Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches

My barbecued Chicken Sandwiches are truly hard the beat. They're not dry and hard like a lot of barbecued meats. My secret to making good barbecued chicken sandwiches is in the type of meat I use and the method of cooking.

White meat chicken is a lot healthier but dark meat is juicy with lots more flavor. I hate dry chicken and no matter how I cook it, white meat chicken just doesn't make a good sandwich. However, if white meat is all you can have, the best way to keep it moist while cooking is to put it in a pan that's just big enough to accommodate the pieces and lay them bone side up, pour lots of barbecue sauce over them then cover it with foil and bake at 325 degrees for about 90 minutes. Slow cooking usually makes the meat a little more tender.

But my barbecue sandwiches have always been the favorite at all family and social gatherings around here. They can be made with or without the grill but grilling the meat really gives them that grilled taste.

Admittedly, this is not a quick and easy recipe. It's relatively inexpensive but there's a lot of work involved, mostly in deboning the chicken. Why not use boneless chicken? I've tried it and it's okay but for some reason the boned chicken just tastes best. Try it either way and see for yourself. I use chicken thighs because there is more meat and it's the most tender part of the chicken.

One thigh usually makes one sandwich unless your brood likes to pile on the meat. If you want plump sandwiches then figure 2 thighs per sandwich. You can use any kind of bread but I use ordinary hamburger buns.

Grill Method

Fire up the grill and lay the chicken thighs across it. Leave the skin on the chicken to keep it juicy. You're not going to cook them completely. This is only to give them a more grilled taste. Grill the chicken thighs about twenty minutes on each side then take them off.

Put the chicken in a large pot and pour an entire bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce over them. Finnish filling with water until chicken is completely covered. You can add a little salt but not much. The barbecue sauce has a lot of salt in it.

Bring the water to a boil, lower the heat and simmer about thirty minutes. Pour the liquid off and allow the chicken to cool enough to handle with bare hands. Now comes the hard part. You can use a fork or just your fingers to pull the skin and meat off the bone.

Once you've got all the meat off the bone, add a little more sauce to make it nice and moist. Scrape this into a pan and put it in the oven (about 350 degrees) for about twenty minutes or so to get it nice and hot.

You don't have to grill the chicken but it sure does make a difference. Nevertheless, slow-boiling in the sauce still makes a tasty barbecued chicken sandwich. You can always get those disposable barbecue pans. They're ready to go. All you have to do is light it. Just take it outside and fire it up. You only need about thirty minutes cooking time to flavor the chicken.

As for serving, I put the meat and buns on the table then let the family make their own sandwiches. Some of them like to put extra sauce on the bun and some don't. But when I have people over I usually put a little sauce on the bun, scoop some of the chicken on it and arrange the sandwiches on a platter.

It's interesting that many of my guests rave on and on about my barbecue chicken sandwiches and ask me for the recipe. When I tell them how I made them, none of them would go to the trouble to do it themselves. But they don't hesitate to ask me to make my barbecue chicken sandwiches when there's a get together at my house or even at someone else's house.

Therefore, if you love the praise that comes with a tasty dish and you have barbecue lovers in your family, try my barbecued chicken sandwiches. But be forewarned. You'll be asked to make them again and again. They're that good!