Meaty Good For The Whole Family: Broilers And Fryers
Broilers and fryers are the next two sizes up and are the most common chickens sold in the US. Six to eight weeks in age, they have a good balance of flavor and tenderness, and are sized just right to feed four.
I can fit a couple of fryers on my grill at the same time, making them ideal for larger dinner parties.
Grilled Spatchcocked Chicken Marinade:
Once spatchcocked, the only other prep involved with grilled whole chicken is seasoning the bird. Feel free to keep things as simple as youd like, using your favorite spice blends or dry rubs, or whip up a quick grilled chicken marinade.
This particular grilled spatchcocked chicken recipe calls for a flavor-forward chili-lime wet rub, made with loads of fresh lime & garlic, staple spices, & honey for subtle sweetness to offset the zesty & spicy flavor.
How to use this chili lime marinade. Stir together fresh lime zest & juice, honey, & spices , drizzling in a little neutral oil to bring everything together. This marinade is a very thick paste, similar to wet rub. Slather it all over the spatchcocked chicken. Be sure to use your hands to work the marinade between the meat & skin, which helps ensure super flavorful grilled chicken.
Suggested marinating time. Aim to marinate the chicken at least 60 minutes prior to grilling, though 12-24 hours is ideal.
How To Make Grilled Whole Chicken From Scratch
How to make a slow cooker grilled whole chicken:
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Why Would You Want To Grill A Whole Chicken
Grilling the whole bird makes sense whether youre cooking chicken for another recipe, or feeding a cookout crowd. Try it once and youll never go back to skinless boneless again.
- Whole chickens are substantially cheaper than pre-cut, and have been processed less.
- Whole chickens are fresher, and stay fresh longer than packages of cut meat.
- When you roast the whole chicken it doesnt dry out on the grill, and remains juicier. The complete covering of skin acts as an insulator and keeps all the flavor in.
- You can use the carcass for making amazing stock, so that chicken will keep on giving.
- It makes a great presentation, everybody will oooh and aaah.
Grilled Chicken Breast Marinade

Spoiler alert! The best grilled chicken breast marinade isnt an exact pre-measured packet of sauce that you buy at the store. The perfect grilled chicken marinade is one that you can customize yourself.
Every great marinade has 5 key elements that make your chicken absolutely lip-smacking and the best part is that you can build it to your liking. The basic recipe looks like this:
- Acid. White wine vinegar goes great with chicken but other vinegars, wines, fruit juices, Worcestershire sauce or a combination of these are tasty options as well.
- Fat or oil. This recipe uses olive oil, a solid choice, but you can use other affordable options here as well
- Flavor and seasonings Snag some pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, and Parmesan cheese for this recipe, or add your own favorite fresh herbs, garlic, ginger, or peppers.
- Salt. Tossing in some good ol kosher salt or sea salt is a great option. You can also use savory ingredients like soy sauce to add some salt to your marinade.
- Sugar. White sugar is all you need for this recipe, but Im fond of using brown sugar, honey, or molasses in my marinades as well.
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How Hot Should Grill Be For Chicken
The temperature of your grill should be approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit in its whole. This ensures that your chicken will be juicy and tasty from beginning to end! Check the temperature of your chicken breast while it cooks by inserting a good internal thermometer into the thickest section of the breast.
Best For Barbecue: Roasters
Roasters are the largest, coming in between six and eight pounds. The carcasses of mature chickens , they have a more pronounced flavor than their smaller counterparts, but are also more difficult to cook evenly because of their large volume.
Cooking a roaster is an exercise in patience. It can take up to 45 minutes or so on the cooler side of the grill before it’s ready to be crisped up. This means that if you’re the type of cat who likes to add wood chips to their grill for some intense barbecue flavor, this is the chicken for you. Slow cooking gives it plenty of time to soak up that smoky flavor.
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Grilled Whole Chicken Charcoal
Last Updated on February 21, 2021 by Sultana Parvin
I have to make the whole chicken for my sons every birthday. He wants the whole chicken for dinner as his birthday gift. Sometimes I make a grilled whole chicken in charcoal and sometimes I make whole grilled chicken in an oven. The taste of both grilled chicken are same just the smell is different. You will get a smoky smell in grilled whole chicken charcoal. That smell is really very good. So if you have enough time for your special guest and occasion you can prepare the whole chicken at home.
