How To Make Perfect Grilled Chicken Every Time
With Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and other summer celebrations crammed onto the calendar, now is the time to start prepping your grill for outdoor cookouts.
If grilled chicken is a beloved but notoriously difficult BBQ mainstay in your repertoire, keep reading for expert suggestions on how to avoid chicken from drying out on the grill while keeping it tasty, moist, and precisely browned.
Before putting the chicken on the grill, let it come to room temperature.
"Let the chicken reach room temperature before it goes on the grill," Rodney Scott, proprietor, and pitmaster of Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston, South Carolina, suggests as an easy approach to improve the texture and cooking quality of grilled chicken.
Because putting cold, straight-from-the-fridge chicken on a hot grill will result in a dried-out outside and underdone interior, Scott suggests "pulling it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you start cooking."
Chicken that has been allowed to come to room temperature will cook more evenly and keep more moisture.
If you want a juicier outcome, use chicken legs instead of breast meat. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images/EyeWolf) )
If you want a juicier outcome, use chicken legs instead of breast meat. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images/EyeWolf) )
Maintain a medium to medium-high temperature on the grill.
While it may seem more efficient to heat the grill to its highest setting, Brian Jupiter, executive chef of The Frontier Chicago and Ina Mae Tavern in Chicago, says that when cooking grilled chicken, "the best way to keep the grilled chicken from drying out is to grill at a medium to medium-high temperature."
Grillers frequently overestimate how hot the grill should be and turn it all the way up. You can still achieve grill marks by cooking at a lower temperature but with a more uniform cook."
Cook your chicken away from the heat of the grill.
Intense, direct heat will not improve the texture of your chicken.
As a result, it's essential to reduce your grill's overall temperature and avoid the impulse to place the chicken directly over the flames.
The story goes on.
"Use a grill that has been adequately heating soaked (or prepared) and devote a part to allow for indirect cooking," said Paul Sidoriak of Grilling Montana, a grilling expert and cookbook author.
"This may involve turning off one of your gas burners or moving the charcoal to one side and grilling the meat next to the flames rather than directly on top of them.
The chicken will cook more uniformly and keep its moisture as a result of this.
This may also be accomplished by grilling chicken on a raised bun rack, which is found on most barbecues but is rarely used for meat cooking."
Always keep a meat thermometer on hand and cook the chicken until it reaches a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bringing the chicken ahead of time will help it stay moist and tender.
"Let your chicken brine before you grill," explained pitmaster and cookbook author Ed Randolph of Handsome Devil in Newburgh, New York, to keep the moisture inside the chicken throughout the grilling process.
"Adding a brine to any cut of chicken promotes moisture throughout the meat, and the brine's salinity and acidity make the meat particularly soft."
You may use a wet brine (salt, sugar, and water) or a dry brine (just salt and herbs), and the chicken should begin brought only a few hours before grilling.
Prepare the chicken ahead of time by marinating it and basting it on the grill.
If bringing is the key to precisely textured grilled chicken, a marinade with oil, vinegar, mustard, barbecue sauce, and any number of herbs and seasonings is the key to distinctive taste.
Owen McGlynn, head chef and proprietor of Asheville Proper in Asheville, North Carolina, said, "Don't be scared to marinade!"
"I'll make a fast mustard marinade or chimichurri with whatever I have in the fridge."
To give a little crust to the chicken, baste it with the marinade during the cooking process."
Consider using chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts.
Chicken breasts are quick-cooking crowd-pleasers, but chicken thighs have more room for mistakes and, as a result, are juicy.
Jupiter noted, "Chicken breasts cook exceedingly rapidly and take on a rubbery feel when overdone." "This is partly due to the fact that the breast has practically no fat."
Chicken thighs have a lot of fat and are a lot easier to cook than chicken breasts. This is due to the fact that as the fat melts, it lubricates the meat, keeping it wet.
Thighs, in comparison to breasts, can withstand significantly higher temperatures and pair well with a mild char."
Consider cooking a whole chicken that has been spatchcocked.
Spatchcocking a whole chicken (removing the backbone and flattening it) may produce a great barbecue dinner if you're ready to take on a minor job.
Chef Samuel Kim of Baekjeong Korean Barbecue in California suggested, "Start with a wonderful product." "Look for a 3- to 4-pound organic roaster.
Purchase the complete chicken, as the bones and skin will protect the flesh throughout the grilling process. They also have a lot of taste.
Brine the chicken to keep it from drying out while grilling, then spatchcock it so that the legs and thighs cook at the same time as the breast."
Kim brines the chicken for up to 48 hours before placing it skin-side down on a medium-high grill and cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Comments
Post a Comment