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Grilled Chicken 101: How to Grill Chicken

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How to Grill Chicken

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Grilling and Chilling

The aroma of chicken on the grill is one of the most tempting smells of summer. Our attraction to the scent of meat cooking on fire is basic; the wafting gray smoke seems to awaken some sort of primordial urge buried deep in the recesses of our carnivorous brains. 

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Chicken Little

In the United States, chickens are classified according to their best uses and you’ll need to use the right size for best results.

  • Broiler-fryers are young chickens up to seven weeks old that weigh three to five pounds. This is the best size for grilling.
  • Roasters are three to five months old and weigh six to eight pounds.
  • Stewing chickens are breeder hens no longer able to produce eggs. These older hens, ten to eighteen months old and weighing five to six pounds, are less tender because of their age. This makes them suitable for long, slow, cooking.
  • A Capon is a castrated rooster that weighs anywhere from four to ten pounds and is especially meaty and tender.

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How to Cut Up a Chicken

My grandmother washed her chickens inside and out before cutting them into pieces, removing every last bit of fat, overlooked feathers, and any bruise, blemish, or bloodspot. That bird was sanitized — or so she thought. I would never argue with my grandmother, but according to the USDA washing chicken is not necessary. If the bird is contaminated, dangerous bacteria are not going to be affected by cold tap water! Washing the chicken actually increases the chance of cross contamination by splashing around water that has touched the chicken into the sink. So, don’t wash the chicken and simply pat it dry with paper towels before proceeding to cut it up.

Brining 101

Brining, or soaking poultry in salted water before cooking, is the answer to dry, tasteless white meat and rubbery dark meat: brined poultry loses only half as much moisture during cooking as unbrined. Salt causes the food proteins to form a complex mesh that traps the brine so the muscle fibers absorb additional liquid during the brining period. Some of this liquid is lost during cooking, but since the meat is juicier to begin with, it cooks up juicier at the end. Think of a cup filled “over the rim.”

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Size Matters

The size of the salt grains used in brine is important. Grains of table salt are very fine, while those of kosher salt are larger. The crystals of the two most widely available brands of kosher salt, Morton’s and Diamond Brand, differ. Half a cup of table salt is equal to 1 cup of Diamond Brand kosher salt or 3/4 cup Morton’s kosher salt. My recipes call for Diamond Brand because the conversion is easy at 2:1.

The brining solution takes care of the dryness and for flavor, I spritz the chicken while it’s cooking with a potent vinegar bath, a recipe from my grandfather, whom I called Dede. Apple cider vinegar is slightly diluted with water and combined with Worcestershire, hot sauce, and oil. It produces a pungent, meaty odor and sends out billowing clouds of steam and smoke as it chars on the grill. It’s delicious! 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think and if you give this recipe a try.

Bon Appétit, Y’all! 

Virginia Willis

Apple Cider Grilled Chicken

Serves 8 to 10
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: main, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Southern
Keyword: bbq, chicken, grilled
Servings: 8
Author: Virginia Willis

Ingredients

  • Brine
  • 1 gallon hot water
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 8 cups ice, plus more if needed
  • 2 whole chickens, cut into pieces or 20 pieces of chicken of your choice such as thighs, drumsticks, and breasts
  • Cider Spritz
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for the grate
  • 2 tablespoons hot sauce
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning the chicken
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • To make the brine: Combine the hot water, salt, and brown sugar in a large plastic container and stir to dissolve. Add the ice and make sure the brine is well-chilled. Add the chicken pieces; cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.
  • To make the cider spritz: Once the chicken has finished brining, combine water, vinegar, oil, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and salt in a food-safe spray bottle. Set aside.
  • Prepare a charcoal fire using about 6 pounds of charcoal and burn until the coals are completely covered with a thin coating of light gray ash, 20 to 30 minutes. Spread the coals evenly over the grill bottom, position the grill rack above the coals, and heat until medium-hot (when you can hold your hand 5 inches above the grill surface for no longer than 3 or 4 seconds). Or, for a gas grill, turn on all burners to high, close the lid, and heat until very hot, 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Apply some oil to the grill grate. Place the chicken on the grill, leaving plenty of space between each piece. Grill until seared, 1 to 2 minutes per side for legs and thighs, and 3 or so minutes for breasts. Move the chicken to medium-low heat or reduce the heat to medium; continue to grill, turning occasionally and squirting with the marinade, until the juices run clear when pierced and an instant read thermometer registers 165 degrees, about 35 minutes total. Remove the pieces from the grill as they cook and transfer to a warm platter. Give them a final squirt of sauce for flavor and serve immediately.

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Virginia Willis

Georgia-born French-trained Chef Virginia Willis’ biography includes making chocolate chip cookies with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, foraging for berries in the Alaskan wilderness, harvesting capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano in Sicily, and hunting for truffles in France. She is talent and chef-instructor for the digital streaming platform Food Network Kitchen. Her segments feature authentic and innovative Southern cooking. She was the celebrity chef at the Mansion at Churchill Downs for the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby. Virginia has spoken at SXSW, cooked for the James Beard Foundation, and beguiled celebrities such as Bill Clinton, Morgan Freeman, and Jane Fonda with her cooking — but it all started in her grandmother’s country kitchen. Recently, her work has been inspired by her weight loss success story, Virginia has lost 65# and kept it off for over 2 1/2 years! “If a French-trained, Southern chef can do it, you can, too.” She is the author of Fresh Start; Secrets of the Southern Table; Lighten Up, Y’all; Bon Appétit, Y’all; Basic to Brilliant, Y’all; Okra; and Grits. Lighten Up, Y’all won a James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence in the Focus on Health Category. Lighten Up, Y’all as well as her first cookbook, Bon Appétit, Y’all, were finalists in the Best American Cookbook for the International Association of Cookbook Awards and were also named by the Georgia Center of the Book as “Books Georgians Should Read.” She is the former TV kitchen director for Martha Stewart Living, Bobby Flay, and Nathalie Dupree; has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants; and traveled the world producing food stories – from making cheese in California to escargot farming in France. She has appeared on Food Network’s Chopped, CBS This Morning, Fox Family and Friends, Martha Stewart Living, and as a judge on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. She’s been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, People Magazine, Eater, and Food52 and has contributed to Eating Well, GRLSQUASH, Culture, Garden & Gun, and Bon Appétit, and more. The Chicago Tribune praised her as one of “Seven Food Writers You Need to Know.” Her legion of fans loves her down-to-earth attitude, approachable spirit, and traveling exploits. Her culinary consulting company, Virginia Willis Culinary Enterprises, Inc specializes in content creation, recipe development, culinary editorial and production services, cookbook writing, media training, spokesperson and brand representation, and public speaking. Virginia is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Blue Ribbon Task Force, the Atlanta Community Food Bank Advisory Board, as well as the Community Farmers Market Advisory Board. She is a food and hunger advocate for No Kid Hungry and a premier member of the No Kid Hungry Atlanta Society. She a member of The James Beard Foundation, Chef’s Collaborative, Georgia Organics, and Southern Foodways Alliance.

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