Grilling Chicken the Right Way

Choose Your Chicken

The advantage of grilling various chicken parts is that all your guests can select the piece they want. The issue is grilling all the different pieces to perfection so that everyone is satisfied. You can easily grill legs, breasts, wings and thighs, just keep in mind they require different cooking times. Always a good idea to grill the chicken for several minutes, flip, continue grilling until cooked through, glaze with barbecue sauce and serve.


Think About Your Marinade

You should think about what kind of flavor you want from your chicken before you begin grilling. Plan what flavors you want to stand out. An easy way to add flavor would be to rub on some quality poultry seasoning onto the chicken during preparation, grill the chicken until cooked through and only apply barbecue sauce as the chicken finishes cooking to avoid the sugars in the sauce from burning. Allow the chicken to sit in the marinade for up to an hour at room temperature or even 24 hours in the fridge. Some good combinations for marinades would include onion, lime juice, and cilantro; cayenne, cumin, coriander, cilantro, and yogurt; garlic, ginger and soy sauce; or olive oil and garlic.

Keep Chicken Moist

Keep your chicken moist by creating a pouch out of aluminum foil. Add in your preferred vegetables and 2 ice cubes along with the chicken in the foil pouch. Seal the pouch closed, and cook the chicken over indirect heat for 10-15 minutes before removing from the foil and finishing over direct heat to brown the skin and glaze with sauce. A similar method is to parboil your chicken. Prior to grilling the chicken, you might want to parboil it first. This is referred to as precooking the chicken to prepare for later grilling. For boneless chicken, you have to cook it in liquid over medium heat for 10 minutes. Parboiling insures the chicken is cooked through without losing moisture. Time on the grill is lessened significantly.

Try Indirect Cooking

While you can cook chicken over direct heat, the chance of your chicken burning increases greatly. If you elect the direct method, or placing the chicken directly over the coals, do not leave the chicken unattended for any longer than a minute or two, and be prepared to put out flare-ups and move chicken quickly away from flames.

The indirect method places the chicken pieces on to the side of the grill so that they avoid the intense, direct heat. Only towards the end of their cooking time should you transfer the pieces over direct heat, Apply barbecue sauce and finish the chicken with a nice, caramelized char.

Check for Doneness

Under-cooked chicken with some raw portions is not safe to eat. Chicken pieces with the bones intact are cooked when juices run clear. Simply use a fork, knife or skewer to check.