This is not going to be a post that gives you a magic bullet for every disaster that could befall you when cooking out doors on a grill. I won’t be writing anything about flare-ups, grease fires or other problems that occur when you are cooking. I’m going to write a few suggestions about how to save a meal that has gone from bad to horrible and you have a table with hungry guests!

Here are some useful tips I’ve learned by experience that just might save a meal when you are in a pinch and something bad happens. As with any “safety tip” – it’s useful to practice the drill when you aren’t in an emergency situation so you know what to do when it does occur!

PROBLEM – Burned Chicken
This happens quite often to backyard griller’s. The first preventative tip is “don’t use sugar-based sauces or marinades on food prior to placing it on the grill!” The sugar burns when exposed to the direct heat of grilling. The second preventative tip is most applicable to charcoal users – let the charcoal burn down until white ash covers them and bank the charcoal to one side or the other so you use more indirect heat. But let’s suppose you have forgotten this and have a grill full of burned chicken parts and you are stuck!

CB’s EZ TIP – How to Save Burned Chicken

Remove the burned skin. This will get rid of most of the carbon material. Then “very lightly” sauce the skinned cooked chicken with a tomato-based bbq sauce (ketchup can work mixed with Worcestershire and a little brown sugar) -OR- make a sauce by combining a apple cider vinegar and brown sugar -OR- lemon juice and brown sugar -OR- apple juice and brown sugar -OR- Coca-Cola and brown sugar -OR- DR. Pepper and brown sugar.

What your are trying to do is mix up a sweet & sour combination that will counteract the burned material and actually make it a better taste.

I recommend you actually try this with a “sacrificial” piece of chicken the next time you grill – just to get a sense of what taste you like and wish to serve.

PROBLEM – Tough and/or Dry Meat
Cutting across the grain of all meats is the recommended method for all roasts, steaks, etc. This ‘cuts’ the muscle fibers and makes chewing less difficult or more pleasurable -  even on perfectly cooked cuts of flank steak, etc.  – depending upon the serving of meat. But let’s say you got to talking with your neighbors and overcooked the steaks, chops or a roast and now are faced with the embarrassment of presenting dry and tough meat on the plate!

CB’s EZ TIP – How to Save Tough Meat

This works with tough beef and pork, but can be useful with large chicken or turkey breasts that have been overcooked to the dry point as well.

Use the sharpest knife you have and slice the meat across the grain into “extremely” thin slices. Then add a touch of bbq sauce that is ‘watered down’ with water, beer, beef or chicken stock and toss. The thin slices will make the toughness seemingly disappear (or most of it) and a light touch of sauce will moisten but not overwhelm the meat.

PROBLEM – Undercooked Meat

We’ve all served up a beautiful plate of grilled meat and the first bite by the mother-in-law results in a horrible phrase uttered from her “It’s raw.” OK – it may not actually be raw, but she has a look on her face that says you just tried to poison her and her daughter never should have married you in the first place. What do you do? Most folks say things like – “Oh gosh, let me put that back on the grill for you!” And then mom-in-law sits there poking at her potato salad with the look of martyrdom that translates into unspeakable retribution to you. Actually putting slightly undercooked meat back on the grill, if it’s still very warm, is the best method.

But let’s say the meat has been covered and sitting on the buffet table for a while and it’s cooled down – what then? Placing partially cooked and cooled food back on the grill to cook the center is not going to deliver the results you want – because the outside will need to heat up and conduct heat to the center – that means you will now serve an overcooked surface with barely cooked middle.

CB’s EZ TIP – How to Save Under Cooked Meat #1

Since placing partially cooked food back on the grill will result in overcooked surface and barely cooked middle – the safest bet, if you are home, is to place the food in the microwave and give it a couple of 15-20 second blasts. This will excite the moisture in the meat and heat it up. I know I know – how could I say such a thing! Hey, this is an emergency. Believe it or not some of your favorite restaurants use this trick. Just don’t over do it!

CB’s EZ TIP – How to Save Under Cooked Meat #2

Remember the tough meat tip? Same goes for undercooked meat. If it’s a roast, slice it thin and place it on a heated tray resting on the grill – for just a few minutes – to kinda “fry” it. If you are afraid of over frying it, add a light touch of bbq sauce to the meat. Or even a bit of water – to kinda steam it quickly. This technique will quickly cook the raw piece and not over cook it…but you have to pay attention!

CB’s EZ TIP – How to Save Under Cooked Meat #3

You’ll need to use a moisture bath to gently warm up slices. This can be water, beer, broth, bbq sauce, etc.  You don’t want to cook it in the liquid – but just warm it so it’s not raw.

