Grilling Chicken


 
S

Steven J Simpkins

New member
I am having trouble grilling chicken. I grill the chicken then check it with a thermometer and get the correct reading showing that the chicken is done. I stick it with a fork and the juices are clear. However when I separate the leg from the thigh or the wing from the breast the meat is pink. How do you get the part between the leg and thigh done without drying out the rest of the chicken?
 
To get rid of the pink you need to cook the thigh to about 175. The meat is safe to eat at 160 but many people find the pink unpalatable. Me I don't mind it but my wife wont touch it.
 
This is the dilemma of whole chicken and turkeys, as the breast will be done before the drumstick and thigh.

Although cooking a little longer will do, you take a chance in drying out the breast.

Turkey tricks - cover the breast with foil. put an ice pack on the breast to delay doneness(is this a word?)

Spatcock the chicken.
 
please send all that chicken that you believe to be undercooked to:
Jim Lampe
Raymond Wisconsin 53108

I'll be certain to TCO any concerns you may have.

Yeah, 160º and eet it. It's good to go!
and if you're like me, colourblind, you probably won't see pink anyway
icon_wink.gif
 
You could also cut a small slit between the leg and thigh or dislodge the joint by simply snapping it back.
When my DIL was pregnant she wouldn't/couldn't eat any thing remotely pink(Doctors Orders)
I told my son to try that with leg quarters instead of cooking them to death.
Happy wife, happy son and great chicken.
icon_smile.gif

Tim
 
I've seen posts, here I think - perhaps from Kevin - that propose that the pink is not from undercooked chicken, but rather results from the chickens being processed at an increasingly immature age, and that results in the pink color in the joints. Temp is temp, after all.....

Pat
 
I like to grill chicken as all parts, not whole. It seems easier for me to move them around to different temp areas on the grill to get them mostly all done at the same time.
 
I started spatchcocking them, but it only takes one more cut and you have 2 halves. Easier to arrange on the grill and cook more evenly.
 
+1 to Lew above. Whole chickens are much cheaper than parts and are very easy to spatch or cut up. I like them spatched and split into two halves, cooked bone side down. Cooks faster, more completely (even in the joints and dark meat) and are easy to handle and you can remove pieces that are done faster than the others. Spend a few minutes cutting up a whole chicken and you shouldn't have any problems with pink meat.
 
I don't mind a little pink either. The idea of opening up the joint a bit helps a lot though.

Here's my family's all time favorite grilled chicken recipe. Marinate (brine?) the chicken in soy sauce with a lot of fresh garlic. I like to marinate it in a freezer bag. then grill as usual. (soy sauce is quite salty, so I figure this is close to a brine).

Mike
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by timothy:
You could also cut a small slit between the leg and thigh </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jacques Pepin uses this method as well.
 
I knew this old Filipino guy that used to make the best grilled chicken. I finally got is secret recipe and was suprised.

Marinate chicken pieces from whole chicken overnight in large baggie with:

8 cloves garlic smashed
5 slices of fresh ginger (like the size of a nickel)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 can 7 up

Better than it sounds. He used to do this in a 5 gal bucket full of chicken pieces for his picnics.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brad Olson:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by timothy:
You could also cut a small slit between the leg and thigh </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jacques Pepin uses this method as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep! It was either him or the Frug I picked that up from.

Tim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top