Looking for advice on boneless/skinless chicken breast on weber kettle

[jasonwilliams14]

Well, I have been volunteered, last minute to host a BBQ tomorrow for Fathers day. Should be fun.
On the menu:

chicken breats
chicken thighs
burgers
sides (corn on the cob some veggies)

I am looking for some recommendations on how to do the chicken breast. I find them challenging to grill correctly.
Looking around, seems like brining is a good process to use and will help keep moisture and flavor?
Poking around, I found this one and was looking for advice and recommendations:

8 cups water
1 tb onion powder
1 tb garlic powder
1 tb dry thyme leaves
1 tb dry chopped onion
1 tsp cayenne pepper / chipotle chili powder
1/2 kosher salt
1/2 white sugar

It is all new to me, so open to recommendations.

I was going to flatten the breasts a bit, put them in a brine for a couple hours, then grill them.
is it best to sear first, 2-3mins per side, then move to indirect til IT hits 165?

Much appreciated for all the help!

TY

[barelfly]

Do you have a sous vide machine? I feel that’s one of the better ways to cook chicken breast.

otherwise, when I grill chicken breast, I cook indirectly until I get to my target temp. Don’t cook until 165 because they will carry over and be overcooked. I’d take them off before your target temp, 5-10* before 165 if that is what you are aiming for. Cover them up and let them come to temp.

I also don’t know if you need to sear since you are cooking skinless.

That’s how I go about it, same with skinless, boneless thighs - although I do take these up to a higher temp since they are more forgiving being dark meat.

And if you want to brine, just sprinkle with salt and let them sit in the fridge overnight on a wire rack.

Just my thoughts, or how I go about it at least. I’m sure others have different ways as well that will give you a few options.


But have a wonderful time!

[Richard Chrz]

This, chicken breast SV’Q, you can SV a breast at 145 for 2 hours, and it is pastured, a great grill sear, and you have a tender breast. Dry brine as soon as possible.

[HawkerXP]

Wrap the breast in skin.
cook.
remove skin.
serve.

[shify]

When I grill chicken breast, I always butterfly them or even just slice them through horizontally and then lightly pound so they are generally flat and even, then a few hours in a brine. After the brine, I rub them with a spice mix (low in salt) and cook. Since they are thin I always cook them over direct heat and it takes maybe 2-3 minutes per side to get to 155. If you want to keep them whole and thicker, just follow the same approach (except skip the butterlying) but may need to finish on indirect to 155 depending on how thick they are.

To me, cooking to 165 is way overkill and is not necessary. Chicken that is cooked to 155 and stays there for ~40 seconds is just as safe - and with carryover cooking and plating, etct even if you pull it the instant it hits 155 - it'll be more than 40 seconds before you take a bite. FDA settled on 165 as the pathogens are killed instantly at that temp.

And as far as brining, I generally eyeball it and use just salt and water. You generally want a 3-4% solution for your brine. The spices don't do much in the brine and I coat with a rub anyway, so get my flavor through there.

[Huskee]

+1 on on butterflying, and 150-155F IT max. The trouble is when they're too thick trying to get the internal layer cooked dries out the exterior layers. Same trouble with thick baby backs. thinning them speeds up the cook drastically allowing for an even cook. Wet brining also is a great process.

[DaveD]

I agree with barelfly, if you have a sous vide, you can run the breasts at 155F/68C for a couple of hours, and then just sear 'em while you're grilling the rest of the protein. They'll be great!

If you want to brine with liquid, I'd get them in the liquid tonight and give them all night to brine up. Or you could just hit them with salt tonight and leave them in the fridge until you start the SV. But do one or the other, getting the salt in there in plenty of time will really help the chicken stay moist and tender.

Good luck!

[Alan Brice]

Before charcoal, I would brine in plenty of Italian dressing for couple three hours. Cook on the top grate in the gasser. Now it would be indirect with some cherry or maple smoke. The Italian dressing absorbs the smoke and they will finish w/o turning them. Beautiful!

[RonB]

The FDA uses 165° because all the nasties are killed instantly, but that temp guarantees a dry breast. As shify said, pulling at 155° will be safe unless you pull it off the grill and take a bite immediately.

