Charcoal chicken: cooking secrets

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Charcoal-baked chicken is a truly luxurious and festive dish. It can become the main decoration of the festive table. Unique smoky flavor, appetizing crust and tender light meat - what else do you need for an excellent result?

There is a wide variety of grilled chicken recipes. In our article, we will look at the general principles of cooking, talk about marinating and the intricacies of baking.

Process Features

Dietitians believe that roasting over hot coals is one of the best ways to heat food. Of course, this method is inferior to steaming in terms of the safety of useful components, but the taste of the finished dish is excellent.

Chicken on the coals, people have learned how to cook for a long time. We can say that this method is one of the most ancient. Today it has not lost its relevance.

In the process of baking, the meat is steamed, it becomes very tender and soft. Unlike frying, this method of cooking allows you to keep the juiciness of the product, the chicken does not become dry. Another advantage is the absencethe need for additional oil. On the contrary, excess fat is rendered from the thighs of the bird.

Bird selection and preparation

Carefully inspect the carcass, remove feathers with tweezers, if any. With a sharp thin knife, carefully cut the gland along with the duct from the rump. Rinse the carcass inside and out. If you do not plan to cut the bird during cooking, be especially careful about the neck: check if there is any windpipe or goiter left inside. To prevent the bird from flying off the spit, be sure to loop the carcass. Tie the ends of the legs together, make a knot over the tail, bring the ends of the rope under the breast, cross, tie around the carcass, pressing the wings to it. Tuck the wingtips back towards the shoulder joints.

Broiler chickens do not require pre-marination, their meat will be soft anyway. But most cooks prefer not to skip this step, because it allows you to nourish the meat with exquisite flavors. Try to choose a large bird, weighing about 2 kg.

Another thing is poultry of meat breed. Before you cook the chicken on the coals, it must be kept in mineral water or kefir. It is better to immediately cut the carcass into portioned pieces so that the meat is sufficiently baked.

But it is better not to mess with the breeds of domestic laying hens at all. The meat of such chickens is much tougher, the bones are massive, there is almost no fat. The heat treatment process will take a long time. It is better to leave such meat for cookingbroth or aspic.

The best chicken marinades

Of course, you can improvise by sending everything that is at hand into the container with the bird: mayonnaise, a little soy sauce, tomato pulp punched in a blender, greens. However, if you decide to cook chicken on the coals, recipes for successful marinades will come in handy anyway.

For chicken meat, curdled milk mixed with tomato juice is excellent. This marinade not only speeds up the cooking process, but also gives the meat a gorgeous golden hue.

If you like oriental notes in the usual recipes, combine in a container of 50 ml of teriyaki and soy sauces, add the crushed pulp of one orange along with the juice, your favorite spices. Rub the carcass with the mixture and leave for at least 3 hours. If desired, you can add to the marinade 1 tbsp. l. liquid honey.

For those in a hurry, the best remedy may be a regular highly carbonated mineral water. Pour water over the pieces of poultry, add spices and build a fire. The time required to prepare a fire with burnt coals will be enough for the bird to marinate enough.

Acid marinades are not good for chicken. Vinegar spoils the taste of meat, dries it. But if you like savory sourness, it is perfectly acceptable to drizzle the carcass with lemon juice before roasting.

Additional ingredients

Vegetables can be used when grilling chicken. Country and tropical fruits, mushrooms will also be useful.

Cooking chicken on coals in foil? Feel free to use onions, eggplant, zucchini, youngcarrots, bell peppers. If you cut potatoes into cubes and bake them with meat, you will also get a wonderful side dish - fragrant and juicy.

Berries and fruits go well with chicken meat. Cut the apple, pear into large bars, add the orange slices, peeled from the films. Place the fruit inside the carcass and pin the skin with toothpicks so that they do not fall out during baking. The skin does not need to be cut off, but the stalks and seeds must be removed immediately.

Whole or pieces?

Should you cut the carcass right away or can you do the cutting after the charcoal chicken is ready? Act according to your mood and inventory.

You can cook a whole bird on a large grill grid. Make an incision either along the spine or along the keel. If you are cooking several chickens at once for a large group, it will be convenient to cut the carcasses in half or into quarters.

For cooking on skewers or skewers, it is more convenient to cut the meat just before baking.

Serving to the table

Charcoal-grilled chicken is great with side dishes of potatoes, pasta, rice. It is customary to eat poultry meat with a fork and knife, but if the feast takes place in a relaxed picnic atmosphere, you can not adhere to strict rules of etiquette. It is quite acceptable to take pieces with your hands.

Be sure to serve a salad of seasonal vegetables, homemade pickles, pickled mushrooms or canned olives. Don't forget the sauces!