NEXT TIME – be prepared with an instant read thermometer and know the USDA guideline temperature chart by memory to ensure you cook the center of foods. Also make sure, except for hamburgers, you don’t cook food on the grill directly from the cooler or fridge. Cooking cold food will result in a cooked exterior with cold or undercooked interiors.

HEY CB! What about chicken that’s raw in the middle???

First of all, please consider my tips for cooking chicken that are in various recipes and posts on this site. (Lower Left-Hand Column – search for the word ‘Chicken’) I recommend the best way to cook chicken is to let it warm up a bit after taking it out of the cooler or fridge.  You can do this on the counter at home or even a low-low-low 200 degree oven or cooker to slowly bring it to temperature for grilling.  Grilling as the only method of preparing cold chicken will usually result in overcooked outside with undercooked insides.  So use direct heat for searing and indirect heat for finishing. And please use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature. Finished chicken should be at about 165F degrees internal temperature  after holding for 10 – 15 minutes, before serving.

CB’s EZ TIP – How to Save Undercooked Chicken

Place the chicken pieces on an oven-safe tray, place a small oven-safe cup in the middle of the tray and fill it half way with warmed water, beer or white wine. “Tent” the chicken and tray with aluminum foil – making sure the edges are tight and there is a bit of room between the foil and the chicken, so steam can escape from the cup. Place the entire tray on the grill and close the lid. If you are using charcoal…make sure the heat is directly under the tray. If using gas, the heat should be on low.

The water will steam the chicken, helping to keep the surface from drying out, and the heat from the tray with the hot air inside the ‘foil tent’ will roast the chicken. This may take a few minutes but the results are not going to be overcooked chicken surfaces.

What’s your best tip for saving a disaster? I encourage you to share your story and maybe with the solutions you came up with. Just click on the word Comment, directly below. [NOTE: your first comment doesn't immediately appear until I review it.]

Happy Grilling!

Bolstering its promise to safely cook delicious turkey without the expensive hot oil used in traditional turkey fryers, The Big Easy from Char-Broil was recently certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), one of the world’s most recognized and trusted names in safety.

CLICK HERE to read the entire press release

“For more than 110 years, UL has been dedicated to helping consumers avoid potential dangers in their homes. To achieve this, UL develops, reviews, and updates standards with input from knowledgeable experts,” said John Drengenberg, the company’s consumer affairs manager in Northbrook, Ill. “To maintain the integrity of this system, a product receives the UL Mark only after representative samples meet these stringent safety standards.”

The hamburger is 100% American and has been exported to most countries around the world. First by G.I.’s in the military during WW2 and more recently by the good folks associated with the ‘Golden Arches.’ Depending upon where you travel you can find ‘burgers’ that range in taste from horrible to fantastic and priced from around a $1 to more than $100. But beware – price isn’t always the indicator of great taste. No – that’s a bit more personal.

I’d say the criteria for acclaiming a burger as ‘great’ is regional in both flavor and style. I’m from the West and have enjoyed burgers at all types of drive-thru places as well as fancy-shmancy joints. When I lived in the South I savored the popular mustard-burgers and also enjoyed Tex-Mex burgers. In the Mid-West I’ve had sliders at 2 in the morning after a night on the town and on business in the East I’ve waited on line at street carts or sat at the counter in diners where the burgers are smothered in onions & chili.

But the best burger in the world is the one I enjoy making and eating with my son when we are ‘batching’ it on any given weekend. We use coarse ground chuck – because coarse holds together better and chuck because it has great flavor. A good fat-to-meat ratio of no more than 15% fat. More than 15% and you will have a burger that shrinks as the fat renders and also get a lot of flare-ups as the fat liquefies and catches fire when it drips onto the hot fire. Less than 15% fat content and the burger may be too dry tasting. [NOTE: You can always buy a leaner ground beef and increase the fat content with the addition of a mono-saturated fat like olive oil or such. Just not too much - so the patties aren't sloppy!]

Prepping the Patty
With a wine bottle we gently press the ground chuck to about 1/4 inch thick, just the way my mom did – in a half-baking pan. Seasoning is limited to a twist or two of freshly ground black pepper, a couple pinches of sea or kosher salt and then we add our ’secret’ ingredients: ground cumin and finely minced fresh garlic. This goes on lightly over the entire side. Yeah baby – now yer talkin! After seasoning, we fold the meat over and gently press it down so it’s about 1/2 inch thick. The seasoning is now in the middle of the patty where the juices will move it away from the heat as you turn the patty on the hot grill – evenly distributing the flavors throughout the patty. With a pizza cutter we reduce the single piece of seasoned ground meat into patties that are just a bit larger than the size of the fresh potato flour buns we prefer to use. I store the patties in the fridge in stacks of 4 with wax paper separating the individual patties. I chill the patties down to under 45F degrees until the grill is ready.

