Are you planning a grill night that involves frozen chicken on your charcoal grill? Or are you planning a weekend barbecue for the entire neighborhood or just the family and wondering what to add to your scrumptious slices of pork and beef?
Aside from the usual roasted veggies, beef, and pork, a lot of folks are now grilling chicken. You may have bought your chicken ahead of time and froze it. Now people are showing up and you realize it’s still in the freezer. You might think all is lost, but you will be surprised at how well this can turn out when done right.
You can throw your frozen chicken right on the grill if you do it right. The first thing you’re going to need to do is to place the chicken on low, indirect heat to let it start thawing. Once the chicken is thawed all the way through you can move it to direct heat and cook it the rest of the way.
It is better if you thaw your chicken ahead of time and only thaw it on the grill as a last resort. The reason that you don’t want to thaw frozen chicken straight on the grill top if you don’t have to is that this will cause the frozen skin to stick to the grill. There is, of course, more to grilling chicken than meets the eye.
Using indirect heat is a great way of cooking chicken thighs whether they’re frozen or thawed, and if it is frozen, indirect heat will thaw out the chicken thighs in the process.
When you take the frozen chicken and toss this straight on a hot grill over direct heat, the result can be under-cooked chicken thighs that are dry on the inside or overcooked on the outside.
There is no need to worry, however. Once you get the hang of grilling chicken on indirect heat to perfection, everything becomes second nature, and you will get it right each time.
Don’t Be Afraid of Chicken
A lot of folks avoid grilling chicken due to the tendency of chicken ending up a sticky, half-cooked mess on the grates of your grill. If you have attempted to grill chicken thighs before and have never done it correctly, you are not alone.
Folks who are not familiar with the ways and means of how chicken thighs need to be grilled have all found themselves to be in similar sticky situations.
The good news is that once you get the hang of using indirect heat to cook your chicken thighs and thaw if you forgot to do so ahead of time, your friends and family will be amazed at your grill mastery.
If you did not have time to thaw the chicken thighs, or you forgot to take them out of your freezer before going to work in the morning, we’ve all done it at least once before. Using indirect heat to thaw them out can save you a ton of embarrassment.
Just place your frozen chicken thighs offset of your heat source so that the chicken cooks slowly at least until it’s thawed. Then cook as you usually would.
As soon as you get the hang of grilling chicken thighs to perfection, there is no going back. The juicy tenderness of the thoroughly cooked pieces is something everyone is going to want more of.
It will be to your benefit to learn how to cook chicken thighs on the grill perfectly, as it is quicker and easier than any other ingredient. Your family members will love the perfectly cooked chicken thighs they can dip into their dips of choice and will always come back looking for more.
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Who Doesn’t Love Chicken?
If you are more familiar with grilling vegetables, pork, and beef, you might be surprised how more and more folks are opting to add grilled chicken to their weekend menu since chicken is a quick, easy ingredient and doesn’t make much fuss.
The nutritional content of chicken cannot be denied, and chicken is something that even picky-eaters and kids tend to eat. It cannot be denied that almost everyone loves chicken. The question is, is it okay to grill frozen chicken thighs straight from the freezer? The answer may surprise you. Read on to find out more.
Attaining Grilled Chicken Thigh Perfection
How can you avoid frozen chicken thighs sticking to your grill? The solution is simply to thaw the chicken in such a way that it cooks properly and thoroughly on the grill without a sticky mess.
What you can do is to move your frozen chicken thighs into the refrigerator instead of the freezer when you leave for work so they will be properly thawed the moment you arrive home from work to grill them.
You can also defrost your chicken thighs in the microwave for a few minutes until they thaw completely. Just keep a close eye on your chicken if you’re going to use the defrost setting on your microwave. If you leave your chicken in too long it will start to cook.
Natural thawing is, of course, recommended, but for time-strapped folks that spend the entire day in the office, microwave thawing works just as well as long as you keep a close eye on it.
Avoiding A Sticky Situation
Many busy grill owners have the tendency to plop the frozen chicken right on a hot grill over direct heat just like they would beef and expect it to turn out great. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case when grilling frozen chicken thighs.
When you take frozen chicken thighs from the freezer, as frozen as can be, and throw them on your hot grill, the chicken will stick to the grill, creating a messy, sticky situation that is hard to clean.
But What If There Is No Time?
Okay, so what if you forgot to move the chicken thighs from the freezer into the fridge before going to work today and the traffic coming home was just horrible. To make things worse, let’s say the guests have arrived early or the family is waiting with their empty plates for grilled chicken thighs.
What on earth are you to do? No need to worry. Like I mentioned above, the solution is to use indirect heat to thaw out the chicken thighs. In fact, it is even recommended to cook chicken thighs exclusively with indirect heat whether they’re thawed or not.
Indirect Grilling Recommended For Cooking Chicken Thighs
Indirect grilling is a great way to thaw your frozen thighs if you forgot to do it ahead of time. All that you need to do is cook your frozen chicken thighs as you normally would but on indirect heat. Grill them as if they were already thawed, but for a longer amount of time.
Also known as indirect grilling, indirect heat on a grill means that there is no direct source of heat beneath the food you happen to be grilling at the moment.
Cooking with indirect heat, in other words, is simply putting your still frozen or thawed chicken thighs offset of your heat source. For example, when using a charcoal grill, if you have all the hot charcoals across the back of the grill, then place the chicken thighs close to the front. This way there not directly over the hot coals.
