Great Tips for Grilling Chicken
Grilled Chicken, one of the best meals in the world. Here you will find Tips for Grilling Chicken that are sure to make your next grill out better than the last! Let’s get to it.
You can use either a gas grill or a charcoal grill for chicken.
Tips for Grilling Chicken: Before you fire it up.
Choose which type of chicken pieces or will you be having a whole chicken?
If cooking a whole chicken remove the giblets from the cavity and rinse the entire chicken under cold water. Then pat it dry with paper towels.
Similarly if cooking chicken pieces rinse parts under cold water and pat them dry with paper towels.
For chicken pieces the breasts have the lightest meat and are the largest pieces of the chicken. Thighs, legs, and wings are darker meat and much smaller than the breast. Find out who wants light and who wants dark so that you have the right combo!
Remember chicken with bone-in and skin takes longer to cook than it’s boneless and skinless counterpart.
Tips for Grilling Chicken : Preparing your chicken. Cut the large clumps of fat and loose, unnecessary pieces of skin off of the chicken. This reduces flare ups later and makes a healthier and better looking piece of chicken!
You can also make boneless and/or skinless chicken. This takes less time to cook than bone-in and chicken with skin.
Tips for Grilling Chicken: To season or not to season? Grilled Chicken is good no matter how you season it but there are 4 main ways to do it:
The simple seasoning. Put a good coat of Olive Oil sprinkled with salt & pepper.
Marinades: There are many marinades to pick from at the food store and you can also make your own. Just make sure you soak the chicken for a minimum of 3 hours in marinade. It’s best to do it longer. You can even marinate over night.
Some general marinade guidelines are:
Oils add juiciness Vinegars and Citrus tenderize And both along with spices, herbs, onion, garlic, Worcestershire add the flavor.
Rubs: Coat the chicken in a mix of spices like a paste. You don’t have to let this sit on the chicken as long as a marinade. You can leave on for an hour or throw it right onto the grill. I usually let it set for an hour.
Sauces: Brush on BBQ sauces or other sauces during the last 3-5 minutes of cooking. Most BBQ sauces have sugar in them so turn the chicken frequently because sugar burns at a much lower temperature than most things. More on this below.
No matter what seasoning you use try to get as much of it as you can onto the meat under the skin. Applying all the seasoning to the skin will limit the penetration of the seasoning.
Tips for Grilling Chicken : Get ready. Clean the grill before you throw that chicken on. You may have burger grease all over the place giving your grilled chicken a little extra flavor your not looking for.
The easiest way to clean the grates is to turn on the grill and wait till it gets hot. Then use a wire brush or scraper to get the gunk off. By warming the grill up first all the residue comes off much easier than if the grates were cold.
Oil the Grate: Coat your grilling grate with oil using a trash towel or use spray. If you use spray remove the rack to coat it if it is not hot.
You want one side of your grill hotter than the other. If cooking chicken pieces you want the breasts on the hotter side. They are larger and cook longer. You want the thighs, legs, and wings on the less hotter side.
With a gas grill you just need to turn the knob up on one side higher than the other. To accomplish this with a charcoal grill you simply put more coals and to a higher level on one side.
With the lid closed you want to get the grilling temperate in-between 350 - 375 degree Fahrenheit (177 - 190 degrees Celsius).
Now it’s time to throw chicken onto the grill.
Tips for Grilling Chicken: After you fire it up.
Don’t poke the chicken! Use tongs to turn the chicken on the grill. Using a fork to turn the chicken pokes numerous holes into the surface letting some of those precious tenderizing juices go to waste. The only time you need to cut into the meat is when you are cooking a whole chicken and it is almost done.
Tips for Grilling Chicken : How long?If cooking a whole chicken put the breast side down and cook for about 20 minutes then turn the chicken breast side up for approximately another 20 minutes. Grill till the skin is golden brown. Do one cut to check for doneness. The juices will run clear.
When cooking chicken pieces you want to first put them on the grill, skin side down. Cook for about 30 minutes Uncovered, turning several times until the skin is golden brown and the meat is cooked through.
Note these times vary! Grill variations, thickness of meat, bone-in or bone out, skin or no skin, and even the weather all effect the cooking times of chicken. Use a meat thermometer, look for golden brown skin, clear running juices, and monitor closely to cook to the best doneness.
After about 30 minutes for pieces and 40 minutes for a whole chicken it’s time to put the BBQ sauce on if you are making BBQ Chicken. You put the Barbeque sauce on when the chicken is almost done. Putting the sauce on to early chars the outside of the chicken.
The secret of a good coating is to let the sauce cook onto the chicken. Apply to one side of the chicken, close the lid, and grill for about 3-5 minutes. Open the grill, apply to the other side and repeat. Continue this 3 or 4 times to get a really good sticky coat.
Lower the heat of the grill by turning the knobs down on a gas grill or close the vents on your charcoal grill. Get the temperature down to about 265 degrees Fahrenheit (128 degrees Celsius). This is the burning point for sugar.
Coat the chicken multiple times and let the sauce cook onto the chicken.
Tips for Grilling Chicken : Your almost there! When is it done? Get a grilling thermometer, a grillers best friend. The recommended internal temperature for chicken when it is finished is between 165 - 175 degrees and the juices run clear.
Now for the last of the Tips for Grilling Chicken. Don’t serve the chicken right away. Let the chicken “rest”.
For grilling a whole chicken let it set for about 15 minutes after taking it off the grill and before carving. For chicken pieces let them sit for about 5 minutes to let the juices run back into the meat. You will surely have juicier chicken doing this.
Now look at that delicious chicken, grilled to perfection, with compliments flying left and right. We hope you enjoyed our Tips for Grilling Chicken and truly hope your chicken turns out just the way you want it.
The more you grill the better you will get of course. Enjoy!
And be sure to check out our other popular grilling tips articles:
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