Nothing Says Summer Like a Chicken Roasting on the Barbecue

MY SOCIALLY MINDED second-grade daughter recently complained that our family never seems to have anything going on. “We should have a party, Mom,” she suggested.

That gave me pause. Our family has always loved having dinner parties, barbecues and other food socializing events. Admittedly, it has been a while. We have been playing catch-up with life for a few months, and our hospitality has dwindled to an embarrassingly low level as of late.

The best solution to our social doldrums was to have a backyard party (front deck, in our case). Friend and Patch contributor recently treated our family to a fun dinner at their house, so a reciprocal invitation was in order. Then, on the morning of the party, I ran across another family that I had been meaning to invite over. With the head count now at six adults and nine children, I knew that one lonely chicken wasn’t going to cut it.

Fortunately, it happened to be pay day -- always a good day to head to . I picked up another pair of whole organic birds for the grill, a huge red velvet cake (only $10!) and threw caution to the fiscal winds to purchase a case of Blue Moon beer.

With a scant five hours until the party, I barely had enough time to get the chickens seasoned. I like to salt a whole chicken the day before, which acts like a brine, keeping the meat moist and flavorful. But, five hours is better than one.

Each chicken, giblets removed, was snipped up the spine using my kitchen shears, then laid out flat. A liberal dose of kosher salt followed. Knowing children sensitive to even the tiniest iota of spiciness might balk at the tasty rub I had planned, I left one chicken plain. The larger bird, however, I lovingly rubbed with my pal Jason Jones’ Meat Rub, a super secret blend of brown sugar, paprika and other spicy goodness. After covering them with plastic wrap, they were stored in the refrigerator until about an hour before grilling.

For the rest of the day, I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off -- tasteless humor, I know -- sweeping the deck and madly tidying the house. My aforementioned daughter might fuss about ordinary chores, but she loves wiping down outdoor tables. So, I enlisted her help to scrub the two glass-topped patio tables and a plastic kid’s picnic table.

One very important detail to attend to before grilling a whole chicken is to make sure there is enough propane left in the grill tank to get you through 45 minutes of use. There is nothing more annoying than discovering that you’ve run out of gas in the middle of cooking your chicken! My husband gave the tank a highly scientific slosh, proclaiming it full enough.

At 4:15, the chickens came out of the fridge to bring them up to room temperature. This ensures more even cooking. At 5, I lit the grill and scrubbed it clean. As it preheated, I cracked open the first Blue Moon of the night -- it never hurts to enjoy a beer while grilling.

Since the chickens had been split, they laid relatively flat, with breasts in the center and the leg/thigh quarters splayed out on either side. With the burners on  low and the birds skin-side down, the lid was closed, and I kept an eye out for flare-ups.

HERE IS the rest of the process I follow:

• Grill for ten minutes, then turn the birds over so that the rib cage faces the heat. Try using two sets of tongs gripping the knobby joint at the end of each leg. Avoid tearing the skin of the breasts and leg quarters.
• After ten minutes, give the birds another flip back to the breast side, rotating the chickens if one area has received more heat. Don’t be too concerned about blackened skin, particularly if you have used a rub with sugar in it. The color doesn’t necessarily mean that it is burnt.
• Keep turning the birds every five minutes until they have been on the grill for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size  the chicken. I had two different sizes of birds, so one came off at the 40 minute mark and one at 45 minutes.
• Remove the chickens to a platter or baking sheet and cover lightly with foil. Allow them to rest for ten minutes, then serve them whole or chopped into parts. I like to separate the thighs and legs, and slice each breast into three pieces.

Grilling a whole chicken is actually very simple, requiring nothing more than salt and a bit of time. But the results are worth the effort -- juicy, succulent, full of flavor -- these birds will help erase all those bad memories of dry boneless skinless chicken breasts that find their way from grill to platter with depressing frequency. Plus, grilling a whole bird seems very impressive to your guests.

With a nice bottle of red wine from the extensive collection of our guests Tim and Jen Armstrong, and the straight-to-the-heart Filipino comfort dish pancit brought by Eljen and Angela Puri, we were happily on our way back to the dinner party highway.

Nothing says summer quite like kids gnawing on drumsticks, messy faces, hands and all.