I don’t grill chicken breasts very often, (I just think the dark meat has much more flavor) but when I do, it’s usually on the gasser. It’s just so much quicker & easier, and I’ve never found it makes THAT much difference in taste. I’m sure someone’s going to rake me over the coals (pun intended) for saying that, and I’m ready to admit that maybe it’s just that I’ve just been doing it wrong all along.
Last night I fired up the 26er with a semi-full chimney, offset in a DIY large charcoal basket with some fire bricks as a heat shield. I pulled 5 large chicken breasts from a 48 hour Italian dressing marinade and, as per an online recipe from Kingsford, seared for 4 min on each side.
Then ensued the battle of getting them up to temp. I tried to offset cook them as close to the coals as possible without getting over direct heat & burning the hell out of the outside. (Basically right above the bricks) After about 16 minutes of this, they were still only around 140* IT at the thickest part. I had to keep putting them over direct, then moving them back to the “over brick” area several times before I was able to get the IT up over 150* and was comfortable feeding them to my family without running the risk of getting everyone sick. They came out “good,” but nothing better than I could’ve done on the gasser with far less effort & stress. (Nothing was picture-worthy.)
I’m sure I did a million things wrong, so please feel free to point out all of my transgressions. My ultimate goal here is to have a “go-to hot & fast chicken breast charcoal kettle recipe” that can be adapted for whatever the situation. I’m comfortable with my steak game, chicken thighs, salmon, etc.; now I’m ready for the breasts.
So what’s yours? Hopefully it’s simple, but please provide as much detail as is needed for a newbie to gain success.
Thanks!
-Jed