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How to Keep Your Chicken Breast Moist on the Grill
Grilled chicken breast is one of the best foods most grilled food enthusiasts enjoy. What is your experience grilling boneless chicken breast? Often most people find it daunting to grill it and end up with dry yet flavorless chicken breast.
How do you grill chicken breast that is tender and flavorful? Grilling a tender, juicy and flavorful chicken starts from preparation to cooking on a non-stick and clean grill. Additionally, you’ve to monitor the chicken breast’s internal temperature. This post discusses tips and tricks to keep your chicken breast moist on the grill.
1. Pound it thinly
One of the challenges of cooking chicken breast is its uneven thickness. Usually, the center is thicker than the ends, and you’re likely to overcook the ends trying to cook the thickest part. So how do you solve this issue?
Use a meat pounder or a rolling pin to achieve a more even thickness of the grill. Once you pound your boneless chicken breast, you’ll end up with a broad, thin sheet of chicken breast meat.
Another advantage of pounding chicken breast before grilling is that it reduces cooking time to about a minute per side. Therefore, you’re not likely to overcook the chicken breast and leave it dry.
2. Soak the chicken breast in brine
Unlike other types of meats, chicken and fish have a minimal amount of fat. Therefore, they have minimal moisture, especially after grilling. Fats are essential in giving meats tenderness and flavor. So, how can you compensate for that and get tender grilled chicken breast?
Soak your chicken breast in brine for about 30 minutes or about 2-3 hours to make them moist and tender. Brine is simply a water and salt solution with a little sweetener. However, be careful not to brine for long to avoid ending up with chicken breast that is over salty and rubbery.
3. Observe the basic rules of grilling
If you think of grilling chicken breast or other meats, there are a few basic rules you should observe. They help you grill flavorful chicken breasts and minimize sticking to the grill grates/ surface. Here are the rules:
Cook on hot grill
Most people fear cooking on a hot grill because it will dry out their chicken breast. However, if you want moist grilled chicken breast, heat is essential. All you have to do is maintain a medium to high heat (about 300 degrees F).
Additionally, a well-heated grill ensures your chicken breast doesn’t stick to the cooking surface.
Cook on a clean grill
Cooking chicken breast on a dirty grill can leave you with a bad experience. A dirty grill can easily make your chicken stick and get it ripped.
Consider a clean grill if you want to cook perfectly on a grill.
Keep your grill lubricated
Chicken breast can easily stick to the cooking surface; therefore, keeping your grill lubricated is crucial. Use a brush or paper towel to rub a light olive or vegetable oil layer over the grill grate.
However, you don’t have to deal with hassle if you’re using an electric grill for cooking your chicken breast. It has a non-stick cooking surface; therefore, food cannot stick. It also features a temperature control; hence it’s easy to regulate heat while grilling.
4. Utilize your meat thermometer
Checking the internal temperature is also important when you want a juicy chicken breast on a grill. It also ensures your meat is not undercooked or overcooked.
Use a meat thermometer for this task. Insert it on the side of the chicken breast for the best results. You should attain an internal temperature of about 160 degrees F.
5. Apply some BBQ sauce
While most people use sauces to enhance the flavor of grilled foods, it can help keep your chicken breast moist. How? It seals the meat’s moisture and flavor.
You should brush your chicken breast with a thin layer of sauce before grilling and on the grill. Also, brush each side of the chicken breast with some extra sauce once it’s off the grill.
Bottom Line
Grilled chicken breast is a good source of lean protein and other minerals. But, first, you need to cook it properly. The above tips will help you cook flavorful and moist chicken breast. They include observing basic rules of grilling, pounding your chicken breast, soaking it in brine, and applying some BBQ sauce before grilling and while grilling. Check out Atgrills indoor electric grills and griddles to cook chicken breast on a cookware with natural stone coating.