CB’s Burger Tip: A thicker burger patty is more difficult to cook thoroughly – and food safety is a priority when cooking raw ground meat. Unless you grind your own meat and know for a fact it is perfect – I recommend against the thicker burger patties that require you to make a thumb print in the middle and then mess around with guess work. Cook patties that are about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick by searing on direct high heat – then finish them in a warming tray where they will retain juices and cook thoroughly. USDA recommends 160F degrees internal temperatures for ground beef, pork, lamb and veal.

Grilling Rule #1 – HOT
When using charcoal to grill the burger patties – I like the coals to be white hot and just inches from the cast iron grates. I spritz the meat patties with a little canola oil right out of the cooler and onto the grill. They sear almost immediately and I use my long-handled metal spatula to lift and turn to a fresh part of the grates when each patty ‘releases’ from the grates. I don’t over cook them on the direct heat – after grill marks are established I remove them to a holding pan on the warming tray or an unused part of the grill – cover with aluminum foil and allow them to ‘finish’ from residual heat inside. I like the meat seared on the outside and pink, not red, on the inside.

On a Char-Broil infrared grill – like the TEC series, Quantum or RED – I use a searing temperature of approximately 450F degrees and grill as above.

With a conventional gas grill – I sometimes have to use a few tricks to achieve the best sear marks while not over cooking the patties. Instead of canola oil I brush on some clarified butter before placing the burger patties on the grill. This seems to really help transfer the heat from the grates to the meat and gives me a better grill mark. I finish the patties as above.

CB’s Burger Tip: With nearly all meat and fish, it’s best to allow the meat to warm to almost room temperature before grilling. But with burgers – it’s actually smarter to put the patties right on the hot grill straight from the cooler. The reason is hamburger is loose and has more room for moisture to move within the meat. So while you grill the outside and get that great charred taste – the inside is actually steam cooking from the juices heating up and moving through the meat.

Cheese Please!
While the patties are finishing, I like to add thin slices of cheese to top each one. Your choice of cheese, of course, and I do recommend thin slices as they will melt better. Nothing worse than a thick blob of half-melted cheese on a burger.

At the end of finishing I’ll sometimes add a brush or two of my favorite BBQ sauce to glaze the meat patty before placing on the buns toasted just a bit on grates turned on low – or set far from the coals. We prefer buns made with potato flour because it has a great ‘mouth feel’ when toasted – combining perfectly with perfectly grilled burgers and favorite condiments.

Flare Ups
If you are using charcoal or conventional gas grills – you’ll get flair-ups. To avoid this, use meat with less fat – make sure the patties are straight from the cooler so they are cold and the higher heat will sear the meat before the fat on the inside has time to render and leak out to feed the flare-ups. You can also use the tried-and-true methods that everyone practices: spray bottles, etc. I won’t even go into them all. If you are using a Char-Broil infrared heat system, flare-ups are less of a problem and the solution of lower fat content combined with cold patties and high heat will help.

Condiments
Oh Boy – this is not a subject into which I tread lightly because everyone has their own style and taste. I like coarse mustard, ketchup or BBQ sauce and a couple of bread & butter pickles on the bottom bun onto which I place the grilled meat patty. I spread mayonnaise on the top bun before placing crisp bacon, tomato slices, maybe a slice or more of avocado, grilled sweet onions and crisp romaine lettuce – then put it all together. And I cut my burgers in half and eat from the middle out. I just know I’m gonna hear about this!!!!

What else? Oh yeah – if you love the taste and enjoy what you like to make – forget about anybody telling you what to do…you are satisfying the most important customer: YOU!

Feel like experimenting? Here are a few burger recipes from the Char-Broil files, just click on the title below to go to a printable version:

GRILLED ALL AMERICAN CHUCK BURGER CLUB

STAR-SPANGLED CHEESEBURGERS

CB’S BITE-SIZE BURGERS

RANCH BURGERS

What are your thoughts, comments and questions? Share a favorite recipe – just click on the word Comments below.

Happy Grilling!

Got an email from the Pit Pirate, Mike Hedrick this past weekend. I s’pose we’ve all seen the TV commercial for ‘cold filtration’ of beer. I can only suppose Mike has something up his sleeve because he is one creative fella!

“That’s a picture of my Char-Broil 26″ Kettle Grill out on the back porch this morning. Did I ever tell you this Carolina boy hates the cold.” – Mike p-p-p-p-p-pit p-p-p-p-p-pirate hed-hed-hed-Hedrick-k-k-k-k-k.

