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Smoked Barbecue Chicken Legs – On the Grill

By: Author Julia Jordan

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In this post I’ll be sharing a recipe for Smoked Barbecue Chicken Legs – On the Grill.

If you’re like me, chicken legs might not be your first choice of chicken pieces. These smoked barbecue chicken legs are so good you’re gonna love them. Then you’re gonna go tell everybody how good they are and not be able to wait til you can shove one of these in their mouth to taste. Yea, it’s that good.

I used to sort of be afraid of grilling. That all changed years ago when we got a gas grill that had a thermostat on it. Well I’ll be, this grill is nothing more than an outdoor oven. That’s the thinking that changed it all for me.

I love the flavor that smoking meats give. This recipe is worth the bit of extra effort. The effort is not really in the work but cooking time.

So here’s how you do it and make sure you have plenty of napkins on hand……well unless you plan on licking your fingers clean.

Ingredients

  • 6-12 Chicken Legs
  • Your favorite Dry BBQ Rub
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Your favorite wet BBQ sauce, or sauces
  • Smoke Wood Chips

Smoked Barbecued Chicken Legs

You’ll also need a foil pan, such as a foil baking bread pan and aluminum foil.
 
An hour or so before you plan to start cooking, add some of the smoke wood chips to a bowl and cover with water and soak for an hour.
 
 
Soak wood chips before smoking chicken
 
 
When you are ready to grill, drain the water from the wood chips and add them to the foil pan. Cover with foil, and use a tooth pick or skewer to poke holes in the foil.
 
 
 
 
Take your chicken legs out of the fridge and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a bowl or plate and cover all sides with the dry rub. Allow chicken to sit with dry rub for 20 minutes or so to come to room temperature.
 

Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Legs

 
seasoned chicken legs ready for smoking on the grill
 
 
While the chicken is hanging out with the dry rub, go ahead and start the grill. Turn all burners on high and place your foil smoking pan over to one side. By the time you’re ready to put the chicken on you should see smoke coming out of the grill.
 
Turn the burner off on the side you’ll be cooking the chicken on, or the side and center burners if you have a larger grill. Turn the heat down to medium on the side where your wood chip smoker pan is sitting so it keeps the smoke going during the cooking process.
 
Add the chicken to the grill, make sure it’s no where near the grill flames. The flames can cause the dry rub to burn since most rubs likely have some brown sugar or ground peppers that don’t do well over direct flames.
 

Grilled Chicken

 
Smoked Barbecue Chicken Legs on a gas grill
 
The thermostat should read around 300 degrees during cooking. You’re gonna smoke/grill the chicken legs for 1 and a half hour. Turn the chicken every half hour.
 
The last 15 minutes of cooking, add your wet sauce.
 
Remove the most delicious chicken legs ever from the grill and allow them to rest for 15 minutes before serving. The low and slow smoking cook method really tenderizes the chicken legs. They are moist and delicious too.
 
 

Budget Meals

 

Smoked Barbecue Chicken Legs – On the Grill

Yield: 6 Servings

Smoked Barbecue Chicken Legs

Smoked Barbecue Chicken Legs

Smoked barbecue chicken legs prepared on a gas grill using wood chips are melt in your mouth delicious.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 to 12 Chicken Legs
  • Your favorite Dry BBQ Rub
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Your favorite wet BBQ sauce, or sauces
  • Smoke Wood Chips (can be found in the grilling section of your local stores)
  • A foil pan, such as a foil baking bread pan
  • Aluminum foil

Instructions

  1. Soak the wood chips in water for one hour prior to cooking. When you are ready to grill, drain the water from the wood chips and add them to the foil pan. Cover with foil, and use a tooth pick to poke holes in the foil.
  2. Pat chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel. Coat the chicken pieces on all sides with the dry rub seasoning and set aside for 20 minutes.
  3. Turn all burners of your grill on high and place your foil smoking pan over to one side. When smoke begins to appear, you're ready to add the chicken to the grill. Turn the burner off on the side you'll be cooking the chicken on, or the side and center burners if you have a larger grill. Turn the heat down to medium on the side where your wood chip smoker pan is sitting so it keeps the smoke going during the cooking process.
  4. Next, add the chicken to the grill, make sure it's no where near the grill flames. The thermostat should read around 300 degrees during cooking.
  5. Smoke/grill the chicken legs for 1 and a half hour turning the chicken every half hour.
  6. Finally, add the wet sauce during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
  7. Allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 179Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 182mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 131g
© Julia Jordan | Julia's Simply Southern
Cuisine: Southern United States / Category: Dinner
smoked barbecue chicken legs - on the grill in a serving bowl

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Meet Julia

Author of Julia's Simply Southern

About Julia

Hey Y'all! I'm Julia, the cook and writer behind the recipes here at Julia's Simply Southern. I began my website so that I could share easy to follow recipes that anyone can use to put a home cooked meal on the dinner table. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Lindsey Mckenzie

Tuesday 7th of March 2017

We switched from a traditional grill to a gas grill with a thermostat over the summer. It feels much safer cooking on a grill that allows you to control the temperature and each burner, and it keeps you from burning your food as well. I also want to add that the smoked barbecue chicken recipe you posted sounds so delicious.

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