I love to grill. It’s one of the best things about summer. What I don’t love is when my chicken comes out over cooked, soggy, or with burnt skin. I don’t actually remember where I learned this technique, but once I tried it, I never looked back. Give this a try and your grilled chicken will come out perfectly every. single. time.
Before you start you have to prep the chicken and the grill. Use a paper towel with oil on it to oil the grill grates. Next turn all burners on high and close the cover for about 15 minutes to preheat the grill. Toss all your chicken into a freezer bag with some olive oil and let it sit.
When the grill is hot, place the chicken on it skin-side down. The oil from the chicken will drip into the flame and cause it to flare up. This is going to get the skin nice and crispy and give you some lovely grill lines.
Yum.
Turn off half of the burners on your grill and move the chicken, skin side up, to the side with no active heat. Close the cover and let it cook for 30-45 minutes (depending on the cut of chicken). The cook time should be about the same as you’d set it in the oven.
When the chicken is cooked through, turn down the remaining burners to low. Return the chicken to the active heat area, skin side down and brush with your chosen sauce. Flip and repeat.
Close the cover and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
When you open the cover you will have chicken that is perfectly cooked, has crispy skin, and sauce that’s rich and caramelized without being burnt.
This method is fool-proof and easy to do. There’s no standing by a hot grill, flipping chicken and watching it so it doesn’t burn. No dry, overcooked chicken that gets stringy. Try this out with your favorite sauce and you’ll never cook chicken another way again!