I received an email from Stu a few weeks back:

Dear CB:
This is the time of year that orchards are heavily pruning their trees and therefore a great time to collect free green fruit woods to use for BBQ-ing next summer!
Stu R

Well this got me to thinking about all of the wonderful flavors and tastes that come from the garden – and not just vegetables and fruits for the grill or smoker! I’m talking about collecting the wood pruned from trees, shrubs and vines as well as trimmings from herbs in the garden. As long as you know the plant matter is free from pesticides and other chemical treatments – I encourage you to harvest and save trimmings, leaves, herbs, branches, vines, and limbs as you get your garden tidy this spring.

Placing dried herbs in a marinade will add flavor to the meat. During the final 5-10 minutes of cooking (be sure to close the lid) place twigs pruned from fruit trees and as it smolders it will coat the outside of your grilled meat with delicious flavors.

Perhaps you know someone who has a larger garden or even a professional who will give you permission to collect trimmings. I try to get grape vines each spring from the organic vineyards (no pesticides) as well as tree branches from the apple, pear, peach, nectarine – even walnut and filbert trees.

Think of the scented rosemary bushes in your yard as you trim them back and tie some into bundles that you can hang in your pantry or kitchen. Maybe you also have different varieties of sage, lavender or thyme in your garden or yard. Even apartment and condo dwellers sometimes have herb pots on the balcony that need trimming – save these and dry them or freeze to use immediately when grilling this spring!

Happy Grilling!

One of the favorite meats to prepare on a grill is beef steak. This series of tips is offered as a primer on the basics for grilling this great American favorite. You’ll want to practice these tips, add your own and master them all to suit your own sense of things.

Grilled beef steak with sear marks, served with baked potato & grilled veggies.

For starters, download something FREE from the CATTLEMEN’S BEEF BOARD AND NATIONAL CATTLEMEN’S BEEF ASSOCIATION. CLICK HERE to Download a PDF guide on Beef Cuts and Cooking Recommendations

Choosing and Prepping Steak for Grilling
If you’ve read the guide then you have a better understanding of which cuts of beef are best to prepare on a grill. Generally speaking cuts with a degree of marbled fat throughout the meat will cook better on direct high heat. The amount of fat on the outside of the steak, or the edge of the meat, is almost not important – because it simply cooks off and doesn’t season the meat. You can trim much of the fat off the edge of the meat before cooking. If you prefer to grill with it on and your steak is under 1 inch in thickness it is a good idea to cut or ‘knotch’ the fat about every 3 inches to help prevent curling.

Tip for choosing steaks for grilling.
Choose thicker cuts that are finely marbled with fat. If you can find and afford it, prime and choice grades will give you a better value for flavor and quality. Leaner cuts of beef will not grill as well and may actually get tough and dry when grilled.

Marinades
I don’t like marinades. If I pay the price for a good cut of beef – I want to taste the meat and not the marinade. However some recipes call for seasoned or well-marinated beef. These are not steaks, they are ‘dishes’ which use beef. [OK - so I'm showing that I'm a snob of sorts.] If you must marinade remember that acids in fruit and vinegars will break down and tenderize. Anything with high sugar content will tend to immediately caramelize and then burn when exposed to searing and grilling temperatures.

Rubs
I feel the same way about rubs as I do marinade. If you prefer a rub, I advise you refrain from using sugars and seasonings which will burn at the searing and grilling temperatures.

Basic Beef Cuts as defined by the CATTLEMEN’S BEEF BOARD AND NATIONAL CATTLEMEN’S BEEF ASSOCIATION
Beef Steaks

Tender Steaks: Most come from the center (rib and loin sections) of the animal and are usually cooked by dry-heat methods. Tender steaks can be categorized as premium steaks or as more affordable family-priced steaks.

Premium tender steaks include top loin (strip),
T-Bone, Porterhouse, rib-eye, rib and tenderloin.

Family-priced tender steaks include shoulder center, top sirloin, top blade (flat iron), chuck eye and round tip.

Less Tender Steaks: These are primarily from the more heavily exercised fore- and hindquarters and are better suited for moist-heat cooking. Some may be cooked by dry heat after being tenderized in a tenderizing marinade.

Less tender steaks include full-cut round, top round, eye round and bottom round; chuck shoulder, chuck 7-Bone, chuck arm and chuck blade; flank and skirt.

Cubed Steaks: These are mechanically tenderized steaks, usually from the round.

