• The best way to cook chicken is to grill it.

  • When buying chicken, be sure to read the labels and use a rub or brine.

  • It's best to wait until the end of the grilling process to add your sauce.

It's always a crowd pleaser if you bring grilled chicken with you to a gathering.

When it comes to making grilled chicken, I have a few tricks up my sleeve because I have broken down so many whole birds that I could probably do it blindfolded.

Buy high-quality chicken from a trusted source

Five raw chicken breasts in a white container on a wooden counter
Five raw chicken breasts in a white container on a wooden counter
It's important to read the labels on your chicken.Joe Gough/Shutterstock

Buying a good chicken from a trusted source is the first thing to do. "free range" and "organic" are not always clear about what they do, so look for the USDA-grade label first and foremost.

A grade indicates a good fat-to-skin ratio and B and C grades are used for ground meat.

You can find cage-free, antibiotics-free, and Kosher, which all refer to how the chickens are raised and processed. A chicken that is consistently delicious is made up of those factors.

Determine if you want your chicken on the bone

The extra fat in bone-in, skin-on meat makes it taste better.

Try grilling a whole bird spatchcock with no spine. Everyone can still have their favorite cuts if the bird stays flush with the grill.

Wings are a great way to feed a crowd and they will cook quickly. If you want to cook chicken breast, slice it in half or pound flat, because it has an odd thickness.

Don't underestimate the power of marinades, cures, and brines

Five golden-brown chicken breasts on grill
A good marinade or brine can add even more flavor to a chicken.Sky Motion/Shutterstock

Marinated meat brings in flavor with acid and salt by breaking down tissue. Your acids could be anything from lemons to oranges. The leftover salad dressing or pickle juice can be used to make aMarinate.

Brining isn't just for turkeys and an overnight bath in a salt and seasoning mixture can make it taste better. The seasonings are pulled in by the salt to cure the meat.

Dry rubs and salt seasoning mixes don't use water and can be used for curing. The salt will remove theMoisture from the meat You can brine or cure your meat by sprinkling a thin layer over it.

It's best toMarinate for a few hours before cooking.

There are several methods of telling if a chicken is cooked

A piece of chicken is 165 degrees. There are a lot of signs when a bird is cooked.

They should be able to wiggle easily in their sockets. The juices should run clear if you pierce with a knife.

You can easily put the chicken back on the grill for a few more minutes if you under cook it.

Don't add your sauce too early

Add any sauce at the end of the cooking process.Getty Images

Don't add a good BBQ sauce to your chicken too soon, because it can make it taste bad.

A sauce made with sugar can turn into a black char if it's too close to the fire.

Don't put your sauce on the meat when it's mostly cooked through. If you want to get all of the BBQ flavor without turning your chicken into a hockey puck, you should use BBQ sauce as a basting tool.

Grill over indirect or direct heat but keep the lid closed

A large grate directly over the flame is what most grills have. If you want to be sure that the chicken is cooked all the way through, you should grill it before or after charring.

If you want to add wood chips to your grill, keep the lid closed and it will stay hotter when the cover is on.

If you want to keep the heat inside, try to lift the grill lid a bit.

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