Cuts Of Chicken For Grilling
In our kitchen, were not only grilling chicken breast, but were throwing all cuts of chicken on the grill.
- Breast: it doesnt get much better than a perfectly grilled chicken breast! Chicken breast is lean and perfect for topping salads with.
- Legs: having a party? Go chicken legs! Why? Theyre super flavorful, inexpensive, and easy to grill! Try our famous Grilled Chicken Legs recipe.
- Thighs: my personal favorite cut of chicken to grill is chicken thighs. You can get the skin nice and crispy while keeping the meat juicy and delish. Try our amazing bbq grilled chicken thighs recipe.
- Wings: game day? Try grilling your chicken wings for easy clean-up! You can use our dry rub or buffalo chicken wing recipes, but grill them instead!
- Whole chicken: a whole chicken?! Thats right! You can grill an entire chicken and its easier than you think. Try our grilled beer butt chicken for starters!
How Long To Grill
Generally, about 20 minutes of the grill temperature is correct. Smaller breasts may be a bit less, and larger may be a bit longer. Remember to never cook by time alonecook to the final safe internal temperature of 165°.
The exact time will vary by the grill and the thickness and starting temperature of the meat. The chicken should rest off the heat for about 5 minutes before serving. If longer, tent lightly with foil to keep warm.
You can cook faster if you use a higher temperature, but your chicken will have an overcooked surface and be less tender and drier.
Cook Briefly And Check For Doneness
In my experience, it takes chicken breasts only a few minutes per side over direct, medium-high heat to both brown and get cooked through at the same time. That being said, it’s a good idea to always use a two-zone firewith all the coals piled on one side of the charcoal gratein case the chicken browns before it’s done cooking through. This way, if need be, you can finish the chicken up on the cool side of the grill, covered, and avoid burning the breasts.
We almost always recommend using an instant-read thermometer when cooking meat, to judge doneness perfectly each time. You can try to use one here, too, but the truth is that with thin cutlets like pounded chicken breasts, it’s very difficult to get an accurate measurement of the temperature at the coolest part: Mere millimeters away from that part, the chicken can be much hotter.
A better way is to determine doneness by sight. If you’re unsure, just make a small incision in a breast, which will allow you to peek into the center to see if it’s cooked through or not.
If you do want to try to take the temp, 150°F is your goal. That’s a bit lower than the 165°F recommended by the FDA, but if you go as high as the FDA says, you’ll be guaranteed dry chicken breast.
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Quick Tips For Grilling Chicken Breast
Chicken breast has a love-hate relationship with smokers and grills.
While it is easy to season and cook, it is also one of the easiest pieces of meat to dry out.
The key here is to use both direct and indirect heat to smoke your chicken breast.
This will help prevent them from drying out, leaving them juicy and full of flavor.
Grilling The Perfect Chicken
- May 8, 2009 7:01 AM EDT
Tips and tricks to come out with the best-tasting, un-charred chicken on the grill.
Chicken, it turns out, is far more difficult to grill well than the ubiquitous steaks, chops and kebabs.
Most of my childhood memories of outdoor grilling have something to do with the pungent smell of charred BBQ chicken legs. Every time, my father would swear the next batch would be better and every time, they would end up a crunchy mass of hickory smoke coal.
Luckily, with just a few tips, you can grill chicken like a pro and explore some new ways to prepare chicken.Tip 1: Beat the HeatThe most common error the home chef makes grilling chicken is to put their birds on as soon as the coals go gray, or with the gas grill up on high.
This grilling heat level is perfect for skirt steak and veggies, but it is exactly wrong for doing chicken. For best results, make sure to put your chicken on towards the end of your rotation of items to go on the grill if youre using charcoal, and cook under medium to medium low heat if youre using gas. This method will allow the chicken to cook through without burning the skin or resulting in the dreaded over-cooked on the outside, under-cooked on the inside syndrome.
Tip 2: Pay Attention to the CutsFor grilling chicken bigger is better, and cheaper.
Basic Mop
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How To Season Chicken Breasts For The Grill
The brine solution is already adding great flavor to the chicken breast meat, but youll want to add a couple more things to the exterior to get that great barbecue texture and color.
To keep the chicken breasts from sticking to the grill, rub them with a drizzle of olive oil. Then, add a light dusting of Christie Vanovers Chicken Rub to give them a beautiful ruby color.
How To Clean & Season Your Grill
While the grill is heating up, use a damp grill brush to clean the grates thoroughly, ridding them of any food particles and bacteria. If you dont have a grill brush, you can also use tongs to rub a crumpled ball of aluminum foil against the grates the friction between the foil and grates will remove even the stickiest bits of food. Its helpful to scrub the grates while the grill is preheating because the warm surface helps release grime.