Seasoning
I recommend a light sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper and kosher or sea salt. Not too heavy on either. Now some folks insist that salting a steak prior to cooking will “dry it out” because the salt draws moisture from the steak. They are part correct and part incorrect. Salt draws moisture from the steak – but that moisture is composed of naturally occurring sugars and proteins – which when exposed to the high heat of searing (440F – 550F degrees) either on a grate or a cast iron skillet – will turn brown and form the crust that so many of us truly enjoy about a well prepared steak. [This is called the Maillard reaction.] Of course many folks, you may be one, enjoy using various rubs and spices on the steak. Just remember that some spices will actually burn at the high temperatures of grilling and may affect the flavor of your steak.

Searing
As stated several times in this post, searing the outside of a beef steak at a temperature in the range of 400F – 550F degrees is the way professionals do it. With the proper seasoning applied (above) and at high searing temperature you can finally grill a room temperature steak exactly the way you always wanted. Make sure you don’t cook the steak at this high temp for the entire time – unless you enjoy the “Pittsburgh Style” which is also known as “Blue” when the meat is seared crispy done on the outside and pretty much raw on the inside – view the cooking chart to get a sense of the time and temperatures.

CB’s Tips for grilling  like the steak houses
If you enjoy the “crust” on a steak the way it’s prepared in a high-end steak house – lightly season both sides of a room temperature steak with sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. The moisture drawn to the surface after only a few minutes contains the natural sugars and proteins that form the crust when exposed to the high heat of searing. Brush lightly with canola oil and place on a clean and searing hot  (500F degrees or hotter) grate until the proteins in the steak release the meat. Use tongs to turn it to the other side, which you have also brushed lightly with canola oil.  If the steak is less than 1 ” thick – at this point it is most likely at the 130F degree internal temperature and that is certainly RARE. If you want it cooked more – be mindful that continuous grilling on direct heat will dry out the meat.  Better to set it to the side off of direct heat and let it finish with indirect heat.

Grilling
Most folks grill their steaks at the same temperature of approximately 325F – 375F degrees on their gas grills. Charcoal grills can achieve higher temps in the low 400F – 450 degree range and the new infrared grills from Char-Broil can easily achieve the higher searing temperatures. Only at the higher temperatures will you see grill marks form on a rare steak – UNLESS you use this trick. If your grill d0esn’t get to the higher temperatures for searing then lightly brush the surface of the seasoned steak with clarified butter. This is a low smoke point oil and it will assist in rapidly transferring the heat from the grates to the meat – helping to create the grill marks you love to see. You can also use a light touch of brown sugar on the outside of the steak – but experiment with both of these techniques to get the hang of it before trying it out on the neighbors or in-laws. If you have a high temperature grill, say one of the new Char-Broil infrared grills – then I do not recommend using this trick, unless you are extremely vigilant!

Roasting
If you’ve ever been in a commercial kitchen one of the tricks you will see is the broiler cook pulling a steak from the grill and placing it in a pan in a 400F degree oven. This roasting of a grill marked steak will help to cook the steak to the degree of done the customer has requested – while giving the cook more room on the broiler for searing and marking the steaks. If you try this…pay close attention to the internal temperature of your steak – to ensure you don’t over cook.

Resting
After cooking it’s important to allow a steak to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing into it. First of all you can’t taste the meat or seasoning when the temperature is too hot and perhaps most important – allowing the steak to rest enables the internal moisture to re-distribute and keep each bit moist and flavorful [Personally I enjoy eating steak that has been properly seared, roasted a bit, allowed to rest and is nearly room temperature - as I think the flavors are more evident.]

Cooking by Thickness Guide

The temperatures shown are estimated internal temperatures recommended for the degree of done.

Sauces and Compound Butters
A good steak is a perfect balance of flavorful meat enhanced by the traces of flat. I think sauces can certainly add to the experience, but I’m not a big fan of the piquant steak sauces found at many restaurants. I think these sauces mask the flavor of the meat. Compound butters, on the other hand, can accentuate the flavor. A touch of butter with a garlic and herb infusion can be a real treat on the taste buds!

Beef steak recipes you might want to try:

PEPPER SEASONED BEEF STEAKS

RIB STEAK NICOISE

CB’S EZ GRILLED NY STRIP STEAK

BISTEC DE PALOMILLA/BUTTERFLIED STEAK

Here is a post explaining in more detail the technique I call “Sear & Hold” which is a great technique for grilling steaks and other meat. And a post entitled: The Perfectly Prepared Grilled Steak

How about you? What are your favorite steaks and recipes prepared on the grill? Please post your comment below or send me an email!

Happy Grilling!

If you’ve been wondering how infrared energy is generated and how it works in The Big Easy to produce crispy outside and juicy inside – then check out this video posted on You Tube.

