Grilling Boneless Skinless Chicken

[rstutzma]

I understand grilling skin-on chicken is the best way to go; but my wife prefers boneless skinless chicken on the grill. I have a difficult time serving a moist piece of chicken. Is there a better way to grill this other than simply grilling to doneness temp?

While watching Chris Lilly's (of Big Bob Gibson) video on chicken, he talks about the skin protecting the meat. This would be difficult using boneless skinless chicken. What is the opinion of starting with a skin-on chicken breast, lifting the skin and rubbing a Simon & Garfunkel Rub on the meat; and when the meat reaches doneness temp, remove the skin and reverse sear? That way I'm still using the skin to protect the meat.

[Jerod Broussard]

Grill to 160 and watch the temp carryover to 165. Moist every time for me.

[LA Pork Butt]

Good advice. A good thermometer helps keep you from over cooking. IMO thighs have more moisture and flavor than breasts. When I do breasts I filet them sideways and cook them as hot and fast as I can.

[ryancaldwell]

For grilling, you shouldn't be able to put a layer of peanut oil on top of the chicken or wings and then control the fire at an average level. If you use a microwave, I would also douse the wings with honey. This comes out equivalent to Orleans chicken wings
Oh, I forgot, Orleans chicken wings also need to be marinated in seasoning before baking..........

[ryancaldwell]

This is the grilled chicken wings bought

[pkadare]

Sous vide. :-) An awesome way to ensure that you always have moist and juicy breasts. Another option that I do quite frequently is to put the breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap or in a ZipLock bag and then pound them to about 1/4" thickness. Requires much less cooking time and juicy and yummy everytime.

[Dewesq55]

I'm a big proponent of pounding chicken breasts before cooking but Barbara claims to not like the texture of the meat after it's been pounded.

[DavidNorcross]

I would use chicken thighs, marinate in Wish Bone Italian dressing for a couple hours and cook indirect and finish over the fire. For seasonings, you can use Simon and Garfunkel or SPG with some paprika. I would not over think. For me the key is thighs as breasts just dry out way too much.

[TripleB]

Spot on. I do the same when I just want some easy peasy chicken.

[N227GB]

Thighs and GrillGrates are a match made in heaven.

(Posted with my phone)

[Clark]

I slather the thighs with apple sauce before I put them on the grill. It helps keep them moist and adds a little flavor.

[Rocinante]

I started to make the juiciest chicken breasts after pounding them down to a uniform thickness. I'll place a few in a gallon zip lock bag with some seasoning on them and pound them down to be similar thickness throughout.

Breasts tend to be much thicker on the top end, so making them more uniform gets the whole piece of meat to 160 pretty much all at once and very juice.

[bbqLuv]

OH yeah, beat the meat flat. I like doing that. Cooks real nice and seasoned with sugar and spice.

[Jfrosty27]

I find the keys for boneless skinless chicken breast is to grill with indirect heat, not too screaming hot, and watch the IT being sure to pull at 160. Works every time.

[Henrik]

What Jfrosty27 says exactly. Cook/smoke the breasts low n slow, then a quick sear at the end. I’ve done it countless times, works every time.

[RonB]

I cook boneless/skinless chix breasts to 158°. That produces an instant lethality of 7-log10. That means the harmful organisms are have been reduced by 10,000,000 times. Our, (US), government considers 7-log10 safe for poultry and 6.5-log10 safe for beef. And as mentioned above, there will be some carryover that will take the temp higher.
The bottom line is the 158° is considered safe and going higher just means a higher chance of drying the breast out. Pulling at that temp should result in a moist and tender breast.

Edit to add that the breast will look the same as one cooked to 165° except moister...

[EdF]

Yeah but ... my wife likes hers "cooked". Needless to say, I just avoid bringing boneless, skinless chicken into the house in the first place.

[CaptainMike]

Consider sous vide, I have not ruined a BSCB or pork chop since I started using one.

[bbqLuv]

I need to try sous vide. The chicken will be rendered safe at 136*f for 82 minutes.
I like the pink out of the chicken. Give me that time chicken.

[Dewesq55]

bbqLuv - Try 145°. There is a whole serious eats article by Kenji on the results for various time/temp combos with chicken breast here: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/...en-breast.html

[bbqLuv]

CaptainMike Thank you, I did. Good info. and a new website too.

[barelfly]

JFrosty said it - I have a four burner gasser. I let it my gasser get screaming hot to pre-heat, then when I put the seasoned chicken on, I turn the right side two burners to low and put the chicken on there and I leave the left side two burners on high. Then, the thermometer comes into play, let them go and I flip when one side starts looking good. As they get closer to my target temp, I start to flip more frequently to try and even out the cooking. I pull at about 160 like others to serve knowing there will be a bit of carryover.

It comes out great this way, I’m sure there are other methods (Sous Vide is a great way - but you didn’t mention you have a SV).

Hope you find something that works.

[IowaGirl]

Looks like there are as many ways to cook skinless chicken as there are cooks.

I cook at moderate temps, not screaming hot. I also flip fairly often to keep the outer surface from getting overly hot and drying out. I pull when the internal temp is 160F or even a degree or two under that.

Another thing I do is cover the meat with a mist of Pam (or baste with another type of oil) a time or two during the cook to keep the surface covered in fat to help with browning.

If I have the chance, I dry brine the chicken for a few hours before cooking; that also helps the meat to stay juicy.

[Henrik]

Thanks for mentioning the dry brine. I almost take it for granted, but it helps with retaining moisture.

[FishTalesNC]

I’m with Henrik, thanks for mentioning that. I reached this point in the thread and was wondering why it hadn’t been brought up! 👍🏻

[bbqLuv]

The following is spot on. Knowing this information I include the rest time after the cook to pasteurize meat.
If you do not read it, perhaps it will get past-your-eyes!


But it is not just temp!

Pasteurization of meat is not just a matter of temperature. It is a measure of temperature, time, and the desired kill rate taken together.

What You Need To Know About Safe Serving Temperatures, And An Award Winning Temperature Guide (amazingribs.com)