Whole Grilled chicken is liked by almost everyone. The reason of grilled whole chicken so much popularity for its smell and oven roasted taste. Its preparation and cooking process is so easy that anyone having an electric oven or charcoal can do it. Since chicken is available almost everywhere and there is a need to add some few ingredients. Just these few spices are good enough to make grilled whole chicken charcoal at home. Lets try!
Preparation time |
How To Store Leftovers:
- Store: Unless you are having a big party or family gathering, you will probably have a lot of chicken left over. Once it cools, you can put it into zipper baggies or an airtight container in the fridge. Eat it within two days for the best flavor.
- Freeze: If you know you cannot finish the whole bird in a couple of days, use freezer bags to freeze the meat for up to 60 days.
- Thaw: Put frozen leftovers in the fridge to thaw out overnight before serving.
- Reheat: When you are ready to reheat, brush the chicken with oil and wrap it in foil. Put it in the oven preheated to 350 degrees F for five minutes. You could also use the microwave to reheat it for about two minutes.
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How Long Do You Cook Chicken Breasts On The Grill
How long do you have? If you have spent anytime on Tailgate Master you have probably learned we like to take our time when grilling. Low and Slow is the normal rule to juicy and delicious tailgating food . Knowing the right grill temperature for chicken can make the difference between a juicy, flavorful hunka-hunka beautiful chicken, and an overcooked, dry disaster.
We prefer our perfectly grilled chicken to be cooked slowly over indirect heat and reach an internal temperature of 165°F before serving. That being said, there are several different grilling methods you might use depending upon the thickness of your chicken breasts and how much time you have. Oh and just for the record, the following recipe techniques assume you are using a boneless, skinless, non-frozen chicken breast, fresh from the cooler.
Chicken Breasts seasoned and ready for the grill
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The Best Barbecue Sauce Is Your Favorite Barbecue Sauce~
Im not above using store-bought barbecue sauce for my summer grilling, there are lots of great options out there , but if you want to have a go at making your own, I say go for it! Here are some tasty suggestions:
- A Classic BBQ sauce recipe from Add a Pinch.
- Southern spiked sauce from food.com.
- My friend Mary from Barefeet in the Kitchen makes a mean spicy barbecue sauce.
- And Jamie Oliver makes a fruity Bourbon sauce thats to die for.
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How Do You Butterfly A Chicken
First, lay the chicken breast side down on a cutting board and use sharp kitchen shears or poultry shears to cut along one side of the backbone. Then, cut along the other side of the backbone and remove it completely.
Next, with the chicken skin side up, press down on it to flatten before you flip it back over to remove the wing tips.
The Right Seasoning For Chicken

So many herbs and spices work so well with chicken.
Rosemary, lemon and garlic would be my absolute favorites, paired with salt and pepper. I feel this combination brings out so much flavor that not a lot more is really needed.
In saying that, you can start adding spice into the mix and go to a more Mediterranean style of cook, or ramp up the heat and go to Jamaican Jerk style cooking.
Then the curry based flavors of India and Sri Lanka.
It really is a protein that can be flavored so many ways, so my best advice is to start experimenting.
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The Benefits Of Gas Grilled Whole Chicken
Looking to add a tasty and nutritious meal to your diet? How about grilled chicken? Not only is it a great source of protein, but it is also super easy to make. You can buy a ready-to-cook chicken breast, or you can bone the breast and then prepare it the way you want. There are many different ways to prepare a grilled chicken breast. Some like to grill the breast as it is. Others like to bone the breast, marinate it and then grill. And then there are those who like to make chicken salads. However, one of the best ways to prepare chicken breasts is to use a gas grill to grill them. This is because gas grills have a hot and a cold side, which allows you to grill two or more items at once. This is perfect for making grilled chicken. Some people also like to marinate the chicken breasts before they are grilled. Others do this during the cooking process. Regardless, once the chicken is cooked, you can take it off the grill and finish it off with any of your favorite seasonings and/or sauces. Gas grills are also known to be more eco-friendly than grills that use charcoal or hardwood. Additionally, you dont have to worry about potentially inhaling all the smoke from the charcoal, or about using a lighter or a lighter fluid to start the fire. This makes gas grills a cleaner and safer option to grill. The three things to note about gas grills are
How Long To Cook The Chicken
Cooking time for chicken on a charcoal grill depends on several factors. These factors include the type of chicken, how large the chicken is, and the cooking temperature.
