Can you cook frozen chicken on the grill?
In this brief guide we will address the question, “can you cook frozen chicken on the grill?” as well as other questions pertaining to the subject at hand like how to cook frozen chicken on the grill and how to thaw frozen chicken.
Can you cook frozen chicken on the grill?
Yes, you can cook frozen chicken on the grill. You need to be aware of the risk factors involved with directly cooking frozen chicken on the grill. It is not a recommended way because frozen chicken takes a lot more time than thawed chicken for obvious reasons.
Moreover, frozen chicken is not evenly frozen from all sides. Because of this, your chicken will be either overcooked or undercooked from different areas.
Thawing the chicken before you put it on the grill can be used as a substitute. The main reason someone would want to grill frozen chicken is lack of time, but the reality is far from different. I will explain a very quick way to thaw frozen chicken that you can use in your daily life in the later part of this blog.
When cooking chicken, one needs to be absolutely sure that the internal temperature of the chicken is 165F or more. The reason being the presence and growth of bacteria like salmonella and campylobacter under these temperatures.
Undercooked chicken can cause severe food borne illness. Therefore, use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken to be absolutely sure about its safety.
How to cook frozen chicken on the grill?
Ideally speaking, you should thaw frozen chicken before cooking. However, the USDA suggests that one can actually cook frozen chicken as long as they make sure the internal temperature of the chicken is 165F. The reason is already explained.
You can cook frozen chicken on the grill by following these simple steps.
- Take out your frozen chicken from the freezer. Make sure that the chicken is clean. (I place it under running cold water just to be sure)
- You want your grill to be ready when you put frozen chicken on it. Be prepared! The chicken will take longer to cook since it is frozen.
- Putting the frozen chicken on the grill means there are higher chances of having overdone meat on the outside. Even if you want to heat slowly, the end result is usually the same.
- To avoid doing this, the best method is to thaw the chicken first. Keep flipping the frozen chicken until you are satisfied with the texture and color.
- When the chicken looks done (after 25-30 minutes for frozen), then you can cut into it and check the temperature of the chicken with a food thermometer.
- In order to avoid the drying out and rubbery texture of the chicken, give the meat some indirect heat and the time to thaw.
- It is important to keep the thin parts of the chicken as far away from the flames as possible. Otherwise your chicken might still be frozen from thick regions and perfectly done on the thin regions.
How to quickly thaw frozen chicken
Although not the best way, thawing frozen chicken in the microwave is the fastest way to get your chicken ready for cooking. Note that your grill should be ready as soon as the chicken is thawed. This is because chicken at room temperature is susceptible to bacteria like salmonella and campylobacter, like mentioned above.
Thawing Frozen Chicken in the microwave
Microwaving is the speediest technique for thawing out. Just pick the most suitable setting on your microwave to defrost chicken or to defrost frozen meat.
Care should be taken to ensure that the meat doesn’t dry out during the thawing process. Eliminate any bundling prior to putting the meat in a microwave-safe dish to get any trickling juices.
Utilizing the thaw out setting, thaw out for two minutes all at once, checking the meat’s advancement as you go. When the chicken has been thawed out, it ought to be cooked straight away.
While thawing out an entire chicken, make sure to check within the pit for ice gems. If all else fails, try to stick to the guidelines mentioned on the product packaging.
Never refreeze chicken whenever it is thawed out. However, you can freeze the chicken once it has been thoroughly cooked and all the microorganisms are dead inside.
Other FAQs about Chicken that you may be interested in.
How do you reheat a rotisserie chicken?
How long after cooking chicken can you eat it?
Conclusion
In this brief guide we have addressed the question, “can you cook frozen chicken on the grill?” as well as other questions pertaining to the subject at hand like how to cook frozen chicken on the grill and how to thaw frozen chicken.
