Let me start off by saying that this was a huge chicken. But it was the only size available. So this guy was 8 pounds. I actually did part of the cooking in the Air Fryer and part on the Traeger Grill. It was convenient for me that particular day.
I have the Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer https://amzn.to/2WQfJGF thank goodness it has a huge fry basket, other wise I do not think this chicken would have fit. I rubbed the chicken down with Bella’s BBQ Rub https://bellabistro.com/bellas-bbq-rub/ then I placed the chicken in the air fryer at 375* 30 minutes breast side down, 30 minutes breast side up. If you had a four pound chicken this would be perfect timing and your bird would be cooked. You could just plate and add the tequila pineapple glaze.
I then placed the bird on a beer can rack with half of a can of beer ( you need to drink the other half 🙂 ) and placed in my Traeger Grill that was preheated at 375* I inserted the temperature probe into the chicken by the thigh area. I cooked until the chicken reach 160*. During this cooking time I would brush the chicken with the glaze every 10 minutes or so. You can do this whole process on your Traeger Grill or any BBQ Grill. Expect a 4 pound chicken to take an hour, maybe 10 0r 15 minutes more. An 8 pound chicken allow 1 hour and 45 minutes at least.
Here is the recipe for the Tequila Glaze. You can also substitute whiskey for tequila, also switch out pineapple juice for mango nectar. Its a great tasting glaze also on shrimp skewers, grilled salmon, pork tenderloin.
Pineapple Tequila Glaze
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup tequila
½ cup pineapple juice
½ cup ketchup
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ t. black pepper
1 teaspoons sea salt
Saute garlic in olive oil. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer over medium heat until thickened.
I served my finished dish with a coconut risotto that I prepared in the instant pot. All in all it was a very easy flavorful dinner.