Barbecue chicken is a classic summer dish that most of us love. When done right, it hits the spot with its charred exterior and juicy, tender meat However, improper cooking can lead to disappointing results – dried out, overcooked chicken that no one wants to eat So what exactly is the proper temperature for cooking chicken on the barbecue to perfection? Let’s break it down step-by-step.
Why Temperature Matters
Cooking chicken properly is all about temperature control Chicken needs to reach a safe minimum internal temperature in order to kill any potential bacteria and make the meat safe to eat For chicken, that temperature is 165°F according to food safety recommendations.
On the other end of the spectrum, allowing the temperature to get too high will cause the moisture in the meat to evaporate, leading to dry, rubbery chicken. No one wants that either!
So the key is keeping the barbecue temperature in the ideal range – high enough to cook the chicken through and develop flavor, but not so high that the meat dries out. This can take some finesse when using the notoriously uneven heat of a barbecue.
Prepping Your Chicken
You can barbecue a variety of chicken cuts – boneless breasts, thighs, drumsticks, or a whole bird. Bone-in cuts with the skin on tend to be more flavorful and less prone to overcooking. Thighs in particular excel when barbecued.
Aim for uniform sized pieces so they will cook at the same rate. Pound thicker pieces to an even thickness.
Before cooking, pat the chicken dry and coat with a light brushing of oil. This helps promote browning and prevent sticking. Avoid basting chicken with sugary sauces too early – this can cause burning.
Getting the Right Barbecue Temperature
Here are some temperature guidelines to aim for when barbecue cooking chicken:
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325-375°F (163-191°C) – This moderate heat is ideal for bone-in chicken pieces like thighs, drumsticks, and wings. Cook for 25-40 minutes, turning occasionally.
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400-450°F (204-232°C) – Use this hotter temperature range for quicker cooking of boneless breasts, which tend to dry out easily. Cook for 8-12 minutes per side.
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500°F+ (260°C+) – Crank up a charcoal or gas grill for an initial sear to develop flavor. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side, then move chicken to a cooler area.
The most foolproof way to monitor barbecue temperature is using a good quality probe thermometer. This takes the guesswork out and alerts you when the chicken is done.
How to Tell When Chicken is Cooked Through
Relying just on cook time is unreliable, as barbecue temperature can fluctuate. Instead, use these visual and temperature cues:
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The minimum safe internal temperature is 165°F on a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part.
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Juices should run clear when pierced with a fork or knife tip. Pink or red juices means undercooked chicken.
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The meat near the bone should no longer be pink. Bone-in chicken is fully cooked when it pulls cleanly away from the bone.
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The outside will develop an opaque, whitish color.
Allow chicken to rest 5 minutes before serving. The temperature will continue rising slightly during this time, helping to ensure doneness while keeping the meat juicy.
Common Barbecue Chicken Mistakes
It’s easy to go wrong when attempting barbecue chicken. Watch out for these common pitfalls:
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Cooking over too high a temperature can lead to burning or drying out. Keep the heat on the lower end of the recommended range.
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Failing to monitor temperature results in under or overcooking. Use a thermometer for guaranteed doneness.
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Saucing too early causes burning or charring rather than caramelization. Brush on sauces in the last 5-10 minutes only.
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Overcrowding means uneven cooking. Leave plenty of space between pieces. Cook in batches if needed.
Mastering Perfect Barbecue Chicken
It takes a little practice to nail down the ideal barbecue temperature for different cuts of chicken. Investing in a good thermometer helps immensely. Don’t be afraid to experiment with heat levels until you find what works for your grill. With the right technique, you’ll be rewarded with juicy, flavorful barbecue chicken all summer long. Trust me, it’s worth the effort!
How to trim chicken for BBQ gold
To get best results with chicken thighs, you need to trim them.
Bam Bam describes 3 levels of trimming, depending on how much effort you want to put in and how perfect you want the results to be. He calls them after different people and the *ahem* esteem given to each person.
- The Mother-in-law level is the easiest, lowest effort that results in acceptable chicken.
- Neighbors get a little more effort and finesse, and take a little bit more work.
- New Girlfriend/Boss gets the most show-off effort. This is the level that Bam Bam turns in at competitions.
Let’s examine them each in turn.
The Mother-in-law preparation is simple: apply rub to the bottom of the thigh, turn it over and apply it to the skin on the top side. Then grab the corners of the meat and skin that lay flabbily on the table. Fold the skin under the thigh, trying to leave no prints in the rub. Quickly trim any loose bits off, if you like. It’s quick, it’s easy, it won’t win any awards … but it still looks pretty nice and by tucking the skin under, you make the piece more uniform so that it cooks better.
If you want to create a more impressive chicken thigh—perhaps for a neighborhood cookout—but you don’t wave the time to apply the full competition prep to every thigh, Bam Bam recommends taking things a step or two further than for the Mother-in-law.
First, he says, pull the skin as far off the thigh as you can. It will stick along a seam of fat, so slice through that seam gently with a sharp knife to free the skin completely. With the skin removed, “cut anything off the meat itself that you aren’t going to eat,” he says.
