How Long Does It Take To Grill Some Chicken Legs
The drumsticks should be grilled over direct fire for around 30 minutes, depending on their size. Every 10 minutes or so, flip the container. Cook until the chickens internal temperature reaches at least 165° Fahrenheit, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for at least five minutes before serving.
How Long To Grill Chicken Breast
From start to finish, it should take around 30 minutes to grill your chicken breast. As always, make sure you are cooking to temperature and not to time. Use your instant read meat thermometer to remove the chicken breast once the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
After you remove your chicken, cover or tent it with foil for 5-10 minutes to allow carryover cooking to bring the chicken up to a finished temp of 165 degrees F.
I hope you experiment with your own flavor combinations to make a grilled chicken breast that is absolutely perfect! If you do, please come back and leave a comment with your recipe so we can all try out some new chicken methods!
How Long And At What Temperature Do You Grill Chicken
Preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat, about 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit, before cooking. Grill the chicken on a lightly greased grill surface. Close the cover and cook for 8 minutes, or until the bottoms are browned and sear marks appear on them. Cook for another 7-10 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165° F, after rotating the chicken and covering it with a tight-fitting lid.
Recommended Reading: Buffalo Chicken Dip No Blue Cheese
Do I Need To Boil Chicken Legs Before Grilling
Preheat the grill to medium heat and cook the drumsticks for 30-35 minutes, flipping them every 5 minutes with a set of barbeque tongs to ensure they dont burn. You should ideally use a meat thermometer and cook them until the internal temperature reaches 75 degrees Celsius in the thickest region of the drummer.
What Is The Outcome Of An Overcooked Chicken

Chicken is one of the leanest meats and is less forgiving than red meat. Lean meats have a tendency to dry out faster than other kinds of meat.
If you cook chicken for too long it can become dry, tough, and difficult to eat.
If your chicken is cooked directly over high heat, the skin can turn brown and crispy, but the meat becomes tough and flavorless.
Check your chicken regularly as it cooks to ensure youre not overcooking it. Its better to check the temperature several times than to let the meat cook for as long as you think it needs and realize that youve overcooked it.
You May Like: Shredded Chicken Taco Crock Pot
Everything You Need To Know About Grilled Chicken In Oven
Want to know how you can perfect grilling chicken in an oven? Well show you how!
Wondering what to do this Sunday afternoon? How about some quality time with your folks with great food and fun company? Everyone loves a good barbecue session outdoors. But if you dont have an outdoor grill, your oven can be your best friend. Put on your favorite sundress or Capri shorts and try your hand at grilling chicken in an oven!
How Long Do You Cook Chicken On The Grill At 400 Degrees
Preheat gas grill before cooking to medium-high heat, or 350-400° F. Lightly grease grill surface and add chicken. Close lid and cook 8 minutes, or until bottoms are browned with sear marks. Rotate chicken, close lid, reduce heat to medium, and cook 7-10 minutes more, or until internal temperature reaches 165° F.
This post was originally published in 2012. It has been updated with new information based on further testing.
In our constant quest to deliver the best of the best via the Serious Eats grilling column, with fancy recipes for dishes like homemade merguez sausage and peppered duck breast, its easy to lose sight of the basics. And theres one really basic basic that no grilling column should be without: grilled chicken breast.
Despite their ubiquity, chicken breasts are arguably one of the most difficult of the standard meats to grill. Its all too common of an occurrence to find yourself with dry, chewy, cardboard-y meat. This is all correctable, though, and chicken breasts can be fantastic on the grill it just takes a little know-how. This article will tell you everything you need to know about how to grill chicken breasts, including how long to cook them and a couple easy tips to ensure you dont end up with tough, rubbery, dried-out grilled chicken.
You May Like: Easy Chicken Recipes With Few Ingredients
How Hot Should Your Grill Be For Chicken
Now that youve chosen your chicken and know the ideal cooking temperature, you can move on to the next step: preheating your grill.
A cold grill will put the chicken undercooked. To avoid this, warm up the grill for about 10 minutes before you cook your chicken. Get the grill to about 375 to 425°F before placing your chicken on the grill.
Looking To Grill Other Cuts Of Chicken
Ive got your back! Heres how to grill chicken drumsticks and thighs:
For chicken drumsticks:
- To grill: preheat your grill to medium high and lightly oil the grate. Place the chicken on the grill and cook for 8 minutes, then flip, brush with the reserved marinade, and grill for an additional 8 minutes. Turn the chicken over one last time, brush again with the remaining marinade, and cook for 5 more minutes, or until no pink remains in the center of the chicken.
