A pitmaster shares an easy chicken recipe that he says every home barbecuer should know how to make
- Matt Horn says all home barbecuers should know how to make chicken.
- He says he prefers cooking thighs to breasts because the former has more moisture.
- The pitmaster's tip for flavor is to season the meat the day before you're going to cook it.
Matt Horn, chef and owner at Horn Barbecue in Oakland, California, says knowing how to make chicken is a must for all home barbecuers.
While he also values the ability to make a good steak, burger, and piece of fish, he says chicken is a good place to start.
"First and foremost, barbecued chicken or grilled chicken," he said in an interview with Insider. "That is definitely something that people should know how to cook."
The pitmaster previously told Insider that a common misconception among home cooks is that chicken is something you can't mess up. In reality, though, Horn says it requires a lot of care and attention to get it right.
Horn comes from a long line of barbecue cooks who knew how to make almost anything. But when he first started barbecuing for himself, he said he mostly stuck to chicken breasts.
You can get a delicious meal from the white meat, he said, but dark meat - usually coming from the animal's thigh region - has more moisture. Horn said he now prefers to cook both bone-in or boneless thighs for that reason.
The restaurateur shared his tips for getting the most out of your chicken. To start, he recommends seasoning the meat the day before you plan to cook it, and keep it in a foil pan with a foil sheet covering the top.
But try not to go overboard with seasonings, Horn said. This is one of the biggest mistakes he's seen home cooks make, he previously told Insider. His seasoning method is typically a simple salt and pepper base, sometimes throwing in "granulated garlic or onion to it just to add a little additional flavor."
When you're ready to cook Horn says to first position the thighs directly over your flame until they get some color on the outside. Then, move them to a spot off the flame so they can take on a smokey flavor and avoid burning.
Though Horn said thighs naturally have more moisture than chicken breasts, his pro tip is that sitting a bowl of water or can of beer on the grill adds even more moisture to your finished protein.