Chicken

[One Touch Platinum]

I just cooked up some chicken for fajitas tonight, there once was a time when I was nervous about cooking chicken on the grill.....gladly I can say that time is long since past! I realize now that I never had chicken cooked right my entire life. It was always done but more accurately ...overdone. Chicken is best when it is as close to 165 degrees.....absolutely no less and hopefully not too far over. Since I started reverse searing all my chicken I am able to get it off the grill and on to the table at pretty much that exact temp...never under done and within about 3 degrees of my target temperature. When I got my first grill I was not too confident in cooks that involved chicken, "Sure I can grill it." I would say ...all the while I was afraid that I would not get it cooked enough and maybe worse cook it too much. Sorry for the rant but I just had to brag about how good the fajitas were...again. I love grilling! It was 116 here today , my wife asked how I could stand out there and grill in the heat....my response was "I love to grill more than I hate the heat."

[addicted-to-smoke]

"I love to grill more than I hate the heat."

And there you have it.


165 --- I'm feelin' the need to invest in a good thermometer. If I can get more consistent cooks I'll have my family more on board, and me less running around wondering how "done" things are.

[1911Ron]

I have not done breasts or thighs, but i have done whole chickens on the grill.

[1911Ron]

"I love to grill more than I hate the heat."

And there you have it.


165 --- I'm feelin' the need to invest in a good thermometer. If I can get more consistent cooks I'll have my family more on board, and me less running around wondering how "done" things are.

I have a Thermapen and love it!

[addicted-to-smoke]

No doubt.

But does it contribute to "too many" instances of lifting off the lid? Right now I'm thinking more about a probe that stays in and lets me do other things.

[One Touch Platinum]

Get both. I use a probe that I leave in the meat while it is coming up to temp and then use my instant read when I go over the direct coals. You will not lose any heat since you never open the lid until 10 degrees shy of target temp and then check the temp as you sear. As far as doing a whole chicken and using a thermometer...even if you don't have a probe but do have a instant read of some kind you will not lose enough heat to worry about but you will be able to get the chicken done without any guesswork . Just my two cents. I do the same thing when I cook steaks....probe while coming up to temp and instant read once I get over direct. I love to grill but it is more fun when stuff comes out every time and not just hit or miss.

[Chasing_smoke]

I have to say the same about chicken, always I mean always over cooked growing up. I never had a good steak until I was 17.  First time I went to the outback restaurant I ordered salmon because I didn't like steak.

Now I've haven't stated this on the board yet.  I never want to come across as a know it all kind of guy, but I am actually a classically trained chef. I've been through culinary school. The reason I bring this up is there is something that happens with repetition cooking. Say you cook chicken breast once a week on the grill. The first month or more you second guess yourself. Is this done? Or did I over cook it again? I thermometer will tell you exactly where you are. You don't need an expensive one, Walmart has them for under $10 and as long as they are calibrated your in the zone. I calibrate mine in boiling water which means your at 212 degrees  Fahrenheit. You can also do it in ice at 32 degrees but I feel that's less accurate.

So to actually get to my long winded point after the repetition of doing it over and over you start to develop a mental timer. You just know under these conditions the meat is done and not over cooked. When using your thermometer and you reach the final temperature of whatever your cooking there are a few things you I recommend doing. First look for the visual cues, what has the fat done? Fatty fish like salmon will form white fat pockets on top, pork chops will do the same. Another suggestion is to feel the meat with either your finger or better yet how it feels with your tongs. Learn that resistance of how much the meat pushes back.

You will eventually know how many minutes it takes to cook things. But in order to do learn this you have to do one thing... COOK! It takes time and we aren't talking the normal time it takes from someone working on the line cooking steak after steak. We cook 1-5 items say per cook depending on your family size and not everyone eats the same meal day after day so it will take time to develop this skill. But once you get to that point you can cook over any fire.

Yes I'm trained, but I wasn't trained in the art of the weber. I don't know everything there is to know about bbq, I know flavors but outside of that I'm still learning. That's where the masters of this forum come in.

Sorry for the rant that probably doesn't make sense. I've been behind the camera all day and my brain isn't firing on all pistons!