Even if your grill looks slick, wed recommend brushing it with high-heat cooking oil like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil to ensure that nothing sticks. The easiest way to do this is by spritzing the grill with oil so that it has a light, even coating. This step is especially important if youre grilling skin-on chicken, as chicken skin tends to stick to the grill if youre not careful, Lupaczyk notes.
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How To Grill Chicken Breast
- Clean, oil, and preheat the grill to a surface temperature of about 450°.
- Prepare chicken breasts for grilling by evening out the thickness, brining if desired, brush with oil, and season to your taste.
- Place over direct heat with a closed lid. Flip every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°.
- Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
How To Grill Barbecue Chicken
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly brush the grill with oil.
- In a small mixing bowl combine brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper together.
- Rub the spice mixture evenly over each side of the chicken breast.
- Place the seasoned chicken on the preheated grill. Cover and cook for 5 minutes without disturbing.
- Flip the chicken and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
- Brush the chicken breasts with BBQ sauce, flip and cook for 2 minutes.
- Brush the chicken breasts again with BBQ sauce and flip. Cook for an additional 2 minutes or until the chicken reaches 160 degrees F, according to a digital thermometer.
- Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and tent it with foil. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes for the juices to redistribute and the temperature of the chicken to rise to 165 degrees F.
- Serve with additional BBQ sauce on the side if desired.
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Best Chicken Cuts For Grilling: Ranked From Best To Worst
Here are the best chicken cuts for grilling: chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks, chicken wings, and chicken breasts. However, theres a subtle difference between white and dark chicken meat. Yes, you can grill almost any chicken part, but each cut requires a slightly different preparation and cooking approach. While dark meat has more flavor and more fat, white meat has less fat but is not as flavorful.
In this article, Ill explain the differences between each chicken part and which one is better for grilling from best to worst. At the end of the article, theres a detailed grilling guide pointing out things to keep in mind when grilling chicken breasts and other parts.
One: Trim The Chicken
Quality chicken is an important key to smoked chicken breast.
Most of the time when you buy boneless, skinless chicken breast it is minimally processed so there is some trimming to be done.
You can also buy chicken breast that is trimmed down already to save you some time.
It will likely cost more per pound to buy this way, though!
If you are trimming the chicken breast, simply remove excess fat, connective tissue, rib meat, or loose pieces of chicken.
Now you are left with uniform pieces of chicken breast for smoking!
For the next step, whether you are trimming yourself or buying the chicken trimmed, youll want to be sure that they are fully defrosted before continuing.
An easy way to defrost your chicken is to place it in a Ziploc bag and onto a plate, then put it in your fridge.
Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, they should defrost in the fridge in about 24 hours.
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How Long To Brine Chicken Breasts
All it takes is 30 minutes in a simple brine solution of 1/4 cup kosher salt dissolved in 4 cups water. This is all the time you need for the chicken breasts to absorb enough moisture so they can better hold up to the heat of the grill without drying out.
With a half an hour of brining, the salt that is absorbed isn’t so much that the chicken becomes salty, but it is enough so that the flavor of the grilled chicken will be enhanced. We would normally salt grilled chicken breasts, right? You don’t need to do that if you brine.
Butterflying Your Chicken Breasts
Butterfly the boneless, skinless chicken breasts and get multiple benefits. This makes them thinner, which speeds up the cooking. It also increases the surface area, so they absorb more sauce and get even more tasty charred grill marks. The butterflied breasts are in the marinade for as long as it takes you to prep the vegetables for the grill, so its an efficient use of your time.
Simply Recipes / Mike Lang
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The Best Grilled Chicken
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Say goodbye to dry, bland grilled chicken breasts. This recipe guarantees juicy, flavorful chicken every time.
Sometimes in cooking the simplest dishes are the hardest to get right, and grilled chicken is a perfect example. Because boneless chicken breasts are so lean, they often turn out dry, rubbery, and bland. Contrary to popular belief, marinating alone will not save grilled chicken from drying out in fact, its often the marinade that causes the problem!
My technique and marinade ensure tender, juicy, and flavorful grilled chicken every time. You can serve the fillets on their own as a healthy main course , topped with cheese on a toasted bun, or, as I often do, sliced over a Caesar salad. Bonus: the recipe is quick and easy. You do all of the prep ahead of time and you wont even dirty a single bowl.
How To Make Bbq Chicken Breasts
First, place the boneless chicken breasts in a resealable or Ziploc bag. Next, add the olive oil, minced garlic, sea salt, and black pepper.
