Missing the Chicken Broil? Make your own!

The Manchester Chicken Broil has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to community-minded efforts through the years. Despite being cancelled for 2020 due to the pandemic, its 2021 proceeds remain pledged to its previously committed projects, including the new Acorn Farmers’ Market and Café, and the Manchester Area Historical Society.

Mmmmm. The Third Thursday in July. The whole town smells of smoke and charcoal-broiled chicken in the steamy afternoon heat. Almost no one can wait until 4 pm when the serving line opens. The line begins forming shortly after 3 pm as neighbors start to gather and chat, with wagons to cart their white boxes of chicken dinner home. In the drive-through lanes that extend all along Duncan Street from Wolverine to Hibbard and beyond …

Oops … not this year.

Will YOU be missing the Manchester Chicken Broil this year? Many people will. But all is not lost.

Chicken halves are pretty readily available at most grocery stores and you, too, can cook them to a crispy golden brown ambience on your home grill –– whether charcoal or gas.

“It’s a pretty simple recipe,” says Michael Tindall, co-chair of the Manchester Chicken Broil. “And that’s never been a secret. I even gave it out on Under the Radar Michigan last year. Basically, you baste it with butter, season it with salt, watch it closely, turn it frequently, and monitor the internal temperature.”

Tindall acknowledges that this method likely seems pretty self explanatory even to those of us who don’t grill very often. “But back in the early ’50s, when the Chicken Broil began, you either baked chicken in the oven, or you deep fried it,” he says. “So it was kind of a revolutionary idea at that time. We’ve maintained that simplicity because it turns out so well. Basting it in butter keeps it moist, gives it a nice crisp brown skin, and everyone likes a little bit of salt … there’s no secret there.”

However, it’s when making the famous coleslaw that even long-time Manchester cooks might get tripped up, he tells us.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say that it’s the worst-kept secret in Manchester,” he says. “But, in fact, that’s not true.”

Wait, what?

Chicken Broil cole slaw … with the officially authorized secret dressing.

Several Manchester area church cookbooks feature the “real” Coleslaw Dressing recipe that is famed worldwide from the Manchester Chicken Broil. There’s even a copy circulating that was supposedly shared by Gene Bentschneider, one of the early chairs of the Broil. And the recipe is very tasty, indeed. But, says Tindall, when it comes right down to it, these recipes are missing the “secret blend” of spices that make the Chicken Broil’s slaw so highly in demand.

“There’s one ingredient most people don’t know about … we get specially made for us, and that would be awfully difficult to reproduce,” he hints. But that is as much as he will say.

Long ago, it was rumored that several different Manchester men each had the exact measurements to each single ingredient in the top-secret mixture of spices. Most of those men have, however, long since headed to the Great Broil in the Sky, and over the years, that rumor has faded. It’s been said that the late Lyle Widmayer may have been the last person who knew the proportions of every part of the recipe.

“You know, we make 10 gallons at a time,” Tindall explains. “And when you’re trying to make just a quart of it for your family, the blend of spices … there’s something missing. You can get close to it, but you can’t get exact.”

There’s no secret to the radishes, chips, and rolls, of course. Those can be purchased at any grocery store (or, in the case of radishes, the Farmers’ Market).

Round out your dinner with your traditional Chicken Broil beverage of choice, and you’re almost set.

Well, except for the legendary coleslaw dressing. But at least you can get close.

Next year, we will all appreciate the Chicken Broil even more after not having it for a year. Profits pledged for this year, to Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café and to the Manchester Area Historical Society, will be honored after the 2021 broil is completed. Our mouths will water once again at the smoky-chicken smell wafting through the village on July 15, 2021. And we’ll be feeling darned lucky to get another taste of the elusively delicious coleslaw.

Till then, we can all make do in our kitchens and on our grills.

The “Not-So-Official” Chicken Broil Coleslaw Dressing Recipe

10 T. sugar (3/4 c)
1/2 c. vinegar
1 c. oil
1-1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 T. dried minced onion
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. celery seed
Shake well. Store in refrigerator. Serve over shredded cabbage.

A Chicken Broil dinner, served to perfection at the eat-in serving line at Alumni Memorial Field.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.