Stop Chicken From Sticking On The Grill And Lay It On The Grates Like This

For a delicately flavored meat like chicken, the grill can be a secret weapon. Between the aromas imbued by the charcoal or smoke and the deep flavors of the Maillard reaction that come from a good sear, grilling can transform a simple piece of chicken into a juicy, delectable centerpiece for your dinner. But there is one grilling problem that chicken is particularly prone to: sticking. Nothing ruins the look of a plate more than a grilled protein with strips ripped off and still clinging to the grill grate. Fortunately, there are a few simple grilling tricks that can put that problem forever behind you.

The most important thing to do, when it comes to keeping chicken from sticking to the grill, is to make sure the grate is both hot and greased. This is true for just about any food but is particularly important for chicken. Preheating the grill and allowing the grate to get hot before adding the protein helps ensure that the contact with the metal results in a good sear. This not only gives you nice grill marks but also helps to cook the proteins well enough that they contract and easily pull away from the grate.

The thin layer of oil, just like in a pan on the stove, both lubricates the grate and helps with heat transfer. But, in addition to those two fairly run-of-the-mill tips for how to prevent chicken from sticking on the grill, you also want to pay attention to the direction that you lay the meat on the grate. That's just as important.

When adding the chicken to the grill, you want to orient it so that the grain of the meat is perpendicular to the grate. If the fibers are parallel, any stuck parts will have a lot more surface area on the grill for each meat fiber. When you go to flip it, those long fibers will strip out and ruin the look of your meat. Perpendicular to the grain, the surface area for each fiber is small, making it much easier to strip off without tearing the meat.

If you get the grill nice and hot, lay the chicken the right way, and either oil the grate or the meat itself (or both), you should have pretty good luck grilling up that yardbird. However, this only works well if your grill is nice and clean before you start cooking. While the metal grate heats quickly and may take on an oily sheen, the same is not true for those burned bits leftover from the last cookout.

Those little hunks of carbon attached to the grate are as sticky as it gets and can quickly ruin your barbecue regardless of which direction you lay out the chicken thighs. A wire brush will take most of it off, but for heavy-duty work you can clean your grill grate with two pantry staples: salt and vinegar. A good soak in those and any burned-on pieces will come right off. After that, it's just heat, oil, and orientation that you need to think about, and you'll be eating perfect grilled chicken in no time.