How to Cook Chicken on a Weber Charcoal Grill

by Joost Nusselder | Last Updated:  June 24, 2021

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So you just got yourself a Weber charcoal grill and you’re wondering how you can go about using it to cook a sumptuous chicken. While you probably know the basics, there are certain things that you are probably not aware of. Here are some tips how to cook chicken on a weber charcoal grill.

how-to-cook-chicken-on-a-weber-charcoal-grill

Tips for Grilled Chicken

Choose Your Chicken

Remember that the quality of the chicken that you will cook will be a big factor in the overall result. Of course, if you’re going to invest in free-range and organic chicken, then you can expect good results in terms of the taste. These are the chickens that are roaming around freely in the outdoors and have firmer meat with more pronounced flavor.

Ensure Even Cooking

When grilling skinless and boneless chicken, you need to know that the thickness of the meat varies. If you find a thin strip of meat just below the breast, make sure you take it off. You need to separate it from the rest and grill it on its own. Furthermore, in order to ensure even cooking, wrap the breast with plastic sheets and pound with a heavy pan or mallet.

Grilling Chicken with Bones

Boneless chicken meat is so thin and they must not be grilled entirely on direct heat. If there are any bones, you can expect for the chicken to cook longer. Therefore, you need to use both indirect and direct heat.

How to Cook Chicken on a Weber Charcoal Grill

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Combine all marinade ingredients together in a bowl.chicken-marinate
  2. Chop the chicken into pieces. There should be six pieces all in all – 2 legs, 2 breasts, and 2 wings.chop-the-chicken-into-pieces
  3. Place the bird pieces into the bowl with the marinade. Mix well and leave the chicken to marinate. Store in the fridge for up to 4 hours. If you don’t have enough time, then you can go ahead and roast the chicken.mix-chicken-marinate-in-the-bowl
  4. Prepare the charcoal grill. Pre-heat at 350°-450°F.light-up-charcoal
  5. Clean the cooking grates well by brushing them and start grilling the chicken. When you grill the chicken, make sure you grill its skin side first. Grill it over indirect heat and keep the lid closed.grill-chicken-indirect-heat
  6. It should take around 30 to 40 minutes for the wings and breast to be cooked. As for the thighs and drumsticks, they should take around 40 to 50 minutes.how-to-cook-chicken-on-a-weber-charcoal-grill
  7. On the last five minutes of grilling, put the chicken meat on direct heat. Cook it until it becomes brown in color. Turn once or twice once more before removing it from the grill.grill-chicken-direct-heat

How Long Do You Cook Chicken on a Charcoal Grill?

About 10 – 90 minutes depending on what a part of chicken and temp do you cook. I’m listed here average grilling chicken times

how-long-do-you-cook-chicken-on-a-charcoal-grill

Also read: check the best way to put out a charcoal grill here

How Do You Know It Is Done?

The USDA suggests that the poultry is considered cooked only after the internal meat temperature reaches 165°F. Remember that the internal temperature of the chicken could increase by 5-10 degrees while at rest. You can check the inner portion of the thigh area by inserting a thermometer into its thickest part but do not include the bones.

How Do You Cook Chicken Breast on a Weber Charcoal Grill?

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How to buy a bbq smoker video

When cooking chicken using the Weber kettle grill, start by

  1. placing the chicken on direct medium heat while the lid is closed.
  2. It should remain this way until the meat is firm to the touch and does no longer appear pinkish in the middle.
  3. Then flip the breast once or twice, a process known as the breasts reverse sear method.

How Do You Cook on a Weber Charcoal Grill?

First, place the chicken meat on the grate’s hot side, which is just right above the coal. Just like with the chicken breasts reverse sear method, sear for up to 3 to 4 minutes for each side, just once until the meat produces a golden brown color.

Also read our how to here: How to Grill Fish on a Charcoal Grill

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Lakeside Smokers is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with BBQ Smoking (& Japanese food!) at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.