- To bake: preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a oven-safe rack on a large baking sheet and grease with nonstick cooking spray so that the chicken doesnt stick to the pan. Place the drumsticks on the pan with the thicker part of the drumstick to the outside. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until cooked through.
For boneless skinless chicken thighs:
- To grill: preheat your grill to medium high and lightly oil the grates. Cook your chicken thighs for 6-8 minutes per side, flipping once. When the internal temp reaches 165 degrees F your chicken is done.
- To bake: preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and bake your chicken thighs for about 25-30 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165.
For skin-on chicken thighs:
Don’t Miss: Wendy’s Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
What Pellets Should I Use For Smoking Baking Potatoes
When it comes to baked potatoes on a pellet grill, the type of pellet you use wont make a huge difference. Apple, fruitwood, and cherry are always good choices when youre smoking any vegetable, but again, use whatever you have to hand. You can also mix and match your wood pellets if you cant decide on one flavor!
As with all cooking, though, its ultimately up to you and what type of flavor youre looking to give your smoked potatoes.
What Temp To Grill Chicken
Cooking chicken on the grill is a great way to bring out amazing flavors in the meat. Whether youre grilling a whole chicken or making chicken wings on the grill, this chart will show you what temp to grill chicken.
Chicken should always read between 165°F and 175°F on a meat thermometer. Always use a meat thermometer to ensure chicken is done cooking on the grill.
Temperatures are for a charcoal or gas grill using thawed chicken. I recommend marinating chicken for 30 minutes to 2-3 hours before grilling it for the juiciest results.
Chicken Part | ||
---|---|---|
Medium-high 375°F | Closed | 1 hr. 25 minutes face legs towards the back of the grill, then rotate at at 45 minutes to face wings towards the back of the grill |
Boneless Chicken Thighs | Medium to medium-high, 350°F-375°F | Closed |
Medium to medium-high, 350°F-375°F, lowered to 300°F | Closed | 4 minutes per side lower heat to medium-low, cook another 3-5 minutes |
Boneless Chicken Breasts | Medium-high to high, 375°F-400°F | Closed |
20-25 minutes check and flip as they darken | ||
Chicken Legs | 30-35 minutes flip every 5 minutes | |
Chicken Tenders |
You May Like: Tyson Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
How Long Does It Take To Cook Chicken Wings On A Pellet Grill
Instructions
Does The Weight And Thickness Make A Difference In Cooking Time

When it comes to cooking a whole bird, size definitely matters. The heavier the bird, the longer it takes.
A good estimate is 18 to 25 minutes per-pound.
The heat must penetrate the skin, the meat and finally the bone before its properly cooked through. The thicker the meat, the longer it takes for the heat energy to transfer.
Read Also: How Long To Cook Chicken Thighs In Air Fryer
How Do You Grill Chicken Without Drying It Out
Prevent dry, rubbery chicken by brining it before grilling it. Brining is simply the process of immersing chicken in a salt-water solution before grilling it. It also aids in the creation of beautiful grill marks, since the increased surface moisture and sugars brown the chicken rapidly on the grill, preventing it from overcooking on the grill.
The Best Meat Thermometers To Use For Checking Internal Temperature
Look for a digital thermometer with quick reading speeds and a thin probe, so you dont lose too many juices when checking the temperature. Our Test Kitchens favorite thermometer is this speedy Thermapen. It reads the temperature in less than a second, so you can test the doneness without keeping the oven open for extended periods.
You May Like: How Long Do You Grill Chicken
How Long Do You Grill Drumsticks At 400
Instructions
How Long Do You Cook Chicken Thighs On A Weber Grill
Set the Weber grills burners on Low and allow the grill to warm for 15-20 minutes before using it. Place the chicken thighs skin side down on the grill and cook for about 15 minutes. Turn it every 10 minutes while its grilling to ensure even cooking. Grill the thighs for 40-45 minutes, or until they achieve an internal temperature of 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
Don’t Miss: How Many Carbs In Chicken Salad
Cook Briefly And Check For Doneness
In my experience, it takes chicken breasts only a few minutes per side over direct, medium-high heat to both brown and get cooked through at the same time. That being said, it’s a good idea to always use a two-zone firewith all the coals piled on one side of the charcoal gratein case the chicken browns before it’s done cooking through. This way, if need be, you can finish the chicken up on the cool side of the grill, covered, and avoid burning the breasts.
