Coming soon: The 70th Manchester Chicken Broil!

A perfect Chicken Broil dinner!

by Marsha Chartrand

If you take thousands of chicken halves, four pits, nearly six tons of charcoal, 250 pounds of butter, almost two tons of cabbage, and a cast of hundreds, what do you get?

Why, it’s the Manchester Chicken Broil, of course.

On Saturday, July 15, Manchester will fire up the pits for the 70th annual Chicken Broil. Yup, 70 years of deliciousness at Alumni Field! Can you believe it? Doesn’t that first Broil seem like just … yesterday? Okay, maybe not anymore. But no one’s complaining, as long as it keeps coming around every year!

“The pits” they talk about are each 150 feet long, filled with charcoal and topped with metal grids on which the chicken is slowly and carefully cooked.

While it is well-known that the Chicken Broil runs from 4 to 8pm on the third Saturday of each July, the day starts long before that time … and ends long after the gates have closed and the fires have burnt down to mere embers.

It’s at about 10:30am that the chicken halves are delivered by truck to Alumni Memorial Field. The charcoal is lit an hour later and the cooking starts at around 12:15pm.

The cooking process was originally conceived by Dr. Howard Zindell, a professor at Michigan State University, and debuted at the first Chicken Broil in 1954. The same process has been used ever since. Most chicken cooks for about an hour and 45 minutes, basted with butter — many times — and salted. The cooked chickens then are placed into 25-gallon stainless-steel cans, about 85 at a time, and kept over a fire so they continue cooking.

While earlier is considered better when standing in the traditional takeout or eat-in lines, the most popular way to pick up your chicks is the drive-through lines, which started in 2014. Enter via Hibbard Street onto Duncan Street and proceed west to Wolverine to take advantage of this option.

“The time to get your chicken is at 4 pm,” our source divulges. “There will be about 5,000 to 6,000 chicken halves already done by that time.”

The chicken is only half of the magic of the Chicken Broil, however.

From the beginning, the secret-recipe coleslaw — the other half of the combination — has held a special charm for many Chicken Broil fans. It’s certainly considered a don’t-miss portion of the meal.

The legend of the coleslaw is that each of the committee members has a part of the recipe, but no one has everything. And no one appears willing to spill the beans as to whether that fractional rumor is true.

And, as they say, the recipe is often imitated, but never duplicated.

When the fires start burning down in the pits, the volunteers retire for some well-deserved relaxation for an “Afterglow,” where workers can rehash the events of the day. More new Chicken Broil legends will doubtless be added this year.

So, get those taste buds ready for Manchester’s once-a-year treat. It’s coming soon, and whether this is your first or your 70th Broil … you won’t want to miss out.

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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.