Grilling chicken can be fun, especially when done with friends and family. Grilling enhances the chicken’s flavor by providing a smokey, charred taste. However, unplanned barbeque parties usually mean the chicken you have at home isn’t ready to cook, and you won’t have much time to defrost it properly.
So, can you grill frozen chicken? The answer to this is simple: Yes. You can easily grill frozen chicken so long as you follow the proper steps. However, know that it takes a little extra time and effort to grill frozen chicken. This article will tell you everything you need to know in order to cook high-quality, great-tasting chicken dishes.
Why Grilling Frozen Chicken the Right Way Is Important
You don’t want to get an upset stomach, of course. If you’ve ever thrown a frozen chicken on the grill without first thawing it, you might have noticed a raw inner, dry, overdone, and hard surface. Frozen chicken becomes rubbery when grilled without first thawing. These factors make grilled chicken taste worse and may also harm your health.
Consuming pork or chicken that is undercooked can lead to food poisoning. Even though food poisoning is common, difficulties related to it are uncommon; they can be serious and fatal.
Severe dehydration is one of the complications of food poisoning. To make poultry safe to eat, the USDA advises cooking it to a temperature of 165 °F (73.9 °C). That’s why it is essential to grill your chicken correctly.
Why Is It Important to Thaw Chicken Before Grilling?
What makes grilled chicken worth eating is defrosting the meat a little before grilling. There are many ways to cook chicken, but defrosting the frozen variety is always the first step. Grilling frozen chicken could result in a 50% longer cooking time than usual.
Another thing is that quickly thawed chicken might not entirely reach the temperature needed to kill all the bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
Defrosting chicken properly makes it simpler to prepare and helps avoid any problems with too much moisture during cooking.
Ways to Quickly Defrost a Frozen Chicken
Placing a frozen chicken in the refrigerator for around 24 hours is the ideal and recommended method for properly defrosting one. If you follow this procedure, you can be sure that the chicken has completely thawed and is ready for the grill.
But since it takes a chicken 24 hours to defrost, this method only works if you have planned ahead.
We know you can’t wait to fill your mouth with spicy, juicy grilled chicken, so here are a few methods for speeding up the defrosting process.
● The Microwave
Add the heat to your chicken! You can quickly and easily defrost chicken from a freezer in the microwave. The meat will start to slowly warm up until fully defrosted because the thaw setting on the microwave uses less power to defrost food.
However, you must use this carefully because if the defrost timer stays on for too long, the chicken may begin to cook.
One disadvantage of microwave defrosting is that older microwaves may cause your chicken to defrost unevenly. It might therefore be partially frozen and partially defrosted.
● Place Frozen Chicken in Cold Water
The procedure requires putting the chicken in a plastic bag (leak-proof, zipper-top storage bags, or vacuum-sealed bags) and placing the bag in a container filled with cold water. This will prevent bacterial contamination of the chicken and water damage to the meat tissue. This process typically requires two to three hours for chicken to defrost.
You might believe that submerging it in hot water will cause it to thaw more quickly than in cold water. Never make this mistake. If you thaw poultry in hot water, the meat’s dormant bacteria will develop as the temperature increases.
● Defrosting Trays
Have you heard of defrosting trays yet? The tray thaws frozen meals without a microwave, water, or electricity. These pans make it easier to defrost large chunks of meat, such as frozen chicken breasts, steak, pig, or lamb chops.
Depending on the thickness, the tray can defrost chicken in 30 to 60 minutes.
Tips for Grilling Frozen Chicken
If you’re intent on grilling the frozen chicken anyway, consider the following advice. Follow these tips and surprise your loved ones with a delicious grilled chicken.
● Dry the Chicken With Paper Towel
Show some love to your chicken and dab it. Dabbing your chicken with a paper towel can soak up the excess moisture. Before putting your chicken on the grill, you want it to be as dry as possible. If you put a moist chicken on the grill, more gas will splash onto the flame below, creating flare-ups. The moisture on it can cause flare-ups.
Try to prevent outbreaks by drying your chicken to prevent them from becoming harmful, escalating, and becoming out of hand quickly.
● Increase Cooking Time
The trick is to increase the cooking time of your chicken. Since it’s frozen, it will need time to defrost and cook. You should increase the cooking duration by at least 50% if you opt to place the meat for grilling when it is still frozen.
You must allow the meat to thaw for the first thirty minutes. Cooking will take a further 20 minutes.
If your chicken continues to grill unevenly despite carefully following all the instructions, you should inspect your grill. It may be outdated. Chances are, you may need to purchase a new grill.
● Place Chicken on Indirect Heat
Try to grill the chicken over indirect heat before you start grilling. The chicken will thaw faster that way and cook quickly. It is better to spread the chicken pieces rather than put them together on indirect heat.
Additionally, steer the thinner pieces of boneless chicken and breasts as far away from the flames as possible. Thinner pieces are prone to burning quickly.
To ensure your chicken is properly cooked all the way to the center, use a barbeque grill thermometer. Using a grill thermometer can help you avoid an upset stomach.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Can you defrost frozen chicken in an oven?
You shouldn’t use an oven to defrost meat because it will either partially or entirely cook it. Additionally, avoid making any type of slow cooker meal using frozen poultry or meat. Before it is fully cooked, the chicken or meat will spend excessive time in the bacteria risk zone between 40 and 140 degrees F.
2. How long can you keep chicken in the fridge after defrosting it?
The answer depends on several factors. Suppose the frozen chicken was still relatively fresh before using the refrigerator method to defrost it. In that case, you can keep it in the refrigerator for two to three days.
Conclusion – Can you grill frozen chicken.
Grilling frozen chicken will be easy if you know exactly how long you need to grill your chicken and at what heat.
Remember that the safest method is to defrost the chicken in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Still, if that’s not possible, then we hope you’ll use the quick thawing methods suggested above the next time you grill frozen chicken for friends and family. Whether it’s an abrupt barbeque party or a last-minute meal change, this will deliver the great taste and flavor of grilled chicken.
