How Long Do I Cook Chicken on a Charcoal Grill

Surprisingly many of the people who ask ‘how long do i cook chicken on a charcoal grill’ are the very same that grill chicken breasts on other types of grills all the time. Well never fear, provided below are the answers you need to get you back outside with your chicken. Essentially there are 4 basic things you need to remember when determining how long do i cook chicken on a charcoal grill.

#1 Sanitation

To make sure nothing is cross-contaminated, every time you cook chicken on the grill (or just handle raw meat in general) make sure to wash your hands and utensils with soap and run the chicken under cold water. Do not use hot water because this may cook the meat a little bit and allow bacteria to breed.

#2 Size/type

Are you cooking a whole chicken or just a chicken breast? Is it boneless or boned? Each of these answers will require a slight adjustment in cooking time and temperature. In this article we will assume that you are cooking an entire chicken.

#3 Preparation

After washing the bird, cut off the giblets and unwanted parts and season with rosemary, thyme and basil. Heat up your grill and scrub off the gunk and then lightly coat with oil.

#4 Method

We prefer the indirect heat grilling method when answering how long do i cook chicken on a charcoal grill. This is because it allows you to cook the the chicken for longer on lower temperature making sure the chicken is cooked all the way through and isn’t charred.

To do this you’ll need rake all your charcoal to the one side, then place you chicken breast side down on the unheated side. Cover and grill for 30 minutes and then flip for another 30. Purchase a meat thermometer for best results. If it is boneless, then 170ºF is your goal, if boned, then 180ºF. Once it is done, set aside for 15 minutes to let it cool down.

How long do I cook chicken on a charcoal grill? For about 30 minutes each side, allowing 15 minutes to cool down.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under Poultry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.