Whenever we are looking to add a bit of variety to our cookout barbecue parties, grilled chicken can be an equally delicious, healthy, and easy to prepare an alternative to burgers and stakes. However, it might take a bit of practice before we are able to master the skills needed. There are many common problems some of us are likely to face if we follow the same steps that we would when grilling other kinds of meat. That’s why we have gathered four simple tips to get the perfect grilled chicken every time.
Just as when barbecuing steak or any other meat, seasoning is an essential part of getting the perfect grilled chicken, so we shouldn’t jump this step. In order to get the best results when grilling chicken, we need to season it with either salt and pepper or use our favorite dry rub. If we want to get overwhelmingly tasty results, we could leave the meat soak overnight in a saltwater brine so that we can keep the chicken moist and juicy.
Another common problem we might have when preparing grilled chicken for the first times is burning the barbecue sauce we are using. Barbecue sauce goes great with chicken, in case you were wondering. However, since barbecue sauce has plenty of sugar, which can burn rather quickly, so we need to pay attention to when we add the sauce. Instead of rushing, we need to wait until the very last couple of minutes before adding the sauce on both sides of the meat, then cover the grill and let the sauce set for five minutes.
Grilling meat regardless of it being chicken or beef requires finding the right temperature for each different cut we are cooking. When we grill chicken, we need to set it to a low temperature so that it can burn equally on the outside and inside, too. If we grill chicken to a high temperature, the chicken will burn on the outside, but the meat won’t fully cook on the inside. The best way to work through this is by creating two heat sides on our grill, one with different heating temperatures to get the best results.
Last but not least, another common mistake we might make is treating every cut of chicken the same when cooking it on a grill. Therefore, we need to pay attention to whether we are cooking bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, boneless breasts, or chicken legs, for example. Some cuts might take around 20 minutes cookings while others might take less time, so the best way to deal with this is sticking to the same cut and offering that instead of offering many different cuts, risking compromising flavor and texture.