DadCooksDinner

  • Home
  • Rotisserie
  • Recipes
  • Tools
  • Books
  • Merch
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Merch
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Books
    • Tools
    • Merch
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Basic technique

    Grill Roasted Chicken Pieces: Basic Technique

    Published: Aug 30, 2008 · Modified: Feb 8, 2015 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

    This is the basic technique for grill roasted chicken. It's my favorite way to cook chicken breast on the grill - bone in, skin on, indirect heat for 40 to 45 minutes. It comes out much juicier than boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

    Personally, I prefer dark meat, and this technique also gives you great chicken legs, or thighs and drumsticks.

    The basic technique gives you a delicious, basic "grilled chicken" with nice crisp skin. But this technique is the base for cooking any bone-in chicken pieces on the grill. In the technique, I show you where you should add a rub, like a barbecue rub or spice paste (before the chicken goes on the grill), or where you should add a glaze, like barbecue sauce or teriyaki sauce (at the end of the grilling time, because glazes tend to have a lot of sugar, and they will burn if you put them on too soon.)

    Basic Technique: Grill Roasted Chicken Pieces

    Ingredients

    • Chicken: 4 lbs assorted chicken pieces, bone in and skin on

    Brine (optional, but helps a lot, especially with breasts)

    • Brine: ¼ cup table salt (½ cup Kosher salt), dissolved in 1 quart water
    • Brine for 1 hour


    Instructions:
    1. If you have the time, brine the chicken pieces: Submerge them in the brine solution, and refrigerate for 1 hour (no more than 4 hours).

    2. Preheat grill, and set to indirect/high.
    On a charcoal grill, light a chimney full of charcoal, wait for it to be covered with ash, then spead the charcoal in two piles on opposite sides of the grill, leaving a space in the middle for a drip pan.
    On a gas grill, preheat with all burners on for 15 minutes. Leave the ones on the outside on, and turn off the burners in the middle. On a 3 burner grill, you'd have On-off-On. On a 4 burner - On-off-off-On. And so on...

    3. Season chicken with ground pepper. Salt it as well, if you didn't brine the chicken. I use about ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt per piece. *Also - if you're using a rub, season the chicken with the rub now as well.

    4. Put chicken on indirect part of grill grate, skin side down, and cook with the lid closed. Turn skin side up after 20 minutes, or when the skin is browned. The chicken is fully cooked when the chicken breasts until they reach 160*F at their thickest part, and the legs/thighs until they reach 170*F. This will probably take 40 minutes for the breasts/wings, and 50 minutes for the legs/thighs.

    5. If using a glaze (like barbecue sauce), when the chicken is almost cooked, brush the skin side with glaze, then flip the chicken, skin (and glazed) side down, over the direct heat part of the grill grate. Cook for about three minutes, or until the glaze is nicely browned; while it’s cooking, brush glaze on the other side. Flip again (skin side up), and cook over direct heat until the glaze browns, roughly another 3 minutes; while it’s cooking, brush the skin side with some more glaze. Remove to a platter, and serve.

    In summary:
    Cook indirect/high, skin side down, covered, for 20 minutes, or until skin is lightly browned. Turn skin side up, and cook indirect/high until fully cooked, an internal temp of 160*F for breasts/wings, 170*F for thighs/drumsticks; this should be 40 to 50 minutes of cooking time.

    Then, if glazing: brush skin side with glaze, then cook skin side down on direct/medium for 3 minutes. Brush non-skin side with glaze, then cook skin side up on direct/medium for another 3 minutes. Brush skin side with glaze, and remove to a platter for serving.

    Questions?  Comments?  Better ideas?  Leave them in the Comments section, below.

    Related posts:
    Click here for my Thai Grill Roasted Chicken Breasts
    Click here for my Backyard Barbecue Chicken

    Subscribe
    BirdSend Email Marketing Tool

    More Basic technique

    • All-Purpose Seasoning blend in a grinder jar
      All-Purpose Seasoning
    • BBQ Sauce Recipe
    • Cooking With Wine in an Instant Pot (or Other Pressure Cooker)
    • High Altitude Pressure Cooking Adustments

    Sharing is caring!

    Comments

    1. Rick Segal says

      June 14, 2019 at 10:44 pm

      Well done on this post. Perfect chicken and the brining? Who knew!

      Thanks for doing this.

      Reply
    2. Dottie says

      May 26, 2018 at 7:31 pm

      I have never been good at grilling chicken. Not much taste, usually ended up burnt. Just couldn't figure it out. I discovered brining a few months back for oven roasted chicken. I figured I'd try it today with grilling chicken for the first time. Then I found your instructions for indirect grilling. THANK YOU!! I have found the answer! I messed up a little at the end with putting on the BBQ sauce but that was my fault for not turning down the now heat. I know what I did wrong. Overall, though your directions were spot on. Thank you again!!

      Reply
    3. Sam says

      April 17, 2016 at 7:29 pm

      My go to recipe for chicken on the grill. I always use the brine from your cornish game hens recipe (this recipie is how I found you!) and about 50 minutes on the grill for thighs. Perfect everytime. Thanks for posting this recipe!

      Reply
      • Mike V says

        April 18, 2016 at 7:07 am

        You're welcome!

        Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner!

    I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

    More About Me →

    Popular

    • Three bowls of cooked Pinto Beans on a wood table
      Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soaking)
    • Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
    • Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
      Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
    • Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice
    • Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
      Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
    • A green bowl full of chicken noodle soup
      Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

    Seasonal

    • A bowl of asparagus risotto
      Instant Pot Asparagus Risotto (Pressure Cooker Recipe)
    • Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter
    • Sous Vide Rack of Lamb with Dijon Bread Crumb Crust
    • A bowl of beef stew with asparagus, carrots, and radishes.
      Instant Pot Spring Vegetable Beef Stew
    • A Rotisserie Chicken (Pollo Asado)on a platter of shredded cabbage
      Rotisserie Chicken Pollo Asado
    • Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Roast with Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
      Rotisserie Pork Shoulder with South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2025 Dad Cooks Dinner

    202 shares
    • 8
    • 2