Impress your guests at your next event with my secrets to to the best grilled BBQ chicken – tender and juicy every single time!
Everyone loves grilled barbecue chicken! Sweet, smoky, tender and delicious: nothing says summer better then barbecue chicken!
Over the years I’ve learned a few tricks to perfectly grilled BBQ chicken every single time. Read: not burnt to a crisp on the outside and raw on the inside.
The first step to perfectly grilled BBQ chicken is to grill the chicken until partially cooked before basting it with the barbecue sauce. Since the barbecue sauce is high in sugar, it has a tendency to burn quickly. In other words, if you place raw chicken covered in barbecue sauce directly on a high grill, it will burn on the outside but be raw on the inside.
My solution? Create an indirect heat source on the grill by turning one side to high heat and turning the other side to low heat or even turned off.
Once you form the crust on the chicken on the high, direct heat of the grill, turn the heat down to low or off on one half of the grill and move the chicken to that half. Once you close the lid you create an indirect heat source, similar to baking in an oven.
To create the perfect amount of sweet and sticky barbecue sauce, you simply baste it with a brush every couple of minutes as it cooks. The end result? Perfectly grilled bbq chicken every single time!
No forks required.
Best BBQ Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken drumsticks (or cut of choice)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- cup BBQ Sauce (for basting)
Instructions
- Place drumsticks in a large bowl and carefully pierce the chicken pieces 3-4 times per sharp knife. This will help infuse the meat with the seasonings. Toss chicken with oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder and salt. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat grill to high heat. Sear chicken in direct heat to form crust, about 2-3 minutes per side. Create an indirect heat source by turning off heat on one half of the grill (leaving the other half on high.) Move chicken to the side of the grill turned off to cook with indirect heat.
- Grill chicken until internal temperature reaches 165°F rotating and basting every 2 minutes with BBQ sauce. Serve warm.