How to Cook Marinade Chicken on the Grill

Marinated chicken cooked slowly on the grill is a healthy alternative to frying chicken.

Grilling marinated chicken offers a flavorful and healthy option for chicken lovers. Marinades can be purchased at a grocery store or made at home. Typical ingredients in chicken marinades include oils, vinegars, sauces, seasonings and fruit juices. A wide range of grills can be used in cooking the chicken including gas, charcoal, fire pit, natural gas, rotisserie, ceramic, homemade, smoker, barbecue, electric or a built-in grill.

Things You'll Need

• Boning knife
• Fork
• Marinade mixture
• Plastic storage bags
• Grilling tongs
• Meat thermometer

Instructions

Marinating

1. Pull or cut off skin from chicken. Removing the chicken skin allows a marinade to fully absorb into the meat. Cut chicken pieces apart from the whole chicken using a boning knife if a faster grilling is preferred. Pierce each piece of chicken using a fork. Piercing allows the marinade to flow into the meat with ease.

2. Choose a marinade for the chicken. A store bought marinade costs more but offers a quick option for working families. Homemade marinades can be mixed together using many ingredients the kitchen already has. An example of a simple homemade marinade would include olive oil, lemon juice with zest, salt, pepper and garlic.

3. Pour the marinade into a large plastic storage bag. Place the chicken into the bag. Seal the bag and massage the outside of it to coat the chicken. Lay the sealed plastic bag on a raised edge plate or platter to allow all the chicken pieces to rest in the marinade. Place the marinated chicken in the refrigerator. Chicken can stay in the marinade for 2 hours up to 2 days. The amount of time the chicken marinates changes the flavors of the chicken.

Grilling

1. Clean the grill before cooking any food. Chicken sticks to unclean grills when cooking. Grease the grill racks by using brushed oil or grill spray. Heat the grill to a high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the grill using grilling tongs to receive direct high heat. Dispose of leftover marinade to avoid contamination. Watch the chicken on high heat. According to Good Housekeeping, chicken marinades that contain sugar burn easily. Remove the chicken from the direct high heat once it appears seared on all sides. This process seals in the chicken's juices.

2. 

   Keeping the grill lid closed during cooking prevents flare-ups of the fire.

   Turn down the heat of the grill to approximately 250 or 300 degrees. Place the chicken on a higher rack to cook the chicken with indirect heat. Close the lid or cover the cooking chicken. Chicken cooking on indirect heat can cook up to an hour depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Open the grill once or twice to check the chicken and reposition it if needed due to burning or uneven cooking. Use the grilling tongs each time the chicken is moved. Using a fork or penetrating utensil will cause the chicken lose juices.

3. Insert a meat thermometer deep into the center of the largest chicken piece after the chicken has a golden brown appearance and has been on the grill for at least 30 to 40 minutes. Fully cooked boneless chicken requires a temperature of at least 170 degrees and bone-in chicken requires 180 degrees. Remove chicken from the grill using tongs and place on a clean serving platter.

Tips & Warnings

• If the grill tends to run with higher heat, baste the bottom sides of the chicken with butter to avoid drying out.

• Marinading chicken in bowls may result in uneven marinated meat.

• Never reuse marinade from the chicken.

• Never marinade in aluminum foil or containers. Aluminum causes chemical changes that spoil food.

References

• "Good Housekeeping"; A Guide to Grilling Chicken;
• Addicted to Grilling; Tips for Grilling Chicken
• How to Grill; How to Grill Chicken
• Kathy Maister's Startcooking.com; Marinating 101: An Introduction to Marinating Beef, Chicken and Fish

Resources

• CookingChicken.org