Pitmaster Matt Horn Spent Years Perfecting This Crowd-Pleaser Barbecue Chicken Recipe

Matt Horn, chef-owner of Horn Barbecue in Oakland, California, has a deep and familial love for his craft. He told The Messenger that when he grills at home, his go-to dish is a simple yet flavorful one he's dubbed 'Burn Barrel' Chicken.

He calls this recipe — which is in the Horn Barbecue Cookbook published in 2022 by Harvard Common Press and Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. — "simple, comforting, authentic cooking."

By Horn's estimation, this entire dish takes around 45 minutes to make.

"People are always looking for those more ambitious meals that 'wow,'" Horn said. "But sometimes a simple recipe with the right balance of seasoning and flavors can be a crowd pleaser."

The flavor, he says, comes mostly from the marinade. His goal for the marinade was to create one that would help make chicken both juicy and flavorful while keeping it from drying out on the grill.

"I love the Maillard reaction that occurs with the sugar in the marinade and the grill," Horn said, referring to the browning that happens as the heat interacts with the marinated meat. "The brown sugar speeds up caramelization and deepens the flavor."

He said there's a certain char that develops as the chicken skin renders, resulting in a "crispy chicken skin that you can only get from a grill."

The recipe Horn shares below was developed in his home over the course of many years, he told The Messenger.

Ingredients

Directions