Bam Bam trims off the fatty bits that cling to the meat. With the short length of this cook, he says, you won’t be rendering any blobs like that.
Once those bits have been trimmed, lay the joint out on the cutting board and trim any meat off that extends beyond the knuckle of the leg bone, squaring off the edge of the meat for a cleaner presentation.
The skin also gets a little more treatment in the Neighbor trim: Spread it out and, with your knife at a nearly flat angle, trim any high spots off of the fatty side by keeping the blade moving and letting the edge to the work so you don’t tear the skin. Cut it so that it is uniform and squared off on all sides. You don’t want to cut too much of the skin off, though. Bam Bam warns that the skin will shrink during cooking, so you want enough to be left that you can rewrap the chicken with a little bit of overlap on the bottom side.
Before rewrapping, you need to season the meat. Season both sides of the meat with a good rub.
Bam Bam uses this step as an opportunity to layer flavors by using more than one rub—one on the meat and another on the skin. “Keep it simple though,” he says. “Make sure the rubs you use work together. A lot of guys do too much fiddling with it.” If using a sweet rub, Bam Bam recommends layering it under the skin to minimize the risk of burning the sugars.
Once the meat is seasoned, wrap the thigh in skin, tuckingit together on the bottom. “Some guys use toothpicks to hold it together,” hesays. “Some guys even use meat glue”—his eyes roll and he scoffs—“but the day Ineed to use meat glue to compete, I’m done.” He simply lets the skin adhere tothe meat, knowing there will be some shrinkage.
Trim away the extra skin so that when it is re-wrapped onto the meat there is enough to cover the edible portion and overlap just a little bit. With the skin in place, season the piece lightly again, being careful to avoid smudging the rub.
This method gives you uniform, nice, even chicken with nogristly bits to interrupt your enjoyment. Certainly something you’d be proud toserve your neighbors. But there is yet one more level of chicken BBQ perfectionto achieve…
Competition trim starts like the neighbor trim by removing the skin completely from the thigh. When prepping for a competition, Bam Bam emphasizes that just because this piece of skin came from this thigh doesn’t mean it has to go back on this thigh. If a large thigh has barely enough skin to cover it and a small thigh has way too much, go ahead and trade skins around.
With the skins removed, Bam Bam’s next move is to “knockdown the high spots” with his knife laid almost perfectly flat against theskin. You need a very sharp knife to avoid tearing the tender skin, he says. Hepoints out that chicken skin itselfis quite translucent, letting a good deal of light through. If your skin isquite opaque then it has a lot of fat on it. Bam Bam does not recommendscraping all of that fat off, only the high spots, but he has a trick forgetting crisp, un-flabby skin that we’ll come to later.
Once the skins are taken care of, trim the meat. Remove the same fatty and gristly bits that we removed for the Neighbor cut, and square off the meat along the sides. If there are any obvious veins in the meat, trim them out with a sharp knife, and inspect the chicken for anything that could be seen as interrupting a ‘perfect’ bite.
To make a more uniform piece, and to make pieces that aresmall enough to fit six to a box for the judges, Bam Bam cuts the knuckle ofthe thigh bone off. “Find this little line of fat,” he says, and cut theknuckle off along that line. “Some guys use garden shears, me, I just…” (atthis point Bam Bam placed the knife edge where he wanted to cut the bone, andpounded the spine with his other hand, popping the knuckle clean off.)
While preparing the thighs for actual cooking, Bam Bamtalked a little bit about competitions and judging. Emphasizing the “one-bite” judging thathappens, he holds up a thigh, demonstrating that there is a meatier side of thebone and a less meaty side. “I’ll put that side facing the judges,” he says.Most people, he says, just pick it up and take a bite without turning it aroundor anything, so that first bite can be improved by positioning it correctly inthe turn-in box.
To make sure the very best chicken gets turned in, he says that he’ll cook 10–12 thighs if six are to be turned in. That way the best looking, best-done pieces can be used. But, he says, “if it’s cooked right and tastes good, you’re gonna beat 80% of the competition … taste is the biggest score” on the scorecard.
To season the pieces, Bam Bam will hold each piece in one hand while sprinkling rub with the other, moving both around to get even, light coverage. He then wraps the thighs in skin and seasons them again in the same way, being extra careful not to smudge the rub.
The result is a rectangular, compact, completely uniform piece of chicken that is going to cook evenly and present nothing but perfection on the first bite. The competition style is the most compact, the most even
Why I don’t cook chicken to 165°F
FAQ
What is the best temperature to cook barbecue chicken?
The cooking temperature range for barbecue is about 200-300°F (93-149°C). Normally, that means a long slow cooking process, but a whole chicken is a tender, leaner cut of meat than traditional BBQ cuts.
Is it better to grill chicken at 350 or 400?
What is the proper cooking temperature for barbecued chicken at an outdoor event?
I suggest running the grill at 375 °F. This temperature is hot enough to get the skin crispy, but not so hot that any sauce or seasoning will burn.
How long to cook chicken on the barbecue at 375 degrees?
cook them at 375-400 Deg F. 25-30 mins for boneless, 35-45 mins for bone in.