 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks for speaking up, CS, and you're completely right-- it's tough to develop skill with such infrequent repetition. I might have a recipe or technique I'm working on, but I won't be able to make that dish more than about once per week.  So it's really tough to remember the nuances and produce that same outcome every single time.  Having a thermometer (I'm fortunate to have been gifted with a Thermapen) flattens the learning curve for sure.  And I find that taking notes-- especially on infrequent cooks-- makes it much easier to get dialed in next time. 

[Golly]

i wouldnt be without my maverick instant read thermometer with backlit display (same as thermapen)

[HankB]

i wouldnt be without my maverick instant read thermometer with backlit display (same as thermapen)

I have a Maverick Weekend Warrior.  I'm sure a Thermapen is a better piece of equipment but the Maverick is adequate to my needs.

I'm with CS on his comments. Another way to say that is one of the lines from Kill Bill II "You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?" There are a lot of things that aren't really that hard on a Weber, but to get top notch results on a consistent basis will take some practice.

[fat side down]

My wife loves my chicken breasts...  She also likes the way I grill chicken 
Key is 165 degrees (which my super fastest Red Thermopen gets me there every time)...and let it rest in foil for about 10 minutes.
I like cooking thin sliced (1/2" thick) breast meat... first put in a zipper bag with EVOO and fajita seasoning (Fiesta brand is pretty darn good)... Let it mingle in the fridge for an hour or so...massaging occasionally, then do a reverse sear....

Mmmmm...  now I'm hungry 

[edhead35]

My wife loves my chicken breasts...  She also likes the way I grill chicken 
Key is 165 degrees (which my super fastest Red Thermopen gets me there every time)...and let it rest in foil for about 10 minutes.
I like cooking thin sliced (1/2" thick) breast meat... first put in a zipper bag with EVOO and fajita seasoning (Fiesta brand is pretty darn good)... Let it mingle in the fridge for an hour or so...massaging occasionally, then do a reverse sear....

Mmmmm...  now I'm hungry 

Resting meat is key. My technique is slightly different, I don't wrap my meat in foil, rather I let it sit under a loose foil tent so the heat stays, and the steam escapes. That way you don't soften the beautiful crust you just created. I also make sure any ceiling fans are off, and I always slice my meat before serving it for QC and presentation and I serve it sliced thick so it stays warm. Chicken parts is 7-10 minutes, steak is 5-10 minutes, whole chicken and roasts are 20-30 minutes at least. Turkey is 30-60 minutes depending on size.

This is what I do and is not gospel by any means. Way I figure it, is if you are measuring temp, not cutting your meat while cooking to determine doneness, not flipping 1000 times and not pressing on it during cooking, and resting your meat in any method, you are doing better than 90% of people.

[One Touch Platinum]

I agree about the cutting of the meat to check for doneness, not the way to do it. A thermometer will tell you when meat....and especially chicken or poultry is done....no guessing and no cuts all over the meat. I am not sure why ALL people who cook, and not just people who grill don't use a meat thermometer when they cook meat....why not have the meat turn out perfect every time without guessing and overcooking?

[edhead35]

I agree about the cutting of the meat to check for doneness, not the way to do it. A thermometer will tell you when meat....and especially chicken or poultry is done....no guessing and no cuts all over the meat. I am not sure why ALL people who cook, and not just people who grill don't use a meat thermometer when they cook meat....why not have the meat turn out perfect every time without guessing and overcooking?

Except for roasts I am almost at the point where I go on touch. About 90% of the time I can tell by touch. I will confirm with a therm.

[1buckie]

Interesting ideas & conversation on this....I like the sub-heading here on WKC for "Chicken Recipes".....something about: " most people suck at it......"

I cooked everything for 25 years with no therms, except for whole turkeys..........after 100's of tri-tips, ribs, chicken various steaks, etc., it got to be sort of second nature as to if something was done / overdone......
When I started posting cookups on the InterToob, I'd see that folks were concerned about temp, finish temp, cooking temp, holding temp & so I got some grate therms & later a Thermapen.....

Spent awhile goofing things up second guessing myself against the therms & am coming to a happy medium of checking when I'm not as sure as I think I need to be...........

Grate therm, no probe......perfect thighs, second load......I could do 10 loads in a row & they'll all come out just peachy..................



In this particular case, chicken parts, the helpful thing, for me, is how hot it is right at the grate, near the food itself.................the look & feel & just a sense of "now" says they're right....
Could use a probe, but that's extra time not spent EATING !!!!

Don't ever hurt to double check for food safety reasons, I suppose.....