4th of July BBQ Recipes – Grilled Rosemary Lemon Poussin from Pork Barrel BBQ

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This entry into our 4th of July BBQ Recipes archive comes from Heath Hall of Pork Barrel BBQ. It’s a great twist on barbecued chicken, using instead a “baby” chickens, or poussin. Now for those of you not familiar with this term, poussin are young chicken butchered no more than 28 days from birth. They often weigh in at not much more than 1 lb. each.

If your butcher looks at you cross eyed if you ask for poussin, try asking for spring chicken or Rock Cornish Game Hen.

Pork Barrel BBQ’s Grilled Rosemary Lemon Poussin

Ingredients

4 poussin (baby chickens)
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons Pork Barrel BBQ All American Spice Rub
1 bottle Pork Barrel BBQ Original, Sweet or Mustard BBQ Sauce, for serving

Directions

In a small bowl mix 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, the chopped rosemary and minced garlic. Set the wet rub aside. Place the poussin on a cookie sheet and pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Gently pull the skin from the meat of the poussin to create a cavity and rub ¼ of the olive oil wet rub in the poussin cavity covering all of the exposed meat. Place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Remove the poussin from the refrigerator and place them on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes to allow them to come to room temperature. Rub ½ tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil onto each poussin covering the entire surface area of the meat. Rub 1 ½ tablespoons of Pork Barrel BBQ All American Spice Rub onto each poussin, covering the entire surface area of the meat. Cover the poussin with aluminum foil and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

While the poussin is resting get a charcoal grill ready cooking. We recommend using 100% hardwood charcoal, in lump or briquette form, and we strongly encourage you to use a charcoal chimney to light the charcoal (stay away from lighter fluid if at all possible). The charcoal is ready to use when it has burned to a white ash. Place the coals on one side of the grill leaving an area of the grill open to cook the poussin over indirect heat with no coals underneath the meat.

After getting the coals arranged for indirect cooking place the lid on the grill and let the grill reach an internal temperature of 325 degrees. Once the grill has reached 325 degrees you are ready to place the poussin on the grill on the side opposite the coals.

Keep an eye on the grill and make sure it maintains a temperature around 325 degrees (add charcoal as necessary). When the poussin reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees (this will occur about 30 minutes into the cooking process) remove the poussin from the grill and let them rest for 5 minutes before eating.

Serve with Pork Barrel BBQ Original, Sweet or Mustard BBQ Sauce on the side.

Special thanks to Heath and the gang over at Pork Barrel BBQ for sending along this entry into our 4th of July BBQ Recipes archive. Be sure to check out their website, follow them on Twitter, and visit the Pork Barrel BBQ Facebook page.