Chicken is one of the top 3 foods most folks want to cook on their backyard grills. Unfortunately chicken is also one of the foods many folks have a difficult time preparing on their grills. Most often it’s a problem of under cooking the inside while over cooking and burning the outside. Fat flare-ups can scorch the chicken skin and make it taste pretty awful. Marinades and sauces are often applied too early and the result is a blackened mess of burnt sugar on the outside and semi-raw chicken on the inside.

I am not the world’s foremost authority or expert on grilling chicken – but I do enjoy preparing and eating grilled chicken and have learned a few tricks over the years. I share these to help you develop your own style for grilling chicken that satisfies your taste buds as well as those of your hungry and deserving guests!

Tip 1. Buy fresh chicken

Fresh is better. Frozen is OK. Whole is usually cheaper than parts and you can trim it out to size the pieces the way you enjoy cooking and eating – with necks, backs, wing tips and tails tossed into the stock or soup pot. Heck – I always say buy the best quality you can afford. Since you are reading this post my guess is you want to be the best cook you can be – and that always starts with good ingredients. I’ve taken to using organic chickens because I think they taste more like the chickens I remember eating growing up.

Tip 2. To brine or not to brine
My mom liked to soak chicken in buttermilk overnight. The acid in the buttermilk tenderized the chicken. Brine will do the same thing and help retain moisture. A good brine is about 1/4-1/2 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon of warm water, fully dissolve and when it cools cover chicken(s) or parts in water-proof container like a covered pot or easy-seal plastic bag. Keep in the fridge anywhere from 8 – 24 hours is sufficient. Refrain from adding to the brine anything with sugar in it as an extra seasoning or marinade of the chicken. Sugars burn when grilling.

When brining chicken or pork, be sure to use the appropriate container. Aluminum is not a good choice because the salty water and enzymes in the meat combine and will create a chemical reaction with the aluminum that negatively affects the taste of the meat. If all you have is an aluminum pot, place a food safe plastic bag in the container before filling with the brine solution.

Tip 3. Seasoning

Are you going to use a BBQ sauce on your chicken? BBQ sauces and glazes are applied during the final phase of cooking. If you like the taste of a special seasoning like Cajun rub or such – check the ingredients before applying to the raw chicken. Many spices will burn when exposed to the higher temperatures of grilling and that can ruin flavors. I recommend only a light seasoning of ground pepper (if you brined the chicken) and kosher salt (if you didn’t brine the chicken.) You can also lightly spray the chicken pieces with an oil like Canola or other vegetable oil that has a high smoke point, after seasoning – to help prevent sticking.

Tip 4. Temperature and Time
The most important thing to remember about grilling chicken is to wrap your mind around the idea of cooking it from the inside out. HUH? That’s right. We’ve all bitten into a piece of chicken that looked absolutely wonderful on the outside and the inside was nearly raw. Yuck! So make sure your chicken has been out of the fridge for a bit and come up to nearly room temperature. I’m not suggesting you leave it out all afternoon in the hot sun – just that you are mindful of allowing cold chicken to warm a bit. The larger the pieces the more time it takes and more attention you need to give to ensure you don’t allow it to cross over into unsafe condition!

Now apply this ‘inside out’ thinking to the temperature you want to achieve for ‘done.’ USDA recommends 165F degrees internal temperature for both chicken parts and whole chickens. Use an instant read thermometer to gauge the internal temperature of the meat – making sure to keep the probe away from bones. If you cook the chicken using the four stages I suggest – you can test the temperature at each stage to build knowledge of what’s happening as you cook. In most situations you will improve the final results by removing chicken from the grill when it is about 5-10 degrees below the desired internal temp as it will continue to cook while resting from the internal heat it has built up.

Some things to remember: Dark meat takes longer to cook than white meat. Larger pieces of each of these varieties will take longer to cook than smaller ones. The leg and thigh are dark meat. The wings and drumettes are extensions of the breast and all three are white meat. Start cooking dark meat first if you are cooking pieces and the wings and drumettes go on last. If you are cooking chicken halves – then start with bone side down to heat up the bones and help with the cooking.

How long does chicken take to cook on the grill? Until it’s done! There is no easy answer – it depends upon the temperature of the chicken when you started out, the capacity of your grill to heat to grilling temperatures and the outside weather and temperature.

