Grilling Chicken the Right Way

Don’t put chicken on a grill and then start constantly turning it. No no no!

First, most of the skin will be left behind on the grates as turning the chicken too quickly will cause the skin to stick to the grates. We’ve all been there.

You want to put the chicken, if it has a bone, onto direct or high heat and close the lid and let that side grill. When you go to turn it, it should lift easily. If it doesn’t, it’s not ready to turn.

Do the same thing on the other side. Again, it needs to lift easily. If you have done this correctly, your chicken will have a nice golden brown on both sides. When it does, you want to continue grilling it, but under indirect or low heat.

Personally, unless I’m grilling a lot of chicken, I like to move it to a burner turned on low, and I take the burner the chicken is not on and turn it to high. This gives me a good heat inside the lid and the chicken will cook thoroughly all the way through.

You do not want any red inside! Once they are ready, if the skins are golden brown, you are done. However, I also like crispy skin so sometimes will then toss them over some high heat for about 30 seconds more.

Chickens are screaming out for spices. Turn loose your creativity. I love putting a lot of black pepper on the chicken before putting it on the grill. If you are going to use barbecue sauce, wait until the final few minutes to apply it so it does not burn.

I have a simple technique to get a crisp skin. I’ll mix milk and an egg and lots of pepper. Mix it well. Then put the chicken in the mix and make sure both sides are covered. I then put more pepper directly on the skin and sometimes some extra seasonings.

Then I like to put it on the grill bone side down and grill on high. I’m almost always using chicken breasts, so I let it cook pretty long on that side. Then I’ll turn it and grill until the chicken is easily removed from the grate, then it goes onto low heat.

At times, for a change of pace, I prepare the chicken this way and put it on the grill and slowly cook it, turning 1 time. Once the chicken is just about done, it goes on high heat to finish it off.

Why 2 different but similar ways? I don’t know. Just because I guess.

By the way, you grill chicken with the lid down.