Grilling a half-chicken?
Need some helping grilling a half chicken (in one piece) we got from our CSA.
For some reason, I have only grilled a chicken piece by piece. My friend did a beer can chicken, but that won't work here.
We use natural charcoal.
Any advice? How long should we be grilling this puppy? On or off the coals?
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11 Comments:
I'd either cut it up and grill it as pieces or grill it up chicken under a brick style.
joyyy at 8:26PM on 08/19/09
I'm with joyyy, take large knife, apply chopping motion, grill in pieces.
Seems to me like on a grill it would be too difficult to regulate the heat, all the pieces would be of varied thickness and distances from the heat.
What kind of grill do you have? Does it have a smoker or anything on it?
AyeEat at 9:03PM on 08/19/09
If you have the benefit of having a half-chicken, leave it intact! The meat stays more moist and juicy that way. Indirect heat; treat as you would roasted chicken. I use my grill to do whole birds, butterflied, or whole halves, all the time. Natural charcoal is the best.
hungryinhouston at 9:37PM on 08/19/09
Thanks! Hungryinhouston--how long do you leave it on the grill? 45 minutes or so?
lilfrench at 9:41PM on 08/19/09
I often partially debone a whole chicken to grill it, which I actually prefer to beer can. I would think that one could also partially debone half a chicken so it'd lay flat and even.
To partially debone, first cut out the backbone, taking care not to accidentally removing the oysters (the pockets of thigh meat on the pelvis). Open the chicken and cut out the rib bones and wish bone, and pull out the keel bone. With practice, it'll eventually only take a couple of minutes. The chicken will now lay flat and will cook evenly on a grill.
MarvinDog at 9:46PM on 08/19/09
Depends on the size of the bird and how "mellow" your coals are. Ideally, with say, half a four pound bird, I would use coals that are moderate, then cook for about an hour; hour and a half.
Brining, of course, is another story! :)
hungryinhouston at 9:52PM on 08/19/09
@hungryinhouston. It is ONLY 1/2 a chicken! An hour and a half? Are you kidding me? It will be like shoe leather!
izatryt at 10:00PM on 08/19/09
Uh, Iz, I said "about an hour; hour and a half." Moderate coals with bone-in chicken? We're not talking about boneless breasts here!
hungryinhouston at 10:09PM on 08/19/09
Skin down, under a couple of foil wrapped bricks. Moderate coals. 1.5 hrs is way too long. Go with 15 minutes. Turn, place the bricks back on top. After 10 more minutes prick the thigh to see if the juices run clear. If they do, good to go. If not...go for another 5 minutes and check again.
derosa at 10:29PM on 08/19/09
Cut @hungryinhouston some slack... There are so many variables involved with cooking chicken he couldn't possibly tell someone how long it will take. Surface to mass ratio, heat of the grill, density/size of the bones, fat content of the bird in proportion to the lean meat, location of the bird in relation to the coals (directly over or off to the side of the coals). The best way to tell someone when their chicken will be done is to tell them to get a good instant read thermometer and cook it to their personal favorite amount of doneness. YOU BIG MEANY IZATRYT! hehe... I got your back @ hungryinh-town!
Pavlov at 9:18AM on 08/20/09
Oh yes, there is another way to tell when a chicken is done according to Jacques Pepin it's done when "Le Poulet Chante" (The Chicken Sings) it means the layers of fat have clarified and the chicken makes louder hissing splattering noises and is nearly done... God luck with that one!
Pavlov at 9:27AM on 08/20/09