How to Grill Chicken

Any cook worth his salt ought to learn How to Grill Chicken. It's a tasty meal that takes some effort, but is well worth it. Use this guide to learn to grill a good bird.

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How to Grill Chicken

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Step 1: What You'll Need
- There's a few things you'll want to make sure you have before you get started. Your supermarket should have most of these, while grills can typically be found at a hardware store, like Home Depot.
1. Grill: Either gas or charcoal. For grilling chicken, gas may be a better option because of the easily adjustable heat level.
2. Fresh chicken: For the easiest grilling, you'll want to pick up pieces of chicken rather than a whole one. This will help ensure that everything's cooked evenly.
3. Tongs
4. A sharp knife
5. Barbecue sauce or marinade
6. A brush to apply the sauce or marinade
Introduction
- Grilled chicken tastes great, and goes with anything, but can be a challenge if you don't know what you're doing. Chicken needs to be cooked through thoroughly, or else there's the chance of salmonella surviving the cooking, so follow these steps to make a tasty, healthy meal.
Step 2: Getting Ready
- Before you toss the bird on the grill, you'll want to get it ready. For grilling chicken, you'll want to get the grill as hot as you can to start off, then lower the temperature for most of the cooking. A gas grill will make this a bit easier.
1. Light the grill
2. If it's a gas grill:
  1. Make sure the fuel is properly attached, and that you have enough gas to cook with.
  2. Turn on the gas, then light the grill with either a match, or with a built in mechanism.
3. If a charcoal grill:
  1. Fill the bottom of the grill with charcoal.
  2. Spray lighter fluid over the coals.
  3. Use a match or a lighter to set the coals aflame.
  4. Wait for the coals to turn gray, then put the grill surface on top.
4. To prevent sticking, you might want to spray cooking oil, such as Pam, over the grill.
5. Ideally, you'll want to get the grill to 400-500 F for the first part of cooking.
- If you're planning to marinade the chicken:
1. Unwrap the chicken, and place the pieces in a plastic bag filled with the marinade.
2. Let the chicken marinade for a few hours before you cook.
3. Just before you start cooking, pour the excess marinade into a bowl to spread over the meat as you cook.
Step 3: Grilling The Chicken
- Now that everything's good to go, you're ready to get cooking. Cooking time will be up to an hour, as chicken needs to cook slowly to ensure it's cooked through without burning the surface. You'll want to keep an eye on the chicken periodically, to prevent a fire from breaking out from its fat.
1. With the grill hot, place the chicken on, with the bones of each piece facing downward, toward the grill. If you've got a two-level grill, place smaller pieces, like wings and small legs, on the top level.
2. Once every piece is on the grill, immediately turn the grill down to a lower setting. You'll want it between 350 and 400 F for most of the cooking.
3. Wait a few minutes for the bottom side to sear, then flip each piece so the skin is face down against the grill surface.
4. Take either the marinade or the barbecue sauce, whichever you chose to cook with, and spread it over the pieces with the brush. Give each piece a light coating, making sure not to leave puddles.
5. Once the skin is seared (this will take a few minutes), you'll want to flip the pieces over again.
6. Spread more sauce or marinade over the pieces, then close the grill after lowering the temperature again.
7. Keep the grill closed to let the chicken cook through.
8. Be sure to check on the meat periodically to make sure it's not being burned.
9. After several minutes (10-15), flip the meat so it's skin-side down, and reapply sauce.
10. Wait for about five minutes, then flip again and reapply sauce.
11. At this point, it's mostly a matter of waiting. Keep an eye on the meat, again, making sure it does not burn.
12. You might want to bring some of the smaller pieces down to the bottom to ensure they're cooked through.
13. When the outside of the chicken looks done, take the knife and slice open the largest piece you have. Look at the meat inside, and make sure there's no pink left inside.
14. Important: If there is any pink inside of the chicken, it is not done.
  1. If the largest piece is cooked through, then the rest of the chicken should be done as well. You might want to check some of the other pieces, just to be sure.
  2. If it is not cooked through, close the grill back up and let it cook for a little while longer, then test it again.
Conclusion
- Grilling chicken is tougher than some other foods, like burgers or hot dogs, but the taste of a good grilled chicken is well worth it. Just be sure to keep an eye on the meat to make sure it's not burned, and is cooked through, and you're in for a good meal.