Bone-In Chicken Breasts on a Weber Summit Charcoal Grill
Two bone-in one pound chicken breasts from Whole Foods.
Ambient temp 54F, drizzle. [Aside: I had plenty of bonded Old Grand-Dad to carry me through.]
Two scoops of briquettes (40 briquettes = 1/2 a Weber chimney plus ¼ chimney of used briquettes on top). No water pan or drip pan. Two-level: direct/indirect.
Recipe sources: Cook’s Illustrated #57 (July-August 2002), Cook’s Illustrated 20th Anniversary All Time Best Grilling Recipes (July 2012), and Meathead’s SGBG at pp. 297-298. (when indirect internal temp hits 245F, move to direct and glaze; 5 minutes or so will take it to 155F and sitting a couple minutes takes it to 160F).
Wet brine (Kosher salt only) time: 1 hour. Cook time (from lighting the chimney to cutting board): 1 hour, 20 minutes. Time on the heat: 50 minutes: 10 direct, 40 indirect covered, 10 direct with glaze.
TIMELINE (as it happened, not as it was planned) –
5:30 PM – in a one gallon sealable bag, put Kosher salt in cool water and stir until the salt is dissolved then put two one-lb. bone-in breasts in the bag, squeeze out the air, and put the bag in the fridge for an hour.
6:15 PM – Put about 40 briquettes in a Weber chimney (and I put about ¼ of a chimney’s worth of partially used briquettes on top of them).
6:30 PM – drain brined breasts, pat sort of dry, and rub in dry rub if desired (which I desired).
6:35 PM – Light newspaper under chimney.
6:40 PM – Have some OGD.
6:45 PM – Spread out the coals for direct cooking (upper position on a Summit which is about 4 inches from the cooking surface).
7 PM – Put chicken over direct heat and turn every few minutes to avoid flares and to assure even browning on ALL sides.
7:10 PM – Move chicken to indirect heat (internal temp per Thermoworks TW 362B = 60F) and loosely tent AND close lid.
Adjust upper vent to about a pencil thickness open; adjust lower vent to just “left†of “open†but not all the way to “smokeâ€Â.
7:20 PM – the TW 362B says the IT of the “bigger†breast is 90F. Have some OGD.
7:25 PM – Weber dome thermometer says 400F; TW 362B says IT is 100F.
7:30 PM – TW 362B says IT is 115F. Do nothing.
7:40 PM – TW says IT is 135F. Find glaze and silicon brush; have some OGD.
7:45 PM – Knock ash off coals, move breasts to direct heat, and apply glaze to top side; after a couple of minutes, turn and apply glaze; repeat if necessary.
7:50 PM – Take off the fire (because the TW shows IT of 155F, and a Thermapen on the other breast shows 158F).
8 PM – EAT.
See photo of a cross-section attached.
How good did these turn out? Easily, these are the juiciest huge chicken breasts we've had in years. We've done the Cook's Illustrated recipe before, but the helpful hints from Meathead's book make this EXQUISITE! It's hard to believe that such a small adjustment - the temp and timing - can make such a difference, but it did.
Two bone-in one pound chicken breasts from Whole Foods.
Ambient temp 54F, drizzle. [Aside: I had plenty of bonded Old Grand-Dad to carry me through.]
Two scoops of briquettes (40 briquettes = 1/2 a Weber chimney plus ¼ chimney of used briquettes on top). No water pan or drip pan. Two-level: direct/indirect.
Recipe sources: Cook’s Illustrated #57 (July-August 2002), Cook’s Illustrated 20th Anniversary All Time Best Grilling Recipes (July 2012), and Meathead’s SGBG at pp. 297-298. (when indirect internal temp hits 245F, move to direct and glaze; 5 minutes or so will take it to 155F and sitting a couple minutes takes it to 160F).
Wet brine (Kosher salt only) time: 1 hour. Cook time (from lighting the chimney to cutting board): 1 hour, 20 minutes. Time on the heat: 50 minutes: 10 direct, 40 indirect covered, 10 direct with glaze.
TIMELINE (as it happened, not as it was planned) –
5:30 PM – in a one gallon sealable bag, put Kosher salt in cool water and stir until the salt is dissolved then put two one-lb. bone-in breasts in the bag, squeeze out the air, and put the bag in the fridge for an hour.
6:15 PM – Put about 40 briquettes in a Weber chimney (and I put about ¼ of a chimney’s worth of partially used briquettes on top of them).
6:30 PM – drain brined breasts, pat sort of dry, and rub in dry rub if desired (which I desired).
6:35 PM – Light newspaper under chimney.
6:40 PM – Have some OGD.
6:45 PM – Spread out the coals for direct cooking (upper position on a Summit which is about 4 inches from the cooking surface).
7 PM – Put chicken over direct heat and turn every few minutes to avoid flares and to assure even browning on ALL sides.
7:10 PM – Move chicken to indirect heat (internal temp per Thermoworks TW 362B = 60F) and loosely tent AND close lid.
Adjust upper vent to about a pencil thickness open; adjust lower vent to just “left†of “open†but not all the way to “smokeâ€Â.
7:20 PM – the TW 362B says the IT of the “bigger†breast is 90F. Have some OGD.
7:25 PM – Weber dome thermometer says 400F; TW 362B says IT is 100F.
7:30 PM – TW 362B says IT is 115F. Do nothing.
7:40 PM – TW says IT is 135F. Find glaze and silicon brush; have some OGD.
7:45 PM – Knock ash off coals, move breasts to direct heat, and apply glaze to top side; after a couple of minutes, turn and apply glaze; repeat if necessary.
7:50 PM – Take off the fire (because the TW shows IT of 155F, and a Thermapen on the other breast shows 158F).
8 PM – EAT.
See photo of a cross-section attached.
How good did these turn out? Easily, these are the juiciest huge chicken breasts we've had in years. We've done the Cook's Illustrated recipe before, but the helpful hints from Meathead's book make this EXQUISITE! It's hard to believe that such a small adjustment - the temp and timing - can make such a difference, but it did.
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