Chicken over Charcoal

Ok, figure I'll get this forum going with the question that was bugging me last night....

I have the typical Weber charcoal grill (21" circular). I have one of those Charcoal Chimney things from Home Depot used to get the charcoal burning without lighter fluid. I get the coals burning until they are all white, and I pour them in the grill. How long should I leave an average (1 - 1.5" thick) chicken breast on each side while cooking? It's hard to tell without cutting into the chicken, but if you cut into the chicken, it loses a lot of its juicyness. Also, do I place it right over the coals, or off to the side a bit? I don't seem to have any problems with flareups cooking chicken (bbq sauce stays off til the last minute), but I'm always worried I will bite into some raw bird and have to throw out my meal.

Any suggestions?

[jeff]

This is a good one, kinda out of my area due to not having a grill here =`(

I do know the answer to one thing. Chicken is done once it's at a bare minimum of 160 degrees.
How can you figure this out? there's only one way to know. By using a cooking thermometer.
Chicken is a hard one. a thermometer is a must for chicken. Even more so when you're dealing with a grill/coals that will almost never be the same temperature from one fire to the next.

I believe you would place the chicken kinda off to the side a bit and leave the lid on. If its too close to the heat the outside will get dry while still leaving the inside raw. the idea is to use the grill like an oven. once the lids on the heat should circulate around the chicken breast rather then blasting just the bottom side. yet it should still pick up some char and flavor from the coals.

Just remember when ever dealing with chicken the bare minimum is 160o. a lot of books even push for 170-180o stating chicken isnt safe if cooked below that

[jeff]

Boneless chicken breasts were thought to be safe to eat at 160 degrees, bone-in breasts at 170 degrees and whole chicken 180 degrees. I would still follow the old guidelines for bone-in breasts and whole chicken, although the USDA's recommendation of 165 degrees is supposed to apply to all chicken.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...1924751&RN=210

$14.99, you'll never have to put a piece of chicken back on the grill ever again.

[Blue_Z]

coming from someone who grills at least 4 times a week for the past 6 years, here's my advice..

I arrange my fuel, piles of lumpwood (more on that later), into my weber grill so it's like barely an inch from the grates on one side, and then it slopes down so it's a few inches away from the grates on the other parts of the grill. What this allows you to do is vary the temperature of the grates by dividing it into different areas. If you have chicken breast (boneless probably) you'll want to first put the breast on the hottest part of the grill (where the coals are right up against the grate). Depending on the thickness (and most of this comes just by judgement and past experience), don't touch or move it until about roughly 1 1/2 min (more if it's thicker, less if it's thinner). (just watch for flareups!) Flip it over to another "untouched" hot spot on the grill. Do the same thing, (1 1/2 min). Now, both sides should have a nice sear. if it's a thick piece of meat, the inside should be completely raw.

Now move it to a part of the grill where the coals slope down and are further away from the grates. Cover it up with the lid (make sure the vents are open slightly otherwise you'll extinguish it or really kill the flame). What you want to do now is slowly "bake" it inside the grill, until it gets up to temperature. What I usually do here is insert my trusty http://www.ambientweather.com/aworscwibbqt.html wireless bbq thermometer w/ belt clip (of course i never use the belt clip) so I can do other stuff while I can monitor the temp at all times. And just wait till it gets up to temp.

Chicken breast is a pretty hard meat to grill because it's so easy to dry out. I recommend soaking chicken breasts in a brine solution of kosher salt and sugar the night before (forgot the parts) for a guaranteed juicy piece of meat. I tend to stay away from grilling breastmeat though because it's so easy to dry out. Remember when you insert the probe, you want to avoid contact with any bone, it will give off a higher temp. Also note that when grilling chicken with bones, the bones will help cook the inside faster. I don't really recommend grilling chicken breast as much as I recommend grilling chicken thighs or drumsticks. I have an awesome recipe for the drumsticks and when I have time I'll post it up. :o

Now I have to go and prepare a tri-tip for dinner :P

[jeff]

thighs are hands down the best part of the chicken =)

well.... next to the oyster meat.

yum

good tip for the thermometer... i was hoping to go sans gadgets. the way i cooked it last night was really juicy, and delicious, but i wasn't sure if it was "done" enough. The way my dad used to cook chicken, it was always super dry, because he was overly careful to cook it through. This super juicy chicken i cooked the other night just made me worry... but so far no intestinal fallout from it. :-)

[Blue_Z]

Just make sure the juices run clear and there's no blood, should be ok then!

[jeff]

Originally Posted by praxiss454

this super juicy chicken i cooked the other night just made me worry... but so far no intestinal fallout from it. :-)

Give it some time

[Dustin_m]

I grill chicken and other meats often and have definately learned a few things from past experience. I like to use half breasts for grilling. i dislike the dark meat only because of the higher fat, but it does taste good. the Half breasts, though, stay nice and moist because of the bones and skin on there, and have a good flavor. I wouldn't even mess with boneless skinless anything, since it dries out way too fast. I like to use that same method of different temperature zones, and i usually leave it on a really low temp area for a while. basically it comes out like slow baking something in the oven, really tender, and the skin becomes nice and crisp, with a good flavor all through the meat.