Allow the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Once the chicken has marinated, remove the breasts from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Next, preheat an outdoor gas or electric grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.Brush the chicken breasts with barbecue sauce, then grill the chicken for four minutes.
Flip the chicken, brush again with BBQ sauce, then continue to grill for four minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 164 degrees Fahrenheit.
Finally, remove the chicken from the grill. Brush the chicken with barbecue sauce one last time and allow the flavors to mend and rest for five to ten minutes.
Slice the chicken and serve. Enjoy!
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How To Make Grilled Bbq Chicken Breast
I’ve included instructions for both a charcoal and a gas grill below, so pick your favorite method. An indoor grill pan on the stovetop will also work, but you can’t beat the smoky char from a classic outdoor grill!
What Is The Distinction Between A Charcoal Grill And A Smoker You Ask
A grill is an open-flamed cooking device that uses open flames. A smoker is a device that uses smoke to cook food.
Grills can be used to grill meats, vegetables, fish and seafood as well as poultry and breads. Smokers are used to smoke meats, cheeses and fruits.
There are many types of grills available today. Different grills are best suited to different foods. A pellet grill is great for large cuts of meat a kettle grill works well for chicken breasts and steaks.
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What To Serve With Chicken Barbecue
No matter how delicious your barbecued chicken breasts are, they can not be served alone. Here I have suggested some side dishes, which are known to be compatible with chicken barbecue:
A perfect compliment for a well-cooked chicken breast barbecue can be coleslaw. The vegan-creamy side dish makes the table look complete when served with any barbecue.
Another good companion of chicken barbecue is cornbread. You can make some sweet homemade cornbread easily and quickly to put beside your barbecue.
Another wonderful partner for barbecued chicken could be mashed potatoes. It will definitely make the barbecue more delicious.
Baked beans are quite traditional to be with barbecued chicken. The graveness of baked beans is craved by many on any occasion.
Boneless Chicken Breast Or Bone
Boneless chicken breasts wont have as much flavor as the bone-in/skin-on variety. Thats why basting in BBQ sauce at the end of the cooking time is where youll find a lot of flavor. And when seasoned and cooked correctly, even my recipe for basic sauce-less grilled chicken breasts can taste flavorful and juicy every time.
Most chicken eaters prefer the white meat of chicken breasts. So for chicken thats cooked quick, I use basic, skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Of course you can use this same cooking method for skin-on, bone-in BBQ chicken breasts, or for legs and thighs too. The technique is the same, the cooking times will vary.
Larger chicken breasts do not always translate to better chicken. Bigger breasts take longer to cook, and cook unevenly or overcook. Look for chicken breasts that are between 6 to 9 ounces per piece. If youre chicken breasts are thin on the ends and fat in the middle, trim the thin ends off so they dont crisp and burn..
If you want an extra fast BBQ chicken breast, slice your boneless breasts in half lengthwise to make two thin cutlets. Theyll cook in half the time.
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Tips For The Best Grilled Bbq Chicken Breast Recipe
- Pound the chicken breast to an even thickness. This will help to ensure that the meat cooks evenly and quickly so that you don’t end up with half of a breast that’s too dry, while the other half is still raw.
- Get the grill nice and hot. Chicken breast is a very lean meat, so it stays juiciest when cooked quickly over high heat.
- Wait to baste the chicken with the barbecue sauce until the final 3-4 minutes of grilling. This will prevent the chicken from burning on the grill. Serve additional sauce on the side.
- The total grilling time will vary depending on a number of different factors, such as the temperature of your grill, the temperature of your chicken when it goes on the grill, and the size and thickness of your chicken. As a result, it’s always best to use a meat thermometer to know exactly when your chicken is done. You’re looking for an internal temperature of 165° F for chicken breast.
- Allow the meat to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing. The juices will redistribute throughout the meat so that the chicken breast stays nice and juicy.
Summary: Average Grilling Times For All Chicken Cuts
For your reference, here are the average times for grilling various size pieces of chicken:
- Chicken breast, boneless, skinless 6 to 8 ounces will take between 8 and 12 minutes over direct medium heat
- Chicken breast, bone-in 10 to 12 ounces 30 to 40 minutes over indirect medium heat
- Leg or thigh, bone-in 30 to 40 minutes over indirect medium heat
- Thigh, boneless, skinless 4 ounces 8 to 10 minutes over direct high heat
- Chicken wings 2 to 3 ounces 18 to 20 minutes over direct medium heat
- Whole chicken 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs 1 1/2 to 2 hours over indirect medium heat
Do keep in mind that these times may vary if you , add a sauce, or change the chicken in any way.
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