Chicken is one of the most juicy, flavorful meats you can cook on the grill. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most difficult meats to cook on the grill. Whether you have boneless, skinless chicken breasts that dry out and char easily or bone-in chicken that burns before the center is cooked, you do have to have a certain amount of expertise to grill chicken correctly. One method of grilling chicken is using indirect, or inverted, heat. This method involves lighting the outside burners of the grill or and slow cooking the chicken on the unlit interior burner.
Step 1
Preheat the grill on medium heat, or 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Light only the two outside burners, leaving the center burners unlit. If you are using a charcoal grill, start the coals in a chimney starter and then rake the lit coals into two separate piles on wither side of the grill with a coal rake.
Step 2
Brush the grill grates with olive oil. This will prevent the chicken from sticking to the grill.
Step 3
Rub the chicken with the dry rub of your choice. Many dry rubs pair well with chicken, such as barbecue dry rub, sea salt and garlic or lemon pepper.
Step 4
Place the chicken on the unlit part of the grill and close the lid. The chicken will cook using the reflected heat from the lit areas of the grill, and closing the lid prevents the heat from dissipating as well as traps some of the smoke in the grill, which will lend a pleasant smoky flavor to the chicken.
Step 5
Grill the chicken, turning occasionally, for 30 minutes for a boneless, skinless chicken breast and for an hour and a half for larger pieces of bone-in chicken. The chicken is ready when it is golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into a thick part of the chicken, avoiding bone, registers 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 6
Baste the chicken with sauce, if you are using it, and grill for 10 more minutes, turning occasionally, to cook the sauce onto the chicken pieces.
Step 7
Take the chicken off the grill and allow it to rest for five minutes before you serve it. The resting period allows the chicken to reabsorb some of the hot juices created from the grilling process.
Things You'll Need
- 2 lbs. bone-in chicken pieces such as legs or split chicken breasts, optional
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, optional
- 1/2 cup dry rub of your choice, optional
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup sauce of your choice, optional
- Basting brush
- Grill tongs
- Meat thermometer
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