chicken how to

[mnguy152]

Need some help with grilling chicken. Mine always seams to be burnt on the out side and little bloody on the inside. So what is the secret on grilling chicken. PS have a gas gill.

[reinhard1]

sounds like your grilling too fast and over direct heat. chicken should be done on indirect heat. for example put one burner on and leave the other burners off and set the chicken over to the other side of the burner that is on. you should not eat chicken if it's bloody inside.

while it's on indirect heat turn the chicken over once in awhile. when the juices run clear the chicken is done. thighs usualy take the longest so when you feel they are done, take one off the grill and put it on a plate and cut near the bone. if the meat comes apart easily and the juices are clear yoour good to go. plan ahead and take your time. good luck.

[McGurk]

Ditto to reinhard. Turn on one side and put the chicken on the other. You can then put the mostly cooked chicken back on top of the heat to crisp up the skin before you pull it to serve. Always give it a few minutes (I like 10 minutes minimum) off the grill covered in tin foil before cutting to serve. That "rest" time allows juices to redistribute throughout the meat instead of ending up on the plate.

[thirdeye]

I agree with these guys, proper heat management and allowing the right amount of time are good tips.

Now are you putting any sauce on them during the cook? Sometimes that can lead to burning.

[MN Mike]

I use the upper rack ( if you have one ) all the time when cooking chicken, normally I get the chicken cooking really good then move it to the upper rack, turn down the heat and just let it cook. When I do whole chickens I'll cook them on the upper rack, I don't use the main grate. Throw a drip pan in with some liquid in it ( water, beer or whatever ) and give it a couple hours on Med heat..... good stuff!

thirdeye makes a good point with the sauce.

Mike

[Dark Cloud]

Depends on if your cooking halfs, thighs, legs, boneless breast...

but these guys are spot on.

I have been cooking on gas grills for 20 years, never actually cooked on charcoal more than a few times...

Heat managment is key. I dont do the one burner on and cook on the other side though. I mostly just control the burners between med/low and med/high and rotate things around and up to the top rack.

Bone-in chicken, I like to cook in foil, seasoned, and with some liquid to start. Usually 20-25 minutes in the foil them finish on a meduim hot grill for 10-15... Some sauces must go on late or they burn quick also...

Boneless breast are a tad harder but I cook those on a med/low setting. After a few thousand you can tell when they are done by feel. A meat themometer or cutting them in half is the safe bet till ya get the hang of it. Once you get use to you grill you can keep the thicker part of the breast over the hotter areas and get a nice evenly cooked piece of meat...

[Moose]

I just did some boneless breasts with Reinhardts Korean chicken recipe in the Asian recipe link. I stacked all the charcoal on one side of the Weber and put the breasts on the other side. brought the internal temp to 140 then put them over the coals to finish them. I liked the recipe because there's not a lot of sugar to blacken the outside.The inside was very juicy at 160 degrees with clear juice coming out when I removed the thermometer.

[Walleyehooker]

You can also partially microwave chicken and then finish it on the grill with good results. I do this if I want a faster meal.

[Farley]

My buddy grills chicken perfect every time, doesnt matter what part of the bird it is. Not exactly sure how he does it but he uses the smaller pieces as a guage, once theyre done, he gives the bigger pieces another 10 minutes or so. But to the original poster, it sounds like your fire is too hot or your putting your chicken too close to the heat source.

[Chef]

I know many who have Gas will disagree here, but I only cook with Hardwood Charcoal in a 22" Weber so whatever I'm cooking is edible and flavorful--I don't personally get that from Gas grills. Gas as you can see here is a lot more work to cook on due to hot/cold spots and mostly fire flaring from inevetable fat droppings from your food. Squirting water all over your gas grill does two things--it puts lots of bad carbon all over your food (Don't care for Grey Chicken) and it shortens the burner's life. Cooking Chicken on Charcoal takes less time too. I cook an entire cut-up fryer in 20-25 minutes including the thick (bone-in) Breasts which take the longest to cook (for me).

The cooking tips here are perfect.

Here's a summer favorite: Lemon-Chicken

Ingredients:

2-whole lemons, juiced, thinly slice the rind, set aside.

4-6 whole crushed Garlic cloves or 1/4 c. chopped prepped Jared Garlic

2-Tbsps. Lemon-Pepper seasoning

2-Tbsps. Dijon Mustard

Optional--1 Tbsp. Chopped fresh Rosemary

1-Whole cut-up Fryer Chicken, skin on.

Place chicken in a 1-Gal. Ziploc arranged in a single layer.

Mix all of the above ingredients well and pour into the bag, covering the chix.on both sides as you pour. place slices of Lemon peel on skin side of Chicken. Seal bag removing as much air as possible, place in fridge overnight, flip bag in the morning, let stand until you're ready to grill.

You can eat this hot off the grill or take it along on a picnic. Serves 4.

[BLACKJACK]

Good tips by all, would help if you'd tell what cut of chicken you're doing - chicken breasts, bone-in or bone-less thighs, cut up chicken with skin on, or whole chicken??

Several tips that others haven't mentioned is make sure that your chicken is completely thawed, if you're doing a whole chicken, use a meat thermometer to double check at the end, and if you're doing pieces, sample a piece toward the end. I have a knife and salt shaker at hand for all my grilling.

Personally not a fan of doing any skin-on chicken on a gas grill, too many flare-ups, I do them on charcoal. Do like the gas for chicken breasts and boneless thighs during the week, can do a quick and easy meal.