# Do you parboil chicken before you grill it?



## fairygirl69

I do bc it insures against raw burnt chicken plus I get chicken stock.  But I know some grill enthusiasts do not.  What do you do?


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## jabbur

I tend to do that mainly because I often forget to take the chicken out of the freezer.


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## MrsLMB

Nope .. never have.  Cook the chicken on a bit lower heat and it won't burn.  You can have hot and cool spots when you grill .. use them to your advantage.


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## Dawgluver

Nope, I've not heard of doing that.  I just recently discovered brining!


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## jennyema

No. No need to.  Chicken is very easy to grill correctly once you get the hang of it.

It's pretty impossible to make "chicken stock" from a brief parcook.

Plus you should never boil chicken....

We grill whole chickens at least twice a month except in the winter (did an awesome one yesterday) and breasts frequently too.  No need whatsoever to precook.  That would make them harder to cook on the grill, seems to me.


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## Andy M.

Any flavor that made it into your water is flavor that's no longer in your chicken.  

Cook the chicken with the lid closed over lower heat/not over an operating burner.  It will cook fine. Cook to an internal temperature of 161ºF.  That's all that's necessary for safety.  Cooking to a higher temperature will only serve to dry out the meat.  

For grill cooking it's better to cook chicken with the skin on and bone in.  The result is better.


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## Addie

Andy M. said:


> Any flavor that made it into your water is flavor that's no longer in your chicken.
> 
> Cook the chicken with the lid closed over lower heat/not over an operating burner. It will cook fine. Cook to an internal temperature of 161ºF. That's all that's necessary for safety. Cooking to a higher temperature will only serve to dry out the meat.
> 
> For grill cooking it's better to cook chicken with the skin on and bone in. The result is better.


 
+1 In a sense you are roasting the chicken. Would you parboil it if you were to put it in your oven?


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## bakechef

Nope, indirect cooking on the grill works best.  Sometimes I put wood chip packets over the operating burner for a nice smoked chicken.  

I often brine especially when I slow cook with smoke.


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## buckytom

the only time that i would consider parboilng chicken (whole or parts) is when i have an awful lot to produce quickly for a large crowd, and/or if my marinade or grilling sauce has a lot if sugar in it and i don't have a lot of control over the heat. or when you'd rather be having fun rather than standing over a grill for a half hour or more. 

to explain the latter, we often go to a lake with a public beach in the northwestern mountains of joisey during the summer that allows grilling in a restricted areas just of the lake. sometimes, we bring the smokey joe and a small bag of briquettes to make dinner, along with some salads. i've found i'd rather start the chimney, then jump in the lake, come back and pour the hot coals into the smokey joe, get it set up, put the parboiled chicken on, jump in the lake, come back and turn it, jump in the lake, come back and brush with sweet/spicy bbq sauce, then make a big sad face because i have to stand by the grill for a few minutes while i turn and brush the chicken a few morw times while setting up the salads and drinks on the picanic table.

after eating, guess where i jump when someone else cleans up?

the ice cream truck, silly.


ok, but outside of time constraints, heat control, and sugary sauces, parboiling is kinda ok but you're losing some flavour in exchange for convenience, limited grilling apparatus, or burning sugar.


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## Cooking Goddess

Nope, never had and probably never will.  I've also heard that some people parboil *gasp* their ribs before they grill them.  What???  No way._ (Oh, hope you don't do them that way...)_


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## buckytom

is there a lake or impending ice cream headache involved?


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## pacanis

I don't parboil chicken before grilling, but for the reasons BT stated, it is a pretty common method for lots of folks grilling for gatherings. There you are generally grilling diverse foods, like hamburgs, hot dogs and chicken all at the same time. It makes it easier to try to even out the cooking times.  Or of course if you want to make sure the chicken is cooked through by whoever takes over the grill.


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## GA Home Cook

In agreement with all on not doing this.  But - If I have a breast that is very thick I may pound down the thick part just a little to help make sure that I don't have doneness issues.  One other thing- buy yourself a good thermometer (Thermapen is top notch).  That way you can tell when you reach the correct temp in no matter what meat you cook.  Most people over cook most meats out of fear of having "raw" chicken.


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## Caslon

One could zap the chicken in the microwave briefly and not lose the flavor that ends up in the broth by par boiling?


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## 4meandthem

I don't but I have had it cooked that way and it was great too! Still juicy!


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## Paymaster

I never have parboiled chicken before grilling. I cook at a temp of 325-350* and make sure that the internal temp gets to 165* .


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## letscook

I have never parboiled it ahead of time, but I have put in in the oven ahead of time to get a jump start on it and the quantity I was cooking I wanted to make sure all was done at same time.  Came out great and didn't loose any of the flavor.


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## pacanis

That'll work, too, Letscook. Nice alternative to parboiling.

Not pertaining to grilling but...
Back when I used to host Super Bowl parties I cooked my chicken wings using what I called the Three B's method; boiled, baked, broiled. Working with a small oven it seemed to keep a good amount of wings going all the time and testing doneness wasn't so critical. Because I was saucing them before baking and again before broiling they obviously picked up a lot of the the sauce flavor, which is what you want (IMO) when eating chicken wings. I don't recall anyone saying the wings had lost their chicken flavor  But the actual chicken meat obviously must have tasted different than not boiling them. I imagine texture suffered a bit, too.
Anyway, all that flavor that was "lost" in the pot went into making chicken noodle soup a couple days later.

