CHICKEN BREAST TEMP

Unknown

SLOWLY LEARNING. HAVE TRIED BURGERS, STEAK,AND FISH. ALL TURNED OUT GREAT! TRYING RIBS THIS WEEKEND. CAN'T WAIT ALL THE RECIPES LOOK SO GREAT. TONIGHT TRYING CHICKEN BREAST. i'VE LOOKED AT THREE DIFFERENT RECIPES TEMP AND TIME SEEM VERY DIFFERENT. ONE HAS 310-320 FOR 40 MIN.,ONE HAS 400-450 FOR 20 MIN. AND ONE HAS 400 FOR 2 MIN THEN AT 350 FOR 12-15 MIN. HOW CAN THERE BE SUCH A DIFFERENCE? IF ANYONE HAS A FAVORITE RECIPE THAT WOULD BE GREAT TOO.

Mike Oelrich

Big Cat,[p] Are you cooking a whole chicken breast, or "boneless skinless breasts"? The differences in temperature can be due to a variety of factors. If you're cooking indirect, the temperature can be a bit higher than if you're cooking direct. If the breast portions (or whatever) have the skin still on and you're cooking direct, then the method calling for higher temperature for a couple minutes followe by lower temp might make some sense to brown the skin first. Again, it all depends on what you're cooking and what method you use.[p]MikeO[p]BTW, watch out for that Caps Lock key. I used to work for an Air Force General that always typed in all caps (probably from reading too much message traffic). Never could tell when he was angry ;-)

Nature Boy

Big Cat,
Howdy!
There are many ways to cook chicken to achieve good results. Lower temps yield smokier results, higher temps less smoke flavor and browner, crispier skin. Cook to an internal temp of 165-175. You can go direct or indirect. Lots of ways to skin that cat. I prefer 400 indirect with chicken pieces, but that is just me.[p]I usually cook dark meat, but I have heard great things about Grillin Bills Jerked Chicken Breast from last eggfest...in recipe section.[p]Good luck, hope that helps a bit!
BTW, if you could knock that CAPS LOCK key off, it makes the messages a lot easier to read. Thanks!
NB

Tim M

Big Cat,[p]The 310-350 for 40 min sounds like me! I do skinless breasts at those temps direct over the fire. I usually add sauce and burn it on the chicken. If I want a more baked chicken style - I go indirect like NB said he does his. The indirect method will provide a more juicy breast than direct - but its just different ways to suit your tastes.[p]You will find lots and lots of leeway when cooking on the Egg. The only times when time/temps are critical is when your doing steaks at high searing temps for 2-3 min per side. Otherwise you can vary times and temps to fit your time period or to produce a certain result (like charing on sauce). Ask questions - and welcome to the forum.[p]Tim

Unknown

Nature Boy,
What exactly is direct or indirect?
Probably a silly question but I have to ask.

Nature Boy

Big Cat,
Direct is when you have your food on the grid directly over your fire. Indirect is when there is some sort of a baffle between the direct heat of the fire, and the food. Could be anything from a piece of aluminum foil, to a drip pan, to firebricks or a pizza stone.[p]Cooking indirect enables you to use higher temps without risk of over-charring the outside of the meat. [p]Hang around a bit, and take some time to browse the archives. There are many examples and discussions of indirect setups, as well as direct techniques. TimM's and Gfw's websites also have nice presentations of sevral setups.[p]Cheers
NB