Kitchen

[Stargazer77]

Hello, Kitchen Board Ladies!  This may very well be one of the dumbest questions ever, but since nobody knows who I am, well, I can live with it.  

My question today is how do you make a really good grilled chicken breast?  I felt like grilled chicken so I went to the store and bought a package of Belle & Evans chicken breasts, not thin-sliced.  I generally only eat very thin-sliced chicken breast (like for chicken parm, etc.).  I felt a thin-sliced chicken breast may not work great on a grill, but I don't know.  

Before I go any further, I should say that I don't really grill very often and if I do it's a hamburger or a hot dog and not chicken.  I don't enjoy cooking.  I am not a fabulous cook (I have certain things that I make well).  I also get frustrated when something doesn't come out great, which is a quality I do not like about myself at all.  

I think my expectations are too high because I guess I really want my grilled chicken to taste like Chick-Fil-A, but I don't want to keep eating fast food, both for health reasons (my weight is healthy and I want it to stay that way) and for money reasons.  I would just like to be able to make a good grilled chicken by myself at home.  

So, I marinated my chicken breast in Zesty Italian dressing for about an hour and put it on the grill.  My heat was on the lower side and it took forever to cook, but some were also blackened (I did not want to eat a blackened chicken).  I used my poultry thermometer to keep testing for food safety (I am paranoid about getting food poisoning).  I had had it with one piece so I threw it in the microwave for 20 seconds and it was fine.  Unfortunately, one piece fell in the dish pan...with soap.  Oy.  

The piece that I ate was OK, not dry, but not flavorful.  I would like to make a healthy, yet flavorful piece of chicken.  Because right now, I stink!  And I'm mad!

I guess those are all the important points and everyone can get a little chuckle out of my post.  If anyone has helpful hints I would love to hear them.  Thank you for reading.  

[Kachina624]

When I grill chicken, I always use breasts that have the bone in and skin on.  The skinless meat dries out too easily.  I build a hot fire but once the coals are ready for the meat, I push them to the outside edge so none of the chicken is directly over the coals.  This prevents it from burning and cooking too fast.  I like barbecue sauce on mine, which I add the last 10 minutes or so because it burns easily.  I use a grill with a lid so the meat is in essence baking.  I also use hickory chips which I've first soaked in water so they'll smoke. 

[I am still oxox]

I use my Capahlon ridged grill pan, I rarely grill the chicken outside.

[Carmie]

I grill a lot of skinned chicken  breasts.  Mine are usually about 1 inch thick.  Adjust the time for ticker or thinner breasts.

i always make sure the breast is about the same thickness on the whole piece.  If it is not, I pound the thick end down so it cooks evenly.

i preheat my grill on very high heat.

i brush olive oil on the breasts and season.

then place the breasts on the hot grill for about  3 minutes.  I pick them up once ( if they are sticking to the grid, they are not ready to turn yet) and turn them to get great grill marks and cook for another 2 minutes or so,

then, I flip them over to cook on the other side for about 2 minutes, then turn them for grill marks and cook for about 2 minutes longer.

chicken should cook on high heat to sear, not low heat or they will turn out like hockey pucks,  when seared, the juice is trapped inside and they stay moist.  At this point insert the thermometer and check to see if done.  If not, cook longer, but do not turn them over.

as with all meats, it is not suggested that you not flip the meat over more than once.  You can turn the meat a quarter turn to add grill marks as often as you like.

[Katcat1]

When I use to grill chicken it was with a weber charcoal grill.  Bone in chicken breasts w/skin on.  Salt & pepper and place on grill and cover so it cooks usually takes 20 to 30 minutes when it's almost done start putting the barbeque sauce on one side, cover grill cook a little and turn and more barbque sauce on the other side.  You want the barbeque sauce to cook into the meat.  Yum, now I hungry.  I no longer grill as we are not allowed to grill on our decks.  

[Leelee1123]

i buy boneless chicken breast and slice in half.  I recently used a dry rub of chili lime seasoning from trader Joes.  LOVE IT!  rubbed it all over the chicken and then grilled.  Simple healthy and good!  used leftovers for meal prep lunches (salads fahitas etc)

[jaxs mom]

Are we talking bonesless skinless? The trick is to not overcook it. Which means not followng that crazy USDA temperatures which dry out everything. I do not marinade. I do use spices for flavor. 

[ValuSkr]

"Cornell Chicken" is the only way to prepare barbecue chicken in Upstate and Western New York.  It's very popular and delicious.  The sauce is simple enough: egg, vegetable oil, cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning, 

https://whatscookingamerica.net/Poultry/CornellChickenBarbecue.htm

[Gram W]

@ValuSkr @I grew up on the Cornell sauce.   My children now use it at their homes.  It is the best.  If you go to a fund raiser in central NY you are most likely to find them using this sauce.  Saturday I stopped at a fund raiser to support Cancer research.  That is the sauce they used.   There will be such fund raisers all summer.  

[roxxy1]

I use my trusty old George Forman grill.