Are you excited about a home-cooked, deliciously juicy, and tender grilled chicken half? It is not difficult at all. Especially with its crispy skin and moist meat, grilled half chicken is a matchless dish. And here we are going to tell you the best recipe and chef’s bonus secret tips to grill half chicken perfectly.
Contrary to a common belief that a half chicken is easier to grill than a whole chicken, the process sometimes comes with its concerns. Boneless chicken being so lean turns to get dry or bland and sometimes becomes rubbery as well. To grill half chicken perfectly, some points are very important.
The problem occurs when your grilled chicken is burnt on the outside but is raw from the inside. Though you can grill a whole chicken in the same way, cutting it in half will get your chicken to fit easily on the grill. You can cook it quickly without fear of an uncooked proportion.
Here we are sharing a great recipe to grill half chicken along with the chef’s secrets to cooking it perfectly. For more information you may follow this blog post.
Recipe to grill half chicken
In this recipe, you will prepare your grill half chicken at halftime, without creating any unnecessary mess of dishes.
Ingredients
Chicken
For grill half chicken, first, take a pre-wrapped half chicken. If you couldn’t get one, then buy a whole chicken, bring it to a skilled butcher and cut it in half. Or you can also cut the whole chicken into halves by just following some easy steps.
Split the halves yourself
- Take a cutting board, a chef’s knife (must be a large one), a small cutting knife, and poultry shears. Now with its breast side facing down, place your whole chicken on a cutting board.
- The neck end of the chicken should be closer to you. With the help of kitchen shears, cut both sides of the backbone all the way downwards.
- Now turn the chicken around and with legs close to you this time. Remove the cartilage by cutting on either side of it. Once disconnected with bones, hold the cartilage with your hand and cut it all around until it is released.
- Flip your chicken and press it down to flatten it.
- Take your chef’s knife and split the bird in by cutting from the neck to all the way down.
Oil
You will need a bit of oil to rub it on your chicken. To get knowledge about best cooking oils for grilling, please visit this blog post.
Spices
Take ground pepper or paprika. You can enhance the flavor by adding a little bit of onion and garlic powder. Take some salt that fits your taste.
BBQ Sauce
A bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce will do wonders. If you are going to use teriyaki sauce then we will suggest you prepare it a day before grilling to add more flavors to your grilled chicken.
You can also add other ingredients like soy sauce, garlic sauce, lemon, and honey to boost the essence of your teriyaki sauce.
Procedure
Step 1: Prepare the chicken
If you are using a frozen chicken then defrost it first in your refrigerator. Rinse the half thoroughly and bring your chicken to room temperature. Once you defrost your chicken, cook it right away, and do not freeze it again.
Now take a medium size bowl and add all the ingredients to it. Now add the chicken half in it and massage this blend on the surface of the chicken. Rub it thoroughly and let it set.
Step 2: Set up your grill
Prepare your grill by warming it up using charcoal or gas (depending upon the type of grill you are using) at 500°F for at least 10 minutes. Make sure that you set briquettes to the sides.
This will allow you to cook with indirect heat. You can also pile the briquettes and light them up. Once heated to 500F for 10 minutes, now bring the temperature to 350F or medium heat.
Step 3: Ready to grill
Put both halves on the grill with their skin side facing upwards. Close the lid tight to ensure that heat and flames grill the chicken properly. Cook this side for 20-25 minutes until the skin starts to brown.
Flip the chicken with the skin side facing down this time. Cook the other side of that half chicken for additional 20 minutes. Keep a close check on the temperature and the cooking time as they work side by side to give you a perfect barbeque.
Your estimated cooking time for each side is 20-25 minutes or when you see the juice running clear through it when you pierce.
If you are using a sugar-based marinate to baste the chicken halves, you can begin brushing it during the last 5 minutes. In the case of wine or oil-based marinade, you can do it throughout the grilling.
Your gilled half chicken is ready to serve!
Serving ideas
- You can serve your smoking hot grilled chicken halves with roasted vegetables or a loaf of bread.
- Mashed potatoes, grilled or creamed corn on the cob, and green salad will always serve the best will grill chicken.
- You can also go for a tangy potato or creamy cucumber salad and cheesy bread to serve with grilled chicken.
Bonus tips
Season your chicken halves and let them marinate for 24 hours. This guarantees the deep penetration of spices in the chicken, excavating the flavor.
To avoid your grilled chicken from getting dry, you can put your marinated chicken half with its seasoning into a plastic bag and then let it set in a refrigerator.
Once you start grilling, the temperature of the grill should be medium throughout the process. As high flames will burn your chicken from the outside with the raw inside.
When both sides are cooked, do not remove the chicken immediately from the grill. Instead, keep flipping it from side to side for at least five minutes to ensure that it cooked well.
If you want those grill marks to be on your chicken’s skin, then here is the most effective tip. Make sure to preheat the grill for five to ten minutes before putting the chicken on it. Pre-heated grills will add grill marks to your chicken.
With this recipe and the bonus tips, your perfect grilled half chicken is ready to serve during summer BBQs or winter evening dinners.
FAQs
Q1: How to cut the bones for half chicken?
Ans: A sharp butcher knife is needed for strong cuts. Just place the chicken on cutting board, slightly run the knife for a grip and press hard to crack the bones in one go.
Q2: What temperature is good to grill half chicken?
Ans: To grill half chicken properly, 165F temperature is needed as suggested by USDA.
Q3: How long will it take to grill half chicken?
Ans: It will take almost an hour on direct heat to grill half chicken. 20-25 mins each side is necessary.