If I was doing this again today I would probably still boil them first, but it would be done the day before.


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## HomeCook58

*Grilling from frozen state*

I recently discovered that when unexpected guests arrive I grab the frozen chicken breasts that I buy and keep in the freezer and wrap in HD aluminum foil after spraying with PAM or other canola, olive oil spray.  Then I season them with Chicken Montreal on both sides and wrap tightly.  I toss them on the grill and they are usually done in about 20 minutes.  They steam and are thoroughly cooked in that time.  
Hint: If you want char marks on them, carefully unwrap and burn them on the HOT side of the grill.  YUMMY....


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## roadfix

No, I never boil chicken, and that goes for ribs as well.


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## Rocklobster

I agree with the others . I just grill chicken on low setting with the lid closed as much as possible. Turning it every 10 minutes. Easy, and no fear of flare ups. Depending on the size of the pieces it should take around 40 minutes to an hour. I sauce near the end so she don't burn...


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## Chief Longwind Of The North

roadfix said:


> No, I never boil chicken, and that goes for ribs as well.



I wish I'd taken pictures of the chicken that I cooked up with the fish.  I cooked two breasts, and one thigh.  They came out so very juicy and tender that DW called me in from what I was still working on in the kitchen, with guests in the house, to tell me how good her chicken was.  That just doesn't happen.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging.  What I did, anybody can do.  It was very easy, and tasted really great.  No boiling required.  Both breasts were bonelss, but with the skin on.  One breast and the thigh were marinated in the following:

1/4 cup water
2 tbs. cooking oil
1/4 tsp. each: marjoram, oregano, basil, onion powder, garlic powder
1 dash of each: powdered ginger, celery seed
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
The chicken sat in a sealed zipper bag, in the herb brine for about one hour.  The other breast was boned, but with the skin left on.  I rubbed it with softened butter, and dusted it with salt and granulated garlic.

The grill was set up with divided banks of charcoal and left to get hot while I prepared the chicken and fish.  Alder sticks were placed on top of the charcoal banks to provide smoke, and protect the food from direct heat.

The fish fillet's were placed in the middle of the grill, and the cover was put on, with all vents fully open.  I cooked the fish for about 10 minutes before putting the chicken on either side, directly over the charcoal banks.  The chicken was cooked for nine minutes per side.

It was done all the way through, without burning the outside, and the smoky flavor combined with the herbs and spices, on some of the juiciest, most tender chicken I've yet made, and DW and out guests were really making me smile by the way they enjoyed their meal.

I never boil chicken, not even for chicken soup.  But that's a different success story.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## buckytom

Caslon said:


> One could zap the chicken in the microwave briefly and not lose the flavor that ends up in the broth by par boiling?



i've found that par-nuking chicken before grling makes it kinda rubbery.


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## Rocklobster

buckytom said:


> i've found that par-nuking chicken before grling makes it kinda rubbery.


Yes. It forms crazy mutations of the flesh....


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## buckytom

we are talking about killed, cleaned chickens, aren't we herr doctor rockenstein?



(you just wanted to use that nuke emoticon, didn't you?)


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## Chief Longwind Of The North

buckytom said:


> we are talking about killed, cleaned chickens, aren't we herr doctor rockenstein?
> 
> 
> 
> (you just wanted to use that nuke emoticon, didn't you?)



I wonder what that turkey would have been like, from the end of the movie; "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".

And who has an oven big enough to cook it in?

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## letscook

should of mention that when i do bake it a little when do large quantity I bake it in with the sauce I will be cooking on the grill with.


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## Rocklobster

buckytom said:


> we are talking about killed, cleaned chickens, aren't we herr doctor rockenstein?
> 
> 
> 
> (you just wanted to use that nuke emoticon, didn't you?)


Why, yes of course. And, I never thought I would ever use that emoticon.
It's alive!! It's alive!!


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## Cerise

I don't parboil, but I mostly cook breasts on an indoor grill.



letscook said:


> I have never parboiled it ahead of time, but I have put in in the oven ahead of time to get a jump start on it and the quantity I was cooking I wanted to make sure all was done at same time. Came out great and didn't loose any of the flavor.



A friend always invited me to his Aunts' homes on the holidays. They were great cooks!  Nothing fancy - just delicious-tasting food.  One year, on the 4th of July, I noticed his aunt baking chicken pieces in the oven prior to grilling.  The chicken was fantastic - crisp on the outside, and juicy on the inside.


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## Whiskadoodle

I think a probe thermometer is a good grilling tool to invest in.


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## buckytom

ok, here's the hook.

parboiling or pre-baking allows for later grilling when a very sugary bbq sauce is added. 

since the sauce will readily burn, having the chicken almost completely cooked before hitting the grill is a must.

besides when it's hot out and we're trying not to heat up the house, i like the idea of pre-baking chicken in the sauce. i'll have to try that soon.

i've gotten used to non-sugary marinades to cook chicken on the grill from start to finish, maybe 40 minutes or more.
or brushing on a sugary sauce within the last few minutes of grilling so you only get a char, not a cremation.


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