We almost always recommend using an instant-read thermometer when cooking meat, to judge doneness perfectly each time. You can try to use one here, too, but the truth is that with thin cutlets like pounded chicken breasts, it’s very difficult to get an accurate measurement of the temperature at the coolest part: Mere millimeters away from that part, the chicken can be much hotter.
A better way is to determine doneness by sight. If you’re unsure, just make a small incision in a breast, which will allow you to peek into the center to see if it’s cooked through or not.
If you do want to try to take the temp, 150°F is your goal. That’s a bit lower than the 165°F recommended by the FDA, but if you go as high as the FDA says, you’ll be guaranteed dry chicken breast.
How To Grill Chicken Wings
There are several ways to grill wings, but first, lets look at the wing itself.
Wings can either be left whole or separated into drumettes and flats. With this method, I remove the wingtip, saving them with additional chicken parts for a future batch of chicken stock. Separating the wing creates more work on the grill, but in my opinion, it makes for easier eating one-hand eating especially when the other hand is clutching a beer.
Now, on to the grilling part!
Read Also: Mr Chicken And Mrs Tea
Do Rubs Marinades Or Brines Affect Grilling Times
Rubs, marinades, and brines all pack plenty of flavor into what could typically be an otherwise bland piece of meat. But what you may not realize is that some of those extra flavorings can also change your chickens cooking time.
Brines and marinades are a wet method of adding flavor. If you are using a cut of chicken that has the skin attached, it will take the skin longer to dry and brown due to the added moisture. The cooking time is not affected if your chicken is skinless. Keep in mind the sugar content of your marinade. Marinades high in sugar tend to burn easily in direct heat.
Rubs are a great dry method for adding more flavor to your chicken. The seasoning will not make any noticeable difference to your cook time, but it does help the skin to dry and brown.
If you plan on adding any sauce such as BBQ, do so in the last ten minutes of grilling. This prevents the sugars from burning.
Dont Miss: What Is Playing At Studio Movie Grill
Advanced Thermal Thinking: Carryover Cooking In Chicken

If youre concerned about holding it at 157°F for 31 seconds, you certainly neednt be: carryover cooking will make sure your meat is safe!
Most people dont realize that when you take a chicken breast off of the heat, the residual heat in the outermost layers of the chicken will cause the internal temperature to keep rising, creating a temperature equilibrium in the whole piece.
This is advanced thermal thinking because it requires more judgmentit entails a dynamic target with two variables: the temperature of the cooking environment and the mass of the meat being cooked.
Meat cooked in a hotter environment will have more carryover because there will be more thermal energy in the outer layers that will be pumped into the center. Hotter cooking means more carryover cooking: chicken cooked in a smoker at 250°F will have much less carryover than a spatchcocked chicken roasted at 425°F .
A large piece of chicken, say a whole bird, will have a lot more thermal mass that can move heat into the center, meaning the internal temperature will rise more than on a small piece of chicken. A breast experiences less carryover than a whole bird does, and a wing even less.
Don’t Miss: Recipes For Air Fryer Chicken Wings
How Long Does It Take To Grill Chicken Thighs And Drumsticks
Grill time for drumsticks and thighs takes at least 40 minutes. There are two schools of thought here.
One method uses direct heat the entire time. Using medium-high or 450 °F means youll need to turn them every 5 minutes to prevent burning.
The other method is to use indirect heat for 30 minutes and direct heat for the last 10 minutes or so to brown them off.
Regardless of the method you choose, if you want to add sauce, do it during the last 10 minutes, so the sugar doesnt burn.
Its the same as cooking whole leg quarters. Look for an internal temperature of at least 180 °F for best flavor and tenderness. At 190 °F the meat should start to fall off the bone.
Cooking Temperatures Thermometers And Food Safety
When it comes to checking the temperature of cooked chicken nothing can replace a quality digital, instant-read thermometer. They are highly accurate, fast and reliable.
I will touch on other methods to check for doneness if you dont have one, but nothing is better or safer. I STRONGLY recommend you have an instant-read digital thermometer before you cook your first piece of chicken! If you dont have one, check out our guide to the best instant-read thermometers.
Now that you have a thermometer in hand, you need to know the temperature of a properly cooked piece of chicken.
You May Like: How To Make Fried Chicken Sandwich
How To Grill Chicken Breast
Home » Chicken Recipes » How to Grill Chicken Breast
Learn how to grill chicken breast on a gas grill. Guaranteed tender and moist grilled chicken breast with perfect sear marks, every timejust a few simple steps needed. Plus youll learn about a gas grill that makes grilled chicken breast even easier.
This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of Char-Broil. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.