Boneless skinless chicken breast, reverse sear, on a kettle


 
G

GarciaWork

TVWBB Member
Hey all, planning to throw some chicken breasts on the kettle in a bit, but I am still new at charcoal setup. If I am looking to indirect, and finish off with a little bit of sear at the end, what would y'all plan for time wise, and how much charcoal should I use? Newb questions I know, but I would rather get an idea rather than ruin dinner for my wife and girls. Still getting used to how much to use, and when to pour it in and all that.

Thanks!
 
Generally on a reverse sear the first indirect cook is done at a low temp (say 300 F or less). With my Weber jumbo joe with SnS I may only start with 10 briquettes. I have grilled hundreds of chicken breasts over the decades but never have done a reverse sear with them. Time wise will depend on size of chicken breast. Grilled a few small ones (less than 1/2 lb each) over direct coals with lid on on a Smokey Joe last night. Took internal temp to 155 F and pulled to allow for carryover to mid 160’s. Total time to pull was roughly 22 minutes). Larger breasts at < 300F indirect might take 40 minutes plus. If you are not planning to rest before sear you should pull well before 155F to give you room on temp rise during sear.

Do you have a sous vide circulator ? This would be a classic cook for one.

Let us know how it turns out. Direct, lid on chicken breast cook is pretty easy to manage if you have a temp probe.
 
Keith P said:
Generally on a reverse sear the first indirect cook is done at a low temp (say 300 F or less). With my Weber jumbo joe with SnS I may only start with 10 briquettes. I have grilled hundreds of chicken breasts over the decades but never have done a reverse sear with them. Time wise will depend on size of chicken breast. Grilled a few small ones (less than 1/2 lb each) over direct coals with lid on on a Smokey Joe last night. Took internal temp to 155 F and pulled to allow for carryover to mid 160’s. Total time to pull was roughly 22 minutes). Larger breasts at < 300F indirect might take 40 minutes plus. If you are not planning to rest before sear you should pull well before 155F to give you room on temp rise during sear.

Let us know how it turns out. Direct, lid on chicken breast cook is pretty easy to manage if you have a temp probe.
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I may just go with the direct, lid on option. Still getting a feel for what temp the charcoal will be at. This is a bit different than my Genesis, that is for sure. Would a half chimney do it, do you think?
 
I used 1/2 a chimney on the 14” jumbo Joe which was plenty. With a larger kettle just pile the charcoal together on one side. And don’t worry too much about ambient / charcoal temp. Key temp to monitor is chicken temp. For the cook last night I used a ThermoWorks signal with one of their needle probes but any instant read thermometer will be okay. I set the temp alarm and focus on the rest of the meal until the alarm sounds.

You should definitely experiment with reverse sear, a great technique. Find yourself a nice thick steak or pork chop as a start. Toughest thing for me to learn on reverse sear is how much room temp wise to leave between the indirect pull and final desired temp. Learned it is pretty easy to correct pulling it from indirect too early, and impossible to correct when pulled too late
 
Keith P said:
I used 1/2 a chimney on the 14” jumbo Joe which was plenty. With a larger kettle just pile the charcoal together on one side. And don’t worry too much about ambient / charcoal temp. Key temp to monitor is chicken temp. For the cook last night I used a ThermoWorks signal with one of their needle probes but any instant read thermometer will be okay. I set the temp alarm and focus on the rest of the meal until the alarm sounds.

You should definitely experiment with reverse sear, a great technique. Find yourself a nice thick steak or pork chop as a start. Toughest thing for me to learn on reverse sear is how much room temp wise to leave between the indirect pull and final desired temp. Learned it is pretty easy to correct pulling it from indirect too early, and impossible to correct when pulled too late
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Makes sense. I have a thermoworks smoke 2 probe, so I stick one in the biggest chicken breast, and the other in the grill typically. I'll check the smaller ones earlier and move to the indirect area if they reach temp.

I do have some pork tenderloins I may try reverse searing next week. I know there is a bit of art to how much room to leave for the temp raising when doing the final sear.
 
5-6% wet brine for 12-24 hours. season as needed. cook indirect at 300-350F till 145F at the thickest part then move to direct coal for searing.

i'd personally cook this a pollo asado (flavorwise) and then move to sear at the end.

BLSL chicken breasts make a great protein and will be super moist and juicy when cooked indirect to direct or a fast hard sear up front and then finished indirect to 155F and then removed and rested then sliced.

third party credibility: https://tvwbb.com/threads/pollo-asado-tacos.95329/

recipe here: https://tvwbb.com/threads/pollo-asado-for-chicken-tacos-or-fajitas.95259/
 
LMichaels said:
Chicken breasts are not worth all that trouble. For one thing, FAR too lean, another, they cook way to fast (because they're so lean), and last, they're just not all that good anyway.
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We only purchase whole chicken legs cut-down-the-middle for all our grilling sessions as the chicken breast is a bit too dry for our taste.
 

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Usually with chicken breasts I'll try to marinate in plain old Wishbone Italian or some other generic Italian bottled dressing. I know it's a lazy way but it works. Let them marinate, then slap them on a nice hot grill. Cook them fast and hot.
 
timothy said:
Pound them thin, then bread and fry.
That's about the only way I eat them.
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Another problem with BLSL chicken breasts is that one end is thick and the other is thin. So difficult to get the whole breast cooked correctly. So (depending what dish I'm making) I will even the thickness out by either a butterfly or cutting the breast into one thick and one thin piece.

And to add some Maillard flavor, I sear in the front using a flat top direct. Since flat top/hot metal is the fastest browning method, you can avoid the overcook. Then bring the temp up gradually to finish the cook on the regular grates indirect.
 
I don’t think there is any problem reverse searing the breasts.
Having an even thickness does have advantages and makes a better cook imo.
Depending upon the cut I normally do a sear before taking the bird off the grill.
I know it’s a bit of over kill but for charcoal I will do 2 baskets of lump mesquite charcoal.
For me I find chicken can get too smokey because it really absorbs the smoke so I don’t normally use smoke wood, instead of wood I use lump coal for the majority of my flavor.
I also find that preheating the grill will help the meat not to still.
 
i am making pollo asado for dinner tonight.

skin on, boneless breasts and thighs. i'll hard sear over very hot JD to start the cook and then move to indirect to render the skin fat and cook to internal desired temps (once the breasts hit 155F, i'll pull everything since the thighs will be done based on past experience, say 180F).

a little rest barely tented so as to no make the skin wet and soggy, then chop it all up for tacos.

likely will do mango margs as we have a bunch of that frozen from costco. and some fresh salsa.
 
LMichaels said:
Usually with chicken breasts I'll try to marinate in plain old Wishbone Italian or some other generic Italian bottled dressing. I know it's a lazy way but it works. Let them marinate, then slap them on a nice hot grill. Cook them fast and hot.
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I don't bother grilling them any more. I flatten them a little for even cooking, use any rub without too much sugar, (or a commercial air-fryer coating like any of the House of Autry seasonings), breast side down for 8 minutes, flip and pull it when the internal temp hits 160.
To keep it OT, when I grilled, them, I do them relatively hot and fast on direct heat. If I find that they want to burn, I finish them off on the cooler side of the grill...
 
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