Previously on Saucyman

Last week a reader asked about keeping chicken moist on the grill.

A good question, the high heat of a grill and the low fat content of chicken can really work together in unison, symbiosis or as enabling codependents to dry out the chicken. There is an added degree of difficulty in cooking a whole chicken because the dark meat takes longer to cook than the white meat.

In the past, I have delineated the difference between grilling and BBQ: High and Dry v. Low and Slow. And I have repeatedly harangued about the number one problem facing all cooks – blasting heat – an issue that gets compounded with the grill - maybe it is something primordial in our DNA, but flames are really cool, or maybe the Paris Hiltonesque hot is a better descriptive, but if flame is cool or hot, more flame is more alluring.

So the desire to build a fire, compounded by the manly desire (an estimated 70% of all grilled foods are prepared by fellas in the US) to build a bigger fire makes for some chicken peril. Like all other cooking – a game plan, a little knowledge and a small attention to detail will pay dividends.

For whole chickens I am partial to my pressure cooker chicken, but summer is here, I couldn’t stand the heat so I got out of the kitchen and fired up the charcoal and made the beer can chicken. A whole chicken is roasted vertically on an open can of beer  - the metal in the can heats up and helps cook the chicken from the inside out and the warm beer self-bastes the chicken.

This was my first time trying it and other than it made the beer warm and flat and taste like chicken, the whole technique worked out well for the chicken. I did use a lower fire, indirect heat and added a few extra tablespoons of butter to the breast so it wouldn’t dry out. The fact that I want to try it again is probably the best endorsement I can give, I am going to mix it up a little and grill the chicken with a can of ginger ale, sesame noodles and napa cabbage slaw.

How to keep your chicken moist on the grill? You can brine, you can baste, you can break out the rotisserie - which will rotate your chicken slowly above a fire. You can go the opposite direction and cut the chicken into smaller pieces and flash cook them – ala kabob. But mostly using a combination of low to medium heat, keeping the chicken away from direct flames and checking the internal temp with a thermometer you will have moist chicken. USDA says 165º is safely cooked and they also editorialize – tasty. Whatever, fine, you don’t want to fight the man, just keep in mind food keeps cooking after you take it off the fire. Checking the temp with a calibrated thermometer - then pulling it off the fire between 150-155, will keep your chicken in the proper temp range. Letting your chicken, whole, grilled breast drumsticks… rest for 10 minutes to finish cooking and allowing the meat reabsorb the cooking juices before slicing, that is going to keep things on the moist side too.