Cedar Planked Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Cedar Planked Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Wow that is a lot to say.  There is a lot of tastes to this dish. First let me say it is really is wonderful. But how could it not be? It has bacon. Here is my advice for making this dish great:

• Start soaking the cedar plank early. I like to soak it for about an hour. If I am making it on a weekday night, I soak the cedar plank as soon as I get home from work. 
• I like crispy bacon so I precook the bacon in the microwave for one to two minutes before I wrap it around the chicken. I also use a thicker sliced bacon because well, you get more bacon. 
• I use chicken thighs because they stay juicy. I also use bone in with the skin on. I think they are tastier. It is certainly easier to use skinless boneless thighs and they roll up nicely. But I think that is cheating....
• I use a meat thermometer to get the chicken cooked to the correct temperature. I hate cutting into raw chicken. My own personal belief is every kitchen should have a digital scale and a digital meat thermometer and a really big cast iron skillet.
• The bbq sauce is key.  If I am too lazy to make my own which happens more than I would like to admit, I use a good bottled sauce. My current favorites are Arthur's Bryant's Sauce (you can't go wrong with the classics), Head Country BBQ Sauce and Wabash BBQ Sauce (I think you can only get this in and around Kansas City).

Cedar Planked Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Chicken Thighs (2 per person)

2 Pieces of Bacon per Chicken Thigh

Salt

Pepper

Paprika (Smoked or Sweet or Both)

BBQ Sauce

Presoak the cedar plank. Preheat grill to medium heat. Precook your bacon for 1-2 minutes (if you want crispy bacon). Salt, pepper and paprika each chicken thigh. Wrap the chicken thigh in bacon. 

Ready for the grill

Place the chicken on the cedar plank and place the cedar plank on the preheated grill. 

Chicken on the grill

Grill for approximately 15 minutes and then brush with bbq sauce.

Basting the chicken

Insert meat thermometer at this point. Grill for 10-15 more minutes (until chicken reaches an internal temperature of  165F/74C). While the chicken is grilling continue to baste with bbq sauce. Remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes and then dig in.

The bottom line: will I make this again? Oh yes, I almost didn't get pictures. It smelled incredible and tasted even better. The best part: Steven did the grilling.