A Cornell nutrition professor has created your new favorite BBQ chicken recipe

Getting philosophical about whether the chicken or the egg that the egg came first (it’s an egg with hundreds of millions of years) is all well and good, but it won’t help to dinner on the tableFor the best BBQ of your life, you need chicken And an egg, together with some apple cider vinegarsimple poultry spices, oil and a hot grill.

I’m talking about Cornell Chicken, an iconic summer grilling recipe based on food science and developed by inventor and Cornell University professor of food and poultry, Robert C. Baker.

Baker wrote the proverbial book on barbecue chicken, according to many, after extensive recipe testing in the 1950s. He was unhappy with the bland state of American cuisine and created this recipe to serve tasty food en masse at large barbecues.

“Cornell chicken,” as it’s known, is beautifully simple and remains one of the most prized chicken marinades and summer cooking recipes. You’ll find Cornell chicken in restaurants, especially in upstate New York where the university is located, at family picnics, and at food fairs and festivals across the country.

Cornell chicken is backed by some heady food science. It uses an unusual element, a beaten egg, to add a creamy coating and crisp the chicken skin without burning it. There’s also poultry seasoning for depth of flavor and vinegar to add a tangy tang and help the marinade penetrate the meat. Most recipes succeed when they’re balanced or “blooming,” and Cornell chicken is a great example of simple elements working together to create a perfect unity.

If you’re wondering how to make Cornell chicken, it’s easy: It uses just five ingredients and a similar cooking method to traditional barbecue chicken. This chicken marinade is vinegar-based, so it’s more like a Carolina style than the sweet Kansas City or St. Louis styles. Baker recommends using a charcoal grill to prevent unruly flames from cooking the skin unevenly.

How to Make the Perfect Cornell Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces with bone
• 1/2 cup vegetable cooking oil
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 beaten egg
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Step 1: Beat the egg. Add oil and beat again.
• Step 2: Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
• Step 3: Add chicken pieces and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least three hours and up to 24 hours.
• Step 4Place the breaded chicken on a medium-high grill (Baker recommends charcoal), reserving any remaining marinade.
• Step 5: Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the chicken and basting the chicken with any remaining sauce every five minutes. The basting should be light at first and become heavier toward the end of cooking.
• Step 6: Cook until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Can you make Cornell chicken in an air fryer?

Yes, and that’s what I did. I put half of my batch in the air fryer and the other half over a hot flame as Baker intended. Both methods worked well. The grill gave me a slightly more caramelized char, while the air fryer was faster and required less cleanup.

Can you use any type of chicken for Cornell chicken?

Baker original recipe calls for broilers (small whole chickens), but this recipe can be applied to any bone-in, skinless chicken. You can use boneless, skinless chicken, but you won’t get that coveted crispy skin that Baker’s Cornell Chicken recipe delivers.

It turns out that some forum users have even experimented with using the Cornell chicken boil recipe on wings — with almost immediate success. A user on the r/Wings subreddit shared their successful Cornell chicken wingsafter using the same six-step plan from Baker’s original recipe.

If you don’t feel like making your own sauce, these are the best bottled BBQ sauces we’ve tried.

Check this out: Best Airfryers: Cheap vs. Expensive

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