Can I grill frozen chicken? This question takes most of the people in a thoughtful bombardment. Grilling frozen chicken breast is not an easy task at all. Why? Because your frozen chicken will be overcooked at the edges whereas the middle part will still remain raw. So, how you can grill frozen chicken?
This article is a detailed guide on grilling frozen chicken breast. The same rules will apply to a whole frozen chicken. We will also discuss how long to grill frozen chicken breasts? So, make sure to give a complete reading to not miss any important information.
Can You Grill Frozen Chicken Breasts?
In one word, No. Because there are several drawbacks of grilling a frozen chicken breast and it is not good for your health at all. But, there is a way to get your frozen chicken breast eatable. Before, directing grilling you must deforest the chicken breast or a whole chicken whatever you desire to grill. Once, your chicken breast is completely unfrozen then you can grill the poultry. Let’s discuss why you should not be grilling frozen chicken breast.
Actually, grilling frozen chicken breast takes more time than unfrozen chicken breast because the ice will melt first on the surface. This procedure will successfully melt the parts on the edges but the middle part will still remain frozen. You must required the best gas grills for your chicken. Therefore, it becomes quite irritating because of time-consuming and uneven smoked chicken. You will end up eating an uneven frozen or we can say raw meat.
The uneven frozen chicken will have the unfrozen edges but when you go through the middle part and it is still frozen like raw meat. Even, sometimes the outer layer of the chicken breast get overcooked while the inside is still raw. You will find the chicken appearing cooker but you will end up eating raw meat.
Apart from that, grilling frozen chicken breast under the standard low heat will thrive the bacteria growth. Therefore, slow heat from the grill is good for even smoking of food but it is not appropriate with frozen chicken. Actually, these two conditions – slow heat and frozen state will thrive the growth of bacteria in the chicken. The bacteria growth happens during the transition from chicken’s frozen condition to being cooked. Therefore, you must not eat grilled frozen chicken breast because of getting contact with various diseases. Hence, grilling frozen chicken breast is not a good idea at all.
As we said earlier that deforesting your chicken breast allows you to grill thawed chicken breast. Let’s find out some best ways for deforesting frozen chicken breast.
Defrosting Frozen Chicken Breasts
There are mainly three methods that work perfectly for thawing your chicken. It is important to thaw your chicken one or two days before grilling frozen chicken breast because it is safer to eat then that one thawed a few minutes before grilling.
The size of the chicken also tells about which deforesting method should be used. You will find some methods best for small chunks of chicken whereas some are good for thawing a whole chicken. The three decorating methods are water bath thawing, using a microwave, and using a refrigerator. You can use the below methods to prepare your chicken before grilling.
Water Bath Thawing
The water bath thawing method requires the use of cold water instead of hot water because warm water will cook the edges of the chicken when the middle is still deforesting. Moreover, the bacteria will thrive on the chicken when warm water is used. In case, if you don’t have cold water available then simply add ice cubes to bring down the temperature of the bowl.
You just need to place your chicken in a vacuum-sealed or leak-proof bag. Once done, place the chicken in a bowl filled with cold water. Using this method, larger chicken chunks may consume a couple of hours whereas chicken breasts take less than two hours.
The water bath thawing method requires monitoring. You have to make sure that cold water is poured after every thirty to forty-five minutes and the previous cold water poured. As we can understand that this method is best when dealing with small chunks of chicken.
Using a Microwave
You can also use a microwave to deforest chicken breast. Automatic deforesting options are mostly found in modern microwaves. If you have one then you just need to simply put the chicken it then press the deforesting button. Your chicken will be thawed. Make sure to read the manual instructions carefully on how to use the deforest button.
On the other side, if you don’t have a modern microwave with an automatic deforesting option then you can still use your regular microwave to deforest your chicken breasts.
Simply, place your chicken breast on a dish. Now, place this dish in the microwave then you need to monitor the chicken periodically to check how much it is thawed. If your microwave does not have a rotating plate then flip and turn the chicken periodically to ensure all sides are deforested. These steps will prevent chicken edges from overcooking.
It has been seen practically that a microwave is a great option when dealing with small chunks of chicken including breasts. If you are willing to cook immediately after thawing then it will be a good option. One thing to keep in mind is that your chicken may get cooked at the edges but the middle part of the chicken is still thawing. Therefore, simply cook the microwaved chicken immediately in other to avoid cooking off the edges.
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is the safest and most efficient way to deforest your chicken. You just need to take the frozen chicken breast from the freezer then placing it in the refrigerator. However, this is a time-consuming way but the results will be excellent. You will need to place your frozen chicken in the refrigerator a day before smoking it.
24 hours the time is mandatory for deforesting chicken breast. You can also add a day if required. Actually, deforesting time depending on the parts and size of the chicken. A minimum of two days is required if you want to deforest a whole chicken.
One most advantageous thing here is that it doesn’t require monitoring the progress. A chicken that weighs five pounds will take at least two days to complete thaw inside the refrigerator. Hence, we can say that using the refrigeration method is best when dealing with a whole chicken or large chunks of meat.
How Long to Grill Frozen Chicken Breasts?
Grilling frozen chicken breasts will end up with uneven grilled and raw meat full of bacteria and diseases. You have to first deforest the chicken breast then proceed with the grilling steps. Therefore, deforestation is an important part. If you are placing the frozen chicken breast in the refrigerator then you must place it at least 24 hours before grilling.
A whole chicken will need to keep in the refrigerator for at least two days. Once, you have successfully thawed the chicken breast then you can follow the below steps for grilling. The below procedure will help you to grill the chicken breast in a couple of minutes.
Steps for Grilling Thawed Chicken Breasts
1. Start by cutting the chicken breast into pieces so that it can be pounded.
2. Wrap the chicken breast pieces in plastic material, once you have the right size of chicken pieces. This will ensure that chicken juice is maintained when pounding. Pounding the chicken pieces makes them bigger.
3. For pounding, it is recommended to use a meat tenderizer with flat sides. It is important to make the pieces to be even. Even pieces will be easier to grill and time-saving.
4. Now, place the pounded chicken breasts into a bowl.
5. Next, use high oiled marinating ingredients to marinate your chicken.
Note: Don’t use sweeteners like honey because this makes chicken sticking to the grill.
6. For complete marinade, you can place the marinated chicken breast in the refrigerator.
7. Next, use a paper towel dipped in order to oil the grill. You must use the tongs to run the paper towel on the grill’s grates.
8. Now, preheat the grill for direct cooking at 400° F temperature.
9. Then wipe out any excess marinade from the marinated chicken breast.
10. It’s time to spread the marinated chicken pieces over the grill. Make sure to spread them out in one layer.
11. It takes around four minutes per side for one chicken piece.
12. You can also use a thermometer to ensure that the temperature is at 165°F. Also, make sure that the meat is not pink inside.
13. When all chicken breasts are smoked, serve them. Let the chicken breast to settle for five minutes. It will prevent the loss of chicken juice when you cut immediately.
14. You have done it. Enjoy your smoked chicken.
Conclusion
Here, we have a detailed discussion on how to grill frozen chicken breasts? The correct way follows deforesting then grilling the thawed chicken breasts or a whole chicken. Direct grilling will end up consuming uneven cooked raw chicken. You can comment below your valuable thoughts. Stay tuned with us for more regular grilling guides and tips.