[Bob K]

my favorite approach for poultry is buttermilk brine. I do this every thanksgiving with the turkey - major difference.

42g of salt to 1 qt buttermilk, that's it. brine overnight then grill, sous-vide, or whatever. the buttermilk keeps it juicy and also tenderizes a bit (not talking mush here, just more pleasant). I try to get cultured buttermilk because I like the tiny tanginess it imparts, but regular is fine, just make it full-fat. you can add the other aromatics/herbs if you want too, I'd probably just replace the water and salt in your brine recipe with a qt of buttermilk and 42g salt.

plain greek yogurt works in a pinch too, though with that I just salt the meat as if dry-brining, then throw in a bag with enough yogurt to coat.

also agree with the butterfly approach - makes them cook more evenly and the outside's not turned to leather before the center is done. if it's tricky to butterfly the whole thing, you can try the trick of cutting the thin pointy end off (usually about 1/3 or so), then butterfly just the thick end. a little easier that way but you get smaller pieces.

don't really need to butterfly if you sous vide, because you get perfect doneness throughout and then quick sear. if doing a large quantity, this is the way to go so you don't have to fuss over temps coming off the grill, already cooked through, you just want color. as others noted, 155 is plenty and 165 too far. even the FDA will tell you that if the meat is kept at 150 for 52 seconds (17 seconds at 155), that's the equivalent pathogen kill as <1 sec at 165.

[smokenoob]

After reading the suggestions I realized why I don’t like grilled chicken breasts, cause I overcook them! I’m gonna try these suggestions.

[mrteddyprincess]

155 F. No more! Chicken breast at 155 F is tender and juicy! :-)

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I dry brine in fridge, then take out of fridge season and smoke on a Pit Barrel (which is running @285). Pull at 155 IT, and let rest for 5 minutes.
Juicy and delicious.

[wrgilb]

SVing is the only way I do these anymore and then a quick sear to get some color. I found that 150 for 90 minutes in the bath gets me the best juiciness and mouth feel texture.

[jfmorris]

I'm not gonna jump on the SV bandwagon here, as you didn't ask how to heat chicken in a water bath, but how to GRILL the chicken breasts, haha.

I would at the very least salt overnight or 4 hours before cooking (dry brine), and then season before grilling. Personally, I pull boneless skinless breasts as they each hit 160. The suggestions to pound them thinner or butterfly may help make the thickness more uniform.

I grilled 4 pounds of boneless skinless breasts earlier this week, but sliced the breasts into 4 to 5 slices, and grilled those slices after marinating overnight in a soy/honey based marinade - the brining in that case came from the salt in the soy sauce. They came out well enough, direct grilled for 10-15 minutes on medium heat, to where we were able to eat that chicken the past several days.

I would sear first, for a couple minutes per side on direct heat, then move indirect until they get to temp. I.e. front-sear. No one expects a "crust" on these like a steak, so white with a few grill marks works.

Good luck, and let us know how the cook comes out!

[jlazar]

Would a front sear and then SV work?

[bbqLuv]

Sous Vide first, then finish. I have Sous Vide chicken breast twice. Now it is my go-to for boneless and skinless chicken breast.

[mrteddyprincess]

I haven't read all the posts above but I notice a lot of them mention SV. I use SV if I'm having company over, and I tend to do a sear up front and then pull them out at 155 F as we need to feed people.

However, if I'm cooking for my family on a week night, I never use SV. I use my PK. I dry brine the breasts and right before I put them on the PK I usually season with Mrs. Dash at that point.

I stick a probe into the middle of the fattest one, I cook indirect, and set an alarm for 150 F. I do a quick direct sear and they are done! Tender, juicy, etc.

And that all depends on the breasts. A certain number of boneless skinless chicken breasts are prone to what is called being "woody." If you get a woody breast, there's not much you can do to fix that. It's going to be tough. But I find only about 5% of the chickens breasts I buy turn out to be woody. And I tend to slice the delicious, tender breasts up with a slicing knife across the grain and allow people to choose how many slices they want.

B