Grilling tips: How to perfect chicken on the barbecue

Yvonne Duivenvoorden

1. Marinate chicken for 20 min at room temperature, or refrigerate for four hours (or even overnight).

2. Skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces deliver the most delicious and moist results. Grill over medium-low with the lid closed.

3. To prevent chicken from sticking to the grill, don’t even touch it for the first 15 min. Then slide a metal spatula
between the chicken and the grill before turning.

4. Brush chicken with marinade (see below for recipes) during grilling but stop at least 10 min before cooking is done to allow the marinade to fully cook.

5. For skinless, boneless chicken (which often dries out on the grill), marinate, then brush with oil. Grill over medium for about seven min per side.




Keep it interesting with any of these taste boosters. Each one works with eight bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces:

Classic BBQ glaze: Mix 1/4 cup ketchup with 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp minced garlic and pinch of cayenne. Brush over nearly cooked chicken and grill another 3 min.

Asian marinade: Combine 1/4 cup fish sauce and 2 tbsp each sesame oil, chili-garlic sauce and rice vinegar. Marinate chicken for 20 min.

Island rub: Mix 1 1/2 tsp each allspice, cinnamon, cumin, curry, dried thyme and salt. Rub on chicken just before grilling.

Looking for more recipe ideas? Here are our five must try chicken recipes for the summer:

Lemon-garlic chicken (pictured above)
Stuffed Greek chicken
Grilled Turkish chicken
Lemon chicken with mint
Panini-style grilled chicken