To get the best results, the cooking process starts with indirect medium heat. Then, place the chicken on the hot side of the grates to achieve grill marks. From there, leave the chicken on for extra time to get your preferred results.
To make the cooking process easier, well take you through the cooking times at 350 degrees f.
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Should I Pre Cook Chicken Legs Before Grilling
Bake or microwave the chicken as close to the time that you will grill it as possible. If you must precook the chicken an hour or more before you finish it on the grill, allow the chicken pieces to cook completely before you pack them away. Keep them cool or harmful bacteria might grow on the partially-cooked chicken.
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Cooking A Whole Rotisserie Chicken Over Charcoal
It seems lately the trend is to spatchcock chicken every time you cook them.
There is a time and place for doing that , it really doesnt take that much longer to cook a chicken whole over charcoal.
Thats where my favorite add-on for the Weber Kettle comes in to play.
For every 2.2lbs of chicken, it will take around 45 minutes to cook over medium heat charcoal.The good thing about rotisserie cooking, if you want to cook two birds at once, it doesnt affect the cooking time. The 45 minutes per every 2.2 pounds is per bird, not in total.
The other added benefit is as the bird spins, it is basting itself in all of the juices. The smell that comes off a rotisserie bird is pretty hard to beat.
Season, smoke and spin, you really cannot make it any easier than that.
We have a full video of this recipe if you prefer to watch how everything is done.
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If Youve Got 30 Seconds And A Blender Youve Got Homemade Herb Sauce
The best spatchcock chicken recipe is only as good as the herbs and spices that flavor it, and this easy, creamy garlic-and-herb sauce is what pushes the particular whole chicken recipe into overdrive. A whole spatchcocked chicken, fresh off the grill and carved at the table while its still steaming and juicy, served with this garlicky, bright, basil-y sauce for dipping and slathering and drizzlingwell, lets just say that itll make even the newbiest of new home cooks look like a master. And the best part? You just toss a bunch of fresh herbs in a blender with some mayo and lemon juice and give it a whirl. Herb saucemade.
What Temperature Do You Cook Burgers On A Charcoal Grill
Heat a gas or charcoal grill to 450 to 500°F, or hot enough that you can only hold your hand above the grill grates for about 1 second. Butter the insides of all the buns and set them near the grill. Flip the burgers at least once during cooking, or as often as you wish. Do not press down on the patties at any time.
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What Is Direct And Indirect Heat
Temperature control is essential when grilling chicken and learning how to use heat zones is important. Direct heat exposes the meat to the direct fire and flames, whereas the indirect heat uses the heat of the grill away from the hot coals and flame. The indirect heat cooks meat slower and more evenly, and the direct heat is great for creating sear marks.
Chicken breasts that have been pounded thin, chicken tenderloins, and wings are great for grilling over direct heat. Thicker chicken pieces such as a whole chicken or bone-in thigh will cook best over indirect heat as it needs more time to cook through.
Often, the best way to grill meat is start it on the direct side to sear the meat and get those lovely grill marks and moved to the side of the grill where the indirect heat is to continue cooking through.
The Best Spatchcock Chicken Recipe Ever In The Universe For Real

Grilling a whole chicken is the kind of showy, secretly easy recipes we live to createits unbelievably simple to pull off, but it still makes for a dramatic dinner-party supper. Butterflied and hot from the grill, laid out on a platter with grilled lemons and a bowl of herb sauce, grilled spatchcocked chicken is a meal imbued with the spirit of sharing and generosity around which every gathering should be built. Theres something so wonderfully classic and inviting about serving a whole chickenits homey and special all at once, and this recipe is easy enough that youll be able to relax with the friends you serve it to, which is what this whole dinner-party thing is all about, right?
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How To Bbq Chicken Breast On A Charcoal Grill
Chicken breasts can overcook quickly, so its important to keep a close eye on them as they grill. If you want, marinate the chicken before grilling for extra flavor and juiciness. To grill, place boneless chicken breasts on the grill directly over medium heat. Cover and grill for 15 to 18 minutes, turning once halfway through the grilling time. The chicken is cooked when it registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, and when the juices run clear.
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