Tip 5. 400F – 500F degree heat for searing

This temperature range is perfect for searing steaks. And it’s also a great place to start the grilling process of chicken. BUT chicken will render fat quickly and that can cause flare-ups – so be mindful of paying attention to this. If you are cooking on charcoal – you can get your grate temperature up to a searing temp of about 450F degrees. If you are cooking on an infrared grill – no problem. If you are cooking on a standard gas grill – you’ll need to place a sheet pan or heavy duty aluminum foil on the grates before you begin grilling food (remove the foil or pan first!) to optimize the grill temperature for the initial searing phase. This little tip will really help ensure the grates are as hot as you can get them.If cooking chicken halves (photo above) I recommend you start by placing the chicken bone-side down on the searing section of your grill. This will start the process of heating up the bones and help to finish the chicken better.

Conventional gas grills may not get hot enough for searing (450F + degrees) so either cover them with a couple of layers of heavy duty aluminum foil during the pre-heating stage or invert a half roasting pan on top. This will help to hold heat at the grates and increase the heat for instant searing when you remove the cover with tongs. This same technique will also help to clean grates after each use!

Tip 6. 375F – 400F degree heat for grilling

I use different sections of the grill for different heat applications. Take a look at the settings on the control knobs in the photograph above. On the left two sections of the grill the heat is set to medium high or about 500F degrees and that’s where I start the fresh piece of chicken, working from back to the front or from the left to the right depending upon the number of burners the grill has. On the right two sections of the grill I’ve got the heat set to medium low or about 375F degrees at the grate as this is the perfect grilling temperature. As I turn the chicken pieces I try to always place it on a new section of the grill  to maximize heat conduction. [NOTE: I'm using the new Char-Broil Commercial Series Grill with Quantum infrared so maintaining heat at the grate is not a big issue. On regular gas grills and even charcoal grills you may experience a lag time in 'heat recovery' when you lift a piece of meat from the grill. By placing meat on a 'fresh' section of the grates you may find it helps you maintain the best heat for cooking - turning in place often doesn't allow the grate to "recover" especially when cooking fresh meat that hasn't warmed to grilling temperature.] After searing for just a short time, 2-3 minutes with the Quantum infrared, longer on traditional grills – the chicken will begin to get grill marks.

The optimum temperature for grilling chicken that has been seared is about 375F degrees – about the same temperature you’d use for roasting in an oven. Depending upon your grill and fire source, you may need to watch for flare-ups from fat that is rendering off the chicken. On many grills a good way to limit these flare-ups is to place your chicken on a section of the grill that has an aluminum drip pan underneath. On Quantum and RED infrared grilling systems, flare-ups are pretty much non-existent. [NOTE: If you are cooking on a grate that is either wire (many charcoal grills) or stainless steel tubes (many gas grills) you've already discovered how difficult it is to get grill marks. If you can master the art of optimizing grill heat as suggested above - you can also add just a light slather of melted butter to your chicken parts and this will help in obtaining grill marks. BUT be careful as you are now adding a low-temp smoke point fat (butter) to a fairly low-temp chicken fat and flare-ups can occur.]

Use your instant read thermometer to gauge the internal temp of chicken on the grill and determine when it’s time to move from grilling to glazing and finishing.

Tip 7. 200F degree for glazing!

During the final 10 minutes or so it’s time to glaze the chicken with barbecue sauce or other glazes. You may enjoy a prepared sauce purchased at the store or online, or you may prefer to concoct your own secret recipe. I like to use apricot or peach marmalade as a glaze on chicken depending upon what else is on the menu. Whatever your taste dictates, the chicken should be pretty much cooked and removed from any direct heat before glazing. The process of glazing is using the internal heat of the chicken that’s built up during cooking and the air temperature of the grill to reduce the moisture content of the sauce and cook the sugars in it to form a tasty glaze on the meat. If you apply this sauce earlier, when the chicken is over direct grilling heat, there is a very good chance it will drip, flare and burn. Burnt sugar is not a tasty flavor for most folks!

To increase the efficacy of your glazing technique – simmer the sauce or glaze before brushing on the meat. Why put cold sauce on warm meat?

Tip 8. Rest Rest Rest

After cooking, place all of the chicken in trays or warming pans and cover – let it rest for at least 10 minutes. This will help redistribute moisture inside each piece and allow the internal temperature to continue cooking. You may also decide you want to add more sauce at this time – depending upon your taste.

Hey CB – What about the skin? I love it and my spouse hates it!

Of course you can remove the skin before cooking. But it makes no difference whether you cook with skin on or off as far as calories go – according to the National Chicken Council and it does impart flavor! But – if someone is going to remove the skin after cooking and before eating – then by all means remove it before cooking so the meat is directly seasoned by the glazing.

Here are 4 recipes you might enjoy trying the next time you grill chicken!

