Cornell Chicken

• servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

2 quarts, water

3 1/2 cups, cider vinegar

1/4 cup, salt

2 (3 1/2-to 4-pound), whole chickens, halved (see tip below)

1 tablespoon, ground poultry seasoning

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup, cider vinegar

3 tablespoons, Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon, chopped fresh sage leaves

1 tablespoon, chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 cup, olive oil

Directions

For the chicken: Whisk water, vinegar, and salt in large bowl until salt dissolves. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for 1 to 2 hours.

For the seasoning and sauce: Combine poultry seasoning, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper in small bowl; set aside. Process vinegar, mustard, sage, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in blender until smooth, about 1 minute. With blender running, slowly add oil until incorporated. Transfer vinegar sauce to small bowl and reserve for basting chicken.

Heat all burners on high for 15 minutes, then turn all burners to medium-low. (For charcoal grill, light 75 coals; when covered with fine gray ash, spread evenly over bottom of grill. Set cooking grate in place and heat covered, with lid vents open completely, for 5 minutes.) Scrape and oil cooking grate.

Remove chicken from brine. Pat dry with paper towels and rub all over with poultry seasoning mixture. Arrange chicken skin-side up on grill and baste with vinegar sauce. Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes, basting with sauce halfway through cooking. Flip chicken skin-side down and baste with sauce. Continue to grill, covered, until skin is golden brown and crisp and thigh meat registers 170 to 175 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter (do not cover) and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

Make Ahead: Both the spice rub and the sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. The chicken can be brined, patted dry, and rubbed with the seasoning mixture up to 8 hours ahead.

Notes

Do not brine the chicken longer than 2 hours or the vinegar will make the meat mushy. Baste the chicken carefully in step 4, as any excess will drip onto the fire and flare up.

Invented in the 1940s by Robert Baker, a Cornell University professor, this tangy, crisp-skinned grilled chicken recipe has been a star attraction at the New York State Fair ever since. Grilling two split chickens over gentle direct heat worked best here. To crisp the skin without burning it, we started the chicken skin side up to render the fat slowly, then flipped the chicken skin side down to brown it to a crisp. For the sauce, Dijon mustard contributed flavor and thickened it perfectly. We replaced the traditional poultry seasoning (which tasted dusty), with fresh rosemary and sage. The thicker sauce made for easier basting—we applied the sauce just three times during cooking. Less basting also meant crisper skin.

Nutrition

• Calories: 1071
• Total Fat: 79 g
• Saturated Fat: 20 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 38 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 300 miligrams
• Sodium: 2106 miligrams
• Total Carbohydrate: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 1 g
• Protein: 75 g