Basic Grilling Tips- How To Grill A Whole Chicken

Grilling a whole chicken can be easy with these simple steps. Not only are you making a great meal when grilling a whole chicken, you are grilling endless opportunities for the leftovers you might have as well!

1. The first step is to get the wood chunks soaking for at least an hour.

2. Prepare the grill for indirect cooking as shown in the photo below.

If you are using a gas grill have one burner on, one burner off. After your grill has preheated, brush the grates with a Weber stainless steel grill brush.

3. Generously rub the chicken with Weber’s Kickin Chicken seasoning. Make sure to pull the skin away from the breast and sprinkle some seasoning in there as well!

4. Place chicken on the center of the cooking grate, equally between the two charcoal baskets.

5. A drip pan should be placed under the chicken on the charcoal grate (not shown) to prevent the juices from dripping into the bottom of the kettle and onto the one touch system. Closing the top and bottom dampers half way should keep the grill temperature between 350-400 F.

The grill temperature is not as critical as checking the internal temperature of the chicken. It will take about 1 ½ hours for the chicken to reach 165 deg.

6. Since you want the lid closed as much as possible, I usually check the internal temperature about 1 hour into cooking since many factors will affect cooking time…weight of chicken, outside temperature, amount/type of charcoal, etc. Maybe it comes with practice, but it just seems too easy to get a perfectly juicy chicken every time.

7. Let the chicken rest for 20 – 30 minutes before cutting. My favorite meal to make right off of the grill is a simple salad. The warm grilled chicken goes perfectly with a fresh lettuce and vegetables from the garden. Just cut a few slices right off of the breast and lay directly on top of the salad.

Grilled chicken also goes great with mashed potatoes and a vegetable or you can lay out a bunch of sandwich fixings for a large group. My favorite use of the leftovers is chicken pot pie, but you can use the leftover chicken in so many ways.