Name: Bacon and Herb Roast Chicken On The Weber Q
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 125 min
Ingredients: 2 tsp Brown Sugar; 1 tsp Paprika; 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder; 1/2 tsp Onion Powder; 1/2 tsp Chili Powder ((Optional)); 1 tsp Salt; 1/2 tsp Black Pepper; 2.2 kg Whole Chicken; 5-6 Bacon Rashes (Depending on the size of your chicken); 2 tbsp Butter; 1 tsp Crushed Garlic; 1 Lemon (Cut in half); Olive Oil (Extra virgin)

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My roast chicken on the Weber Q recipe is beautifully moist and tender. It also comes with a twist and is actually super simple to prepare.

Basted under the skin with bacon and topped on the outside with a mild chilli herb rub. Your friends are going to go nuts over this one.

Who wants to cook a boring old roast chook with no extra flavour added to it? I certainly don’t.

I love coming up with new ways to enhance the traditional roast chicken.

As I mentioned previously, we are going to be using bacon. Trust me, it really works!

Bacon not only adds more flavour, but it also helps to baste the breast meat. And as we all know, breast meat is part of the chicken that dries out the most.

By using bacon, the breast meat will hold moisture and add fat.

The fat content in bacon will render out making the breast meat beautifully succulent.

What Ingredients are Used in This Recipe?

When making the best tasting roast chicken on the Weber Q, it’s essential to use the right blend of herbs.

A warning, there is chili powder in the rub.

If you aren’t partial to a little bit of chili powder, then leave it out.

For the rub, I’ve included:

Brown Sugar
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Chili Powder
Salt & Black Pepper

Setting up the Weber Q for Roasting

Start by placing a new convection tray onto your Weber Q and place your trivet on top.

If you don’t have a Weber Q convection tray in your cupboard, you can make your own.

You can do this by cutting a large piece of aluminium foil and doubling it over. Remember to place tiny holes in the foil to allow the fats to drip through.

Turn on the gas and light your Weber Q, turning the gas control knob to the START/HI position.

For Family Q, turn both control knobs to the START/HI position.

Close the lid and give the Weber 10-15 minutes to get nice and hot.

Preparing the Chicken for Roasting

Allow at least one or two hours for the bird to come up to room temperature.

This helps the chicken roast evenly while cooking on the Weber Q.

Begin by gently separating the skin from the chicken breast, starting from the neck.

Work your fingers in until you can reach the bottom of the breast, making sure to not tear the skin.

Brush 4 to 5 streaky bacon strips with garlic butter and carefully slide these in between the breast and skin, making sure the bacon strips are flat and slightly overlapping each other.

Rub some butter, crushed garlic, salt and pepper, cut a lemon in half, and put them into the cavity.

This will help perfume and steam the breast meat from the inside, so it’s really soft and succulent.

Finally, tie the legs together with some cooking twine.

Cover the bird with olive oil and my delicious herb rub (see the recipe below).

And the chicken is all set for roasting on your Weber Q.

Start Cooking Your Roast Chicken on the Weber Q

Now we get to the fun part.

Lift the lid on your Weber Q and place the chicken onto the centre of the trivet.

If you’re using a wireless meat thermometer, insert it into the breast at an angle. You mustn’t touch the bone with the probe, as this will give a false temperature reading.

Bone gets hotter than flesh. So a great way to tell if the probe is touching bone is the rapid increase in temperature.

If this happens to you, simply readjust the probe.

And the last thing you need to do is close the lid and let the magic happen.

Turn the small gas control knob off and the large control knob to the roast setting, which is in the middle.

For the Baby Q, simply turn the gas knob to the medium/middle roast setting.

Monitor the temperature throughout the roasting process and try to maintain a temperature between 190°C (375°F) to 230°C (445°F) at all times.

No Peeking! Trust in your Weber Q and that it’s doing its’s job.

Should you Use a Wireless Meat Probe?

Deciding whether to use a meat probe is entirely up to you. However, I will admit that I use one. And I highly recommend the iGrill 2 from Weber for those that don’t have one.

The iGrill 2 makes my life much easier to monitor the temperature of my roast chicken while I’m enjoying a beer.

Using a meat probe allows me to keep an eye on the temperature of my Weber Q; it also gives me more time to entertain my guests.

And most importantly, I know my roast chicken is cooked to a safe eating temperature every time.

What is the Safe Eating Temperature for Roast Chicken?

If you don’t have a wireless meat probe, don’t worry. There are other techniques you can use to judge if your roast chicken is ready.

When cooking chicken, it’s important to remember that it must be roasted to a safe eating temperature of 75°C (167°F); otherwise, it can make you very sick.

Prick the thickest part of the bird with a skewer and check if the juices run clear. If they do, it’s ready.

If the juices are a pinkish tone (blood), then it is not.

The following technique is not entirely accurate as cooking in a weber at such high temperatures that fluctuate can throw off the cooking time.

Add 20 minutes of roasting time for every 500 grams that the chicken weighs and is cooked at roughly 200°C (390°F)

For example, if a chicken weighs 2.6kg (5.7lbs), the total cooking time of roast chicken would be 110 minutes. Or 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Rest and Carve

When your roast chicken is looking awesome, pop it onto a tray and turn off your Weber Q and Gas bottle.

Allow the bird to rest for 15 minutes. This allows the muscles to relax and the juices to run back into the chicken.

Giving you beautifully moist and tender flesh when you begin to carve.

Serve with my Weber Q Roast Potatoes.

Can You Repurpose Leftover Roast Chicken?

The short answer is YES! Roast chicken is fantastic for leftovers, and it can last in the fridge for up to 3-4 days before it will need to be thrown away.

My kids often ask me, “dad, can I have your yummy roast chicken on my roll for school tomorrow”.

And I reply,” Sure, did you want mummy’s yummy Honey Roast Gravy on top?”

And of course, they say yes! It is pretty good.

I have also used leftover roast chicken to make another of my kid’s favourites, authentic Chinese chicken and sweetcorn soup. You got to give this one a crack guys!

Check Out Other Recipes We Love

The list of great-tasting Weber Q recipes is growing on JustSoYum, and I would love to share just a couple of our favourites with you to enjoy at home!

Weber Q Roast Pork: with Perfect Crackling every time

Roast Leg of Lamb: Cooked to perfection on any Weber Q

Weber Q Honey Glazed Roast Chicken: Roasted in a rosemary and garlic herb and glazed in honey, this is roast chicken sent from heaven.

Herb-Crusted Weber Q Roast Beef: Cooked to a medium rare and so juicy your mouth will water.

If you have tried our recipes, we would love to hear your thoughts; please drop a comment below. Of course, we reply to all comments.