BAT Wings! Butterflied Chicken Drums w/ Alabama White BBQ Sauce

What are “Bat Wings”

If you have spent any time on any of the social media sites over the last few months, you have to have seen somebody preparing chicken drumsticks this way.  They are simply chicken legs that have been butterflied open, seasoned, and grilled.  The added surface area from butterflying them allows the meat to cook more evenly and gives much more surface area for seasoning and tasty char.  You have to have some char on them.  The char is the star!

Are they good?

Many people that I know, including myself, do not care for chicken legs.  The dark meat does not appeal to everyone and some feel that they have an off-putting flavor.  (again, me!)  Well , for some reason, maybe because of the extra seasoning, or maybe because the exposed surface area gets a nice char, these have a much better flavor than regular old, boring chicken drumsticks.  I am not kidding; they actually taste different.  For me, it is much the same way that ham, when sliced thin tastes much different than a big hunk of ham.  Don’t ask me why, it just does.   Same goes for bat wings, they just taste better.

Inexpensive Grilling

One of the best parts of this meal is the cost.  Chicken drumsticks are cheap!  Yes, that’s right.  The other day, my local grocery store had them on sale for only .49 cents per pound.  I defy you to find me good meat that is priced lower than that.  You can literally feed a family of four for under $10.00.  Now that is my kind of dinner!

Butterflying Chicken Legs

This is not an entirely new process, but it has just recently grown in popularity and has been adapted to the grill.  I happen to be friends with Brad Prose, aka @chilesandsmoke and guess what?  He is the one that invented this process.  Brad had just got done spatchcocking a chicken and thought to himself that this same method could possibly apply to other parts of the chicken.  He got some legs, butterflied them, grilled them, posted them, and became famous for them.  Thanks for being so creative Brad!

Directions:

1. Fill your grill with FOGO Premium Charcoal and prepare for raised direct grilling over medium high heat.
2. Place a chicken leg on your work surface in your Prep Tub with the meatiest side facing up. Using your boning knife, make an incision from tip to tip.  Continue working downward until you hit the bone.  Pull back the meat on either side of the bone.  Cut the meat from the sides of the bone so that the leg now lays flat with the meat laid out to the sides like it has wings.
3. Sprinkle each one with the seasonings. First Tina Cannon European Blend and Nashville Hot  Lastly, finish them off with a dusting of our Garlic Salt.  Coat them fully and set them in the fridge, uncovered for at least ½ hour.
4. While they are in the fridge chilling out, make the sauce. In a bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and place the bowl in the refrigerator.  You can make this a day in advance if you would like.  This allows the flavors to meld together better.
5. Take the legs out of the fridge and prepare for grilling. Place each leg, skin side up on the grill and cook them for a few minutes until they begin to get some good color, flip.  Continue to flip them every few minutes until they have good color, decent char and have reached 165° internal temperature.  Remove from the grill.
6. Serve the “Bat Wings” with the Alabama White Sauce and watch your friends and family devour these delicious treats.