If you have a gas grill it most likely has multiple burners. In this case, it’s as easy as just not using all the burners. Just because your grill has three burners doesn’t mean you need to use them. Leave the middle burner off, and place your chicken thighs over it. Then turn your two outside burners to medium.
You’ll get the same effect as baking or roasting chicken in the oven. This really is the best way of cooking chicken thighs and I advise doing this as a standard operating procedure even for thawed chicken.
When you cook with indirect heat you should set your frozen or thawed chicken on the grill’s indirect heat section with the skin side downwards. Grill the chicken this way for fifteen minutes before turning each piece over.
Once you turn them over, close the grill’s lid and keep it closed for at least ten minutes. You get smoky, juicy thighs that are perfectly cooked each time with this method.
Frozen chicken sticking to your grill because it was too hot is a real hassle for busy homemakers, since you will need to allow extra time just for cleaning the grill. This is why it is never a good idea to put frozen chicken thighs right on a hot grill.
In addition to having frozen chicken stuck on your grill, you will end up with dry or burned chicken if you cook with too high of heat. If this is something you have done before, then you are most likely familiar with the dry, sticky mess you end up with.
Don’t worry, once you get the hang of cooking with indirect heat you won’t have any extra mess to clean up. This is a solution that will help you cook frozen chicken thighs on your grill to perfection.
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Pre-Heating Your Grill
It is always a good idea to preheat your grill before adding the chicken. Preheat your grill for about fifteen to twenty minutes and let your grill reach the right temperature for cooking. Cooking chicken isn’t like cooking beef – you must make sure the chicken is cooked all the way.
The safe internal temperature that chicken needs to be cooked to is 165 Fahrenheit. You can use a meat thermometer to make sure that your not feeding your friends and family undercooked chicken.
Many folks love a crisp exterior with a firm, dark meat. If this sounds like you, then you need to leave your chicken on an extra fifteen minutes and turn them every so often for both sides to be evenly cooked. Keep the temperature of your grill at 275 degrees and finish with high heat.
You might even want to use vinaigrette to dunk your chicken in as this adds moisture to your chicken thighs. Doing this will trap moisture into your thawed chicken thighs, and you will end up with super-moist, juicy chicken thighs no one can resist.
A Great Go-To For Lean Protein
In many healthy diets, chicken thighs are a great go-to for lean protein. People who eat enough protein are able to preserve a great metabolism and maintain muscle mass. The nutritional content of chicken is well-known.
Not only is chicken a great source of your daily protein needs, but it is also low in sodium and low in fat. There are no carbs in chicken thighs so this makes it a great dish for low-carb lifestyles such as the ketogenic diet.
The versatility of chicken thighs makes it an easy people-pleaser. After all, you can sprinkle parmesan on grilled chicken thighs or provide a variety of sauces such as ranch, cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise or even salad dressing and even the kids will love it.
You may just be the most popular neighbor or family member as a result of grilling chicken properly. However, it is still recommended to not grill chicken thighs when they are frozen. Even though the above technique teaches you how I would only do this as a last resort.
The Hidden Benefits of Grilled Chicken Thighs
There are so many benefits to adding grilled chicken thighs to your menu that not many people know about. For one thing, you eat less fat compared to eating fried chicken.
The reason that you eat less fat when you grill chicken is because the excess fat produced by chicken skin or oil dressings simply drips into the grates.
If you’ve ever fried a burger or any meat on the stovetop, the fat stays with the food you cook and gets absorbed by the meat. This doesn’t happen when you grill, since the fat slides into the grates.
Believe it or not, any meat you toss on to the grill retains more thiamine and riboflavin than frying them in the pan. There are many health benefits to retaining these nutrients as they play huge roles in a healthful diet.
Once you master grilling, you will know how to cook your food to perfection. Also, since you’re most likely grilling outdoors, you can force the kids and the rest of the family to be in nature.
Kids can bounce the ball around or toss a frisbee as you grill dinner. This forces them to play outside which never happens these days, with all the gadgetry and indoor activity that has become the norm.
They even get a more delicious meal. The reason is that the grill locks in the moisture of your chicken pieces and thus, you and your guests will be less tempted to add sauce to the cooked chicken thighs on their plate. As a result, you are feeding your family a much healthier meal when you grill your chicken thighs.
Conclusion
Just imagine perfectly cooked chicken thighs with a plethora of dips that everyone loves. You can pair the grilled, juicy thighs of chicken with dips such as ranch, ketchup, mustard, hickory, honey, and even cream cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on each thigh for added flavor.
Each and every member of your family will be sure to keep coming back for more. Grilling chicken thighs to perfection results in perfectly cooked pieces that have a great smoky flavor.
Rest assured cooking with indirect heat will result in juicy thighs of chicken that won’t need anything extra. You will love knowing how simple and easy it actually is to enjoy a great meal outdoors with your family each and every day.
It’s not just chicken thigh you can cook with indirect heat you can click here and read my article on how you cook frozen burger patties. Also, you can click here to read my article on using frozen meat on a grill.
You can also grill a side dish of fruits and veggies that complement your chicken thighs such as cauliflower, carrots, papaya, mangoes, broccoli, potatoes, and for a truly exotic touch, watermelon.
You may just end up with the healthiest group of family and guests for miles around. With more and more restaurants serving less nutritional food choices that are simply not up to par, grilling chicken thighs with a side dish of fresh vegetables results in healthier bodies.
Grilling can lead to a great bonding experience outdoors as you grill, becoming more in touch with the natural surroundings of your yard, and most of all, a delicious meal of perfectly cooked chicken thighs right in your outdoor grill at home.
As Always, Happy Grilling!