Food as Memory: Grandpa Vern’s Patio Chicken
My most beloved memories all center around my grandpa’s charcoal grill on long summer evenings. Patio chicken was his crowning glory, a staple at our holiday table: Memorial Day, The Fourth of July, and Labor Day. At his side, I was second in command in basting the chicken thighs that spun in the rotisserie basket over carefully tended coals. My grandpa loves Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra and would constantly hum tunes like “Unforgettable” and “The Summer Wind.” And as the song goes, “Those days and nights went flying by.” And now, all I have to do is keep the memory alive in this recipe, which conjures the bright, dappled memories of my childhood summers spent with my beloved grandpa, Vernon.
The recipe was lost for many years, a concoction created by an unknown person somewhere in Detroit in the 1950s – the Open Pit BBQ sauce’s birthplace. My grandmother never wrote it down, knowing it by instinct. I spent many years trying to locate its origins, calling up old family and friends of my grandparents, who were still alive and might recall the ingredients. At one time, the recipes had some notoriety in the motor city as a popular baste for hundreds of chickens at large Smith Brother’s Electric family picnics. Sadly, no one remembered the recipe; I was sure it was lost forever.
Then, when I made a halfhearted attempt to use Google to find the fabled basting sauce, I came across the Open Pit website, and low and behold, there was a recipe for “Pittsburg Style” sauce, and it seemed to have everything in it that I suspected my grandparent’s sauce had. So, I went about trying the recipe. I was nervous as I simmered the sauce, but then the miracle happened: the kitchen filled with the aroma of my childhood – that sweet and tangy, heady scent of what we called in my family “Patio Chicken.”
I cried when I took my first bite of Grandpa Vern’s lost patio chicken. If I closed my eyes, it was like the past twenty years had melted away, and he was with us again. It is a powerful reminder that food is a memory keeper and connects us to the past. An added bonus: the chicken was delicious.
It’s Not Patio Chicken Without Open Pit
Open Pit BBQ sauce is unique and hard to replace or use as a substitute. It tastes like no other sauce on the market, and if you use another sauce, you will not get the unique flavor of patio chicken. In some areas of the country (and outside the US), you might not be able to find it locally. I suggest ordering some online or trying this recipe hack on food.com: https://www.food.com/recipe/open-pit-bbq-sauce-514124
Recipe for Vern’s Patio Chicken
Any cut of chicken (We like thighs with the skin on)
Sauce:
1 bottle of Open Pit BBQ sauce – Original
The sauce will be on the thin side
1/2 c chopped yellow onion, small dice
¼ c diced Green pepper
1/4c Oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
How To:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until they come to a simmer.
Simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 min.
***sauce will be on the thin side – this is for basting!
Your Grill:
Hardwood or charcoal is your best option for the most authentic taste
Create two zones. Cook chicken pieces on the indirect side until dark meat is 170 degrees and light meat is 165.
Baste the chicken with the sauce every 10 minutes or so. For the last 10 min, place chicken on the direct coals to crisp the skin – if you like it crispy.