

1 recipe yogurt marinade with spices added (see below)

Yogurt (wet) Mixture

1 cup plain yogurt

¼ cup canola oil or ghee (clarified butter)

¼ cup lemon juice

1 drop red food coloring

3 drops yellow food coloring

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly with a spoon or whisk and set aside and make you dry spice mixture.

Spice (dry) Mixture

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine your dry spices together and mix throughly and then add to the yogurt mixture and mix throughly with a spoon or whisk. If you like your tandoori hot double the amount of cayenne pepper, or combine the dry spices with the wet mixture in a blender and add 2 whole pickled or fresh jalapeño peppers seeds and all and puree your yogurt marinade until smooth.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken or rabbit, season with salt and black pepper as desired. Place in a large bowl or 1 gallon zip lock bag and pour the marinade over the meat. Place the marinating meat in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours, for the best flavor marinate the meat overnight.

In Case You Could Not Guess...This One Is Chicken.

When you are ready to cook, heat up your grill or preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the meat from the marinade and placed on a plate (if grilling) or a foil lined baking sheet if you are cooking it in the oven.

Grilling Procedure – If using a a charcoal grill heat until coals turn ash white then place meat on the grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes per side for a total of 35 to 45 minutes or until the juices run clear. When using a gas grill, I heat mine for 5 minutes, then turn one burner off and place the meat on the side of the grill in which the burner is off and cook for 15 minutes. Then turn on both burners and turn the meat and place it on the other side of the grill and turn the burner under the meat off and cook for another 15 minutes. Repeat as necessary until the meat has cooked for 45 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Oven Procedure – Bake chicken or rabbit for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then place under broiler and heat until browned. Be careful to check regularly when broiler on as meat can burn easily.

Chef's Note: If you are going to use one of my pre-made curry pastes found in the article: 'Basic Masala Paste' http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Tikka, substitute 3 tablespoons of the curry paste for the dry spice mixture.

Conclusion

While this recipe is traditionally made with chicken, it is great with rabbit. My family really enjoys it both ways. This recipe is just another of the great ways in which you can substitute your home raised rabbit for chicken and share with your friends and family. I hope you will give it a try and that your family will enjoy it is much as mine. I made this recipe with both as we recently butchered seven Plymouth Rock White roosters, and ten New Zealand rabbits. I gues you could say we had something for everyone.

If you are looking to find my recipes and instruction on cooking rabbit, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

Additional References

Brining: Adds Flavorand Juiciness to Chicken, Turkey, and Rabbit

Grilled Rabbit

Of all the recipes that I use rabbit in, this simple grilled rabbit one is my favorite. Grilled rabbit that has been brined is not only succulent, but the flavor profile is out of this world. The greatness of this recipe is it's simplicity and minimal amount of ingredients that allow the flavor of the rabbit to shine. The one caveat is that you need to brine the rabbit the day before you want to grill it to ensure that the meat has time to absorb the flavors of the brine.

Now this recipe, although simple, contains two flavor components, the first is the brine, and the second is the marinade and basting liquid. The majority of the flavor inside of the meat comes from the brine, as any spices that are placed in the brine are pulled into the meat overnight. The marinade, is primarily used to give an additional flavor boost (flavor to the outside of the meat), and is not really used as a tenderizing agent as marinades often are.

Although I personally cook this recipe on the grill and it is my favorite way of preparing it, it can be cooked in the oven. I have included instructions for cooking the rabbit in the oven just in case, the weather is bad, your out of charcoal, or simply do not have an outside grill.

The Recipe

This brine is a slight variation of my all-purpose brine used in my blog article: Brining: Adds Flavor and Juiciness to Chicken, Turkey, and Rabbit http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Brine. I highly recommend that you brine your rabbit before grilling, the flavor and juiciness of a rabbit that has been brined and grilled is phenomenal compared to one that has not been brined. I promise you, if you just try brining your rabbit once, before you grill it, you will never grill it without brining again.

Grilled Rabbit Brine

8 cups (2 quarts) water

½ cup kosher salt

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns

8 whole allspice berries
2 bay leaves dried

1-inch piece of cinnamon

In a large stock pot add all the ingredient except the cold water and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove the stockpot from the heat and allow to cool. After cooled down completely, place in the fridge overnight for use the next day. I try and always make a brine the day before we are going to butcher. If you like your rabbit with a kick, then add two whole jalapeños chopped with seeds to the brine.

Once the brine has been refrigerated, add your rabbit and allow it to brine for 8 to 16 hours. I usually place the rabbit in the brine and allow it to soak overnight or until I am ready to cook it the next day. About an hour before you are ready to begin cooking, drain the brine from the stockpot and add the marinade. 

Chef's Note: I personally like the taste of this brine, my wife thinks it could use just a little less salt. I urge you to try it just as it is in the recipe, but if you discover that it does taste to salty for you, then decease the salt to 1/3 cup, or simply add an additional quart of water to the stockpot.