CB’S EZ BASIC BARBECUED CHICKEN

CB’S EZ GRILLED CHICKEN

CB’S EZ MOROCCAN SPICE GRILLED CHICKEN & PEACHES

CB’S EZ HULI-HULI STYLE GRILLED CHICKEN

There you go! Do you have questions, comments or suggestions? Please email me or post them in the Comment section below. [NOTE: Your first comment does not immediately post pending review to prevent spam from filling up the comment boxes.]

Happy Grilling!

This past week I received a great email from a regular reader. Here it is:

Hey CB,

John Here from sunny Southern California. I enjoy grilling and barbecuing and love reading “Sizzle on the Grill”. Cant wait to get it and try everything that’s suggested! Sometimes it works and we feast, sometimes I mess up everything and got out to eat! But I always learn as I go, and my family has been pretty understanding with my new grilling passion. Now my son is in cub-scouts and we are having a great time. We are getting into camping. Here is my request: Can you recommend a good portable grill for camping? Either gas/propane or charcoal. And maybe some good camping friendly recipes? I would like make something special for the “Webelos 1 Golden Eagles” of troop 314! Something besides the standard hot dog on a stick held over the camp fire till its burned!
Thank you for reading this and please keep up the great work! You must have the best job ever!

John

For gosh sakes who can ignore a request like that? So I dug into my memory of being a cub scout and a camp counselor during the summers of my college years. My absolute favorite group of kids to guide on the trails of Yosemite were 10 year-old boys – about the age of John’s Webelos. They still believe in magic and have a desire for adventure in their blood!

I came up with a couple of ideas to share with John (see below) and also sent an email to ‘dick’ a regular contributor of thoughtful advice on The Big Easy Users Forum. Dick has more than 50 years practical experience as a camp cook on fishing and hunting trips throughout the North American wilderness – so I figured he might have a little experience with this kind of situation.

Heres what ”dick’ said:

For kids I’m a big fan of slices of SPAM on grill or griddle. Being canned and fully cooked no problem with doneness and no refrigeration needed. A spread of honey, mustard and soy sauce before grilling will have most kids (and adults) eating like nobody’s business!

Smoked sausage is also good out of hand and also fully cooked.Let me suggest a fun alternative that most love. Have dad borrow a med to large outdoor type dutch oven. Aluminum or cast iron both work fine but they must be the type with the rimmed flat top to hold coals. The kid or kids can help dig the hole, shovel in coals, fill in on top etc. Dad should bring a couple of bags of charcoal or briquet’s in case wood is a problem. Each kid can bring an ingredient: spuds, carrots, beef stew seasoning,cubed chuck,a few sweet Italian sausages. Heck – ANYTHING can go in the pot. After 2 hrs or so it’s done but more fun to leave it in the hole from noon till dinner. Also it’s perfectly fine to bury the oven upon retiring and leave it all night. What ’s wrong with stew for breakfast?

Another good deal for kids (or me) is ‘bannock’ which at it’s simplest can be stiff BisQuick dough wrapped around a stick and baked on the grill or propped over the fire. Add a little sugar to the dry dough for the kids and bring lots of butter or even a squeeze bottle margarine (ugh) for the savages. Possibilities are endless.

Best.
dick
I fish therefore I am

Here’s one of my recommendations – especially good for kids of just about any age to help prepare. Older kids might assist a parent in cooking on the grill or camp fire. When camping or heading to the park or beach for a day, you don’t have the room to pack absolutely every kitchen and grilling appliance. So if you don’t have a griddle to cook sandwiches (BTW – both the Grill2Go Advantage and Grill2Go Express come with griddles!) or if you just want to have some fun and show the kids something different.

CB’s EZ Campfire Grilled Cheese Sammy’s

Using a wire basket from your rotisserie kit or other source – make sure it can be closed – place slices of bread butter side against the wire and top with cheese….

and ham or other lunch meat…

Place the top pieces of bread – butter side to the wire rack – and secure the rack together. Try not to smoosh the Sammy’s.

Wrap the basket in heavy duty aluminum foil – try to do it loosely so you can lift and check during cooking – but make sure it presses up to the wire and even makes contact with the buttered bread. Place the wrapped basket on the grill – set to medium heat – or on the campfire grate above coals that are about 5-9 inches from basket, depending upon the heat being generated.

Peek at the Sammy’s to see if they are cooking OK. It won’t brown up exactly like a griddle or fry pan – but works.

When removing basket from heat, careful to use tongs or heat resistant gloves – the basket will burn. If kids are doing it – be extremely careful. Set on solid surface and remove foil, unlock basket and remove sandwiches with spatula – they will be hot! Cut in pieces and serve!

Do you have a “Kid-Friendly” recipe for the backyard grill or camp-out cooking? Send it to CB@charbroilgrilling.com – Thanks!

Happy Grilling! -