No one starts grilling chicken like a BBQ expert. Mistakes are common. If you’re new to gas grilling, it might take you a few tries to get your chicken just the way you want it. Before firing up the grill, there are a few tips for grilling chicken on a grill to remember. Apply these tips to what you’re doing and refine your next grilled chicken recipe.
Here are thirteen tips for grilling chicken on a gas grill:
Tip #1: Preheat the gas grill
Before you prepare any food, make sure your gas grill is in good condition. You don’t want to cook chicken on a rusty grill that is underperforming. Instead, consider investing in new gas grills to bring the best flavours out of your food.
Preheat the grill to 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit. This is where you want it. The grill needs to be hot and fired up when you drop on the chicken.
Tip #2: Always pre-season your chicken
A basic approach to season grilled chicken is olive oil and sprinkling salt and pepper on both sides of the meat. When using olive oil, make sure to generously coat both sides of the chicken. This holds in the moisture during cooking and will help your salt, pepper, and other seasonings stick to the meat.
Tip #3: How to marinate your chicken
A lot of people choose to marinate their chicken before grilling. They do this by fully thawing the chicken and then placing it in large plastic zip to bag, adding the marinade and covering the whole breast, and, ideally, you want to give it 5-6 hours. This will give the flavour of the marinate time to find its way into the chicken. The really fun part about marinades and seasonings is that hundreds of recipes exist, so feel free to experiment a bit to find what works for you.
Tip #4: Don’t grill chicken cold
You want your chicken to be as close to room temperature as possible. This allows for even cooking. A lot of people cook chicken directly from the fridge. What happens here is that the outside cooks fast, but the center doesn’t. You’re more likely to char the chicken this way. Especially if you’re using chicken breasts, give them about 30 minutes out on the counter before throwing them on the grill.
Tip #5: How to lay down your chicken
Before laying the chicken down, take some vegetable oil in a spray or on a paper towel and lightly grease the cooking grates of your gas grill. This will prevent the chicken from sticking to the grate.
Tip #6: How long to cook chicken on a gas grill
Chicken on a grill should take 15-18 minutes to cook. After you lay down your meat, close the lid and cook for 8 minutes. Remember to close the lid as it’s an important part of locking in the temperature.
At the 8-minute mark, you want to rotate the chicken and cook it for another 7 minutes, lowering the temperature to medium heat. Cook it for the full 7 minutes or longer until you reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tip #7: Watch your chicken while cooking
Don’t walk away from the BBQ. Not only is this dangerous, but you could easily end up with overcooked chicken. It can happen as quickly as a few minutes. For example, if you notice the bottom of your chicken is browning with sear marks a minute early, rotate it then and consider adjusting the temperature. You might have it slightly too high.
Tip #8: Reduce heat halfway through
You want to cook your chicken evenly. To do this, halfway through your cook, flip your chicken and reduce the BBQ’s temperature to medium. Unfortunately, this is a mistake a lot of first-time gas grillers make, and they overcook as a result. After rotating your meat, turn down the temperature to medium.
Tip #9: How not to overcook chicken on a gas grill
Buy a meat thermometer. Chicken breast should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. After that temperature is reached, your chicken is cooked. Take it off immediately as not to overcook it and dry it out.
Tip #10: How to give it a visual check
Take a knife and cut it into the center of your chicken. Be careful, though, as doing this while the chicken’s still cooking will cause some liquids and moisture to drain out. Inside, the chicken should appear slightly pink but all white. That’s what you want. However, if you see it pure white and stringy, that’s a sure sign you’ve overcooked it.
Tip #11: Wait 5-10 minutes before serving
After the grilled chicken has come off, give it another 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving. Juices locked in your chicken will help keep the meat moist and tender instead of overcooking it on the grill.
Tip #12: How long grilled chicken lasts for
If you don’t happen to finish eating the grilled chicken you’ve prepared, or you want to make large batches of grilled chicken on your gas grill, you can save what you don’t eat. Grilled chicken can be safely refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen either whole, shredded, or chopped for 3-4 months.
Tip #13: The three objectives of grilling chicken
When you grill chicken, you want three things. The chicken is to be cooked perfectly. The chicken is to be moist. And to get those classic sear marks in the meat. When you can get these three objectives done, consider yourself a gas grill master when it comes to chicken.