 

Grilled Rabbit Marinade

¼ cup olive oil

4 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon dried parsley

¼ teaspoon rubbed thyme

Combine all the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together and set aside until you are ready to add it to your rabbit. About an hour before you are ready to begin grilling, drain the brine from the stockpot and add the marinade and toss to make sure it is throughly coated, then prepare your grill to cook the meat.

When you grill is ready, remove the rabbit from the marinade and place on a platter or baking sheet. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to kill off any unwanted bacteria from the raw meat. Once the marinade has cooked for the allotted time, remove from the heat and set aside. You will use the marinade to baste the rabbit with each time you turn it during the grilling process.

Using A Charcoal Grill – If using a a charcoal grill heat until coals turn ash white then place meat on the grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes per side for a total of 35 to 45 minutes or until the juices run clear. The disadvantage to a charcoal grill is that it is more difficult to cook your rabbit using indirect heat. Having the meat directly over the coals increases the risk of flair ups from any oil or fat from the meat and the marinade.

Using A Gas Grill – When using a gas grill, heat with both burners on high for 5 minutes, then turn one burner off and place the meat on the side of the grill in which the burner is off and cook for 15 minutes. Then turn on both burners and turn the meat and place it on the other side of the grill and turn the burner under the meat off and cook for another 15 minutes. Repeat as necessary until the meat has cooked for 45 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Oven Procedure – Bake chicken or rabbit for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, make sure you turn and bast it with the marinade every 15 minutes, then place under broiler and heat until browned. Be careful to check regularly when broiler on as meat can burn easily.

Conclusion

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, brining adds not only flavor but moisture to rabbit. This is important as rabbit is extremely lean and can quickly dry out when grilled. Using a brine like the one in this article is the most reliable way to keep your rabbit from quickly becoming a meal that is tough and chewy and something that no one wants to eat. If you have friends and family that are skeptical about eating rabbit, this is one of the best recipes to use to introduce them to the joys of eating rabbit.

If you are looking to find my recipes and instruction on cooking rabbit, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

Additional References

Brining: Adds Flavor and Juiciness to Chicken, Turkey, and Rabbit http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Brine

Marinades work extremely well with rabbit as it is firmer in flesh than chicken and can be marinated longer allowing more flavor to enter the meat as well as tenderizing the meat. I you have ever been to the Caribbean you will know that jerk chicken is probably it's most popular dish. Originating in Jamaica, jerk chicken is simply Caribbean barbecue. Well jerk spices go really well with rabbits mild and firm flesh leaving you with a delicious way in which to savor the tastes of the Caribbean.

The base for my recipe came from a Jamaican jerk cookbook which over the years I have made small subtle changes. Having been to Jamaica three times I can attest for it's authenticity and flavor. I hope you will enjoy it as much as my family and I do.

Now we raise both rabbits an chickens on our small place in Canton, TX. Besides marrying my wife, eating Jerk chicken is one of my favorite memories from our journeys to Jamaica. This recipe works equally well with both chicken and rabbit, so while the meat in this recipe is rabbit, you can simply substitute chicken if you prefer. 

Jerk Rabbit

2 to 3 pounds rabbit (forelegs and hind legs work best)

1 recipe 'Jerk' Marinade

Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Wash and clean rabbit and place in a one gallon plastic zip lock bag or container and pour marinade over the rabbit and marinate for 24 hours for best flavor, turning every 8 hours or so to make sure the meat gets thoroughly marinaded. After 24 hours the meat will look dark, almost to dark, but this is a product of the marinade (primarily the soy sauce), just relax it is supposed to look like this and I promise you the rabbit will taste great.

Fire up your gas or charcoal grill, personally I use a gas grill as it is easier to regulate the heat with a two burner grill. Once the grill comes up to temperature, turn off one burner and that is the side in which you place the rabbit. The other burner maintains the heat and you do not have to worry about burning the meat (this is known as cooking by indirect heat). Cook the rabbit for 12 to15 minutes and then turn both burners back on and move the rabbit to the other side of the grill and then turn off the burner on the side of the grill in which you have just moved the rabbit and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes. Check the meat to see if it is done and continue the procedure until you are satisfied the rabbit is cooked to your liking.

Jerk Marinade (Makes 1 ½ to 2 cups)

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup pineapple juice (or water)

1 onion diced

3 scallions or green onions, chopped

1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Although I like the heat of the habanero or scotch bonnet pepper, I substitute 1 teaspoon cayenne for one pepper in this recipe for two primary reasons. One, because it is more readily available where I live although I grow them in my garden most years. And secondly the habenaro is too much heat for my wife. If you do not like habanero peppers or cayenne peppers, drop a few jalapenos in there in it's place until you get the heat level you like or omit them all together. When using whole peppers, I put all the ingredients in my blender and puree, otherwise I just combine all the ingredients into a one gallon plastic bag with the rabbit.

I hope you guys will enjoy this dish, it is one of my families favorites and holds many memories for me and my wife as we were married in Jamaica. So turn on some Jimmy Buffet or Bob Marley, fire up the grill and have a cold one and transport you and your family back to Jamaica. Ya Mon!