Chicken on coals: cooking secrets. How to cook chicken outdoors: secrets and tips How to fry chicken in foil on the grill

Whole chicken cooked over coals is a real decoration for a festive table. Tender light meat inside, baked aromatic crust on the outside - a sea of ​​delight from satisfied guests is guaranteed.

There are many recipes for preparing such chicken. Let's consider several popular methods, and at the same time some general points regarding the choice of a suitable bird, marinating and the nuances of baking.

Choosing a bird

The ideal option is domestic chicken from among the meat breeds. Such poultry is usually kept in mineral water or fermented milk drinks. Broiler chickens are also good, which in principle don’t even need to be marinated, since the meat will already be soft.

It is better to avoid domestic layers: their meat is much tougher, their bones are larger, and there is simply no fat that is useful in any case. It makes more sense to put this chicken in broth.

In any case, you should take a closer look at large carcasses weighing at least 2 kg

Let's prepare

The selected carcass should be critically inspected: remove any remaining feathers, clean the rump from glands and ducts, and rinse thoroughly both outside and inside. Particular attention should be paid to the bird’s neck: fragments of the trachea and crop may remain in it.

The next important point is the selection of a good marinade. There is wide scope for imagination here. In theory, you can use anything for pickling, whatever is on hand at the right time. Tomatoes, fermented milk products, fruit juices, alcoholic drinks, all kinds of greens - all these ingredients will somehow improve the taste of baked chicken.

In order to give the finished bird an attractive golden hue, you can marinate it in a mixture of tomato juice and curdled milk. For connoisseurs of oriental and Asian nuances, it is recommended to add teriyaki or soy sauce, honey, grated ginger root, orange pulp and juice, and Thai or Indian spices to the marinade. If you are pressed for time, you can use regular carbonated mineral water.

What's on the side?

For a complete meal, it is worth preparing some kind of side dish. Baked chicken in foil over charcoal or shish kebab from its fillet goes well with grilled vegetables and mushrooms.

You can take everything that catches your eye: carrots, eggplants, multi-colored bell peppers, potatoes, zucchini, onions

Country fruits or berries will also be good. They can be used to stuff a chicken carcass by cutting apples or pears into large cubes. Oranges will also work - they need to be divided into slices, peeled from the films.

How to cook? In pieces or whole?

Here the approach is exclusively individual. It all depends on the goals, objectives, ideas and available equipment. If you have a large grill mesh, you can cook the whole chicken. If a whole company is planned, then it will be more convenient to fry halves or quarters of carcasses.

If barbecue is on the agenda, then cutting up the bird is a must. Whole fried chicken can be divided into portions after cooking.

What to serve with?

Chicken cooked over charcoal is usually served with a side dish of potatoes, rice, and pasta. All kinds of homemade pickles (vegetables, mushrooms), canned eggplants, olives, and fresh vegetable salads go well with fried poultry.

They eat this chicken during a picnic camping with their hands. At home, it is better to use the usual knife and fork.

Benefits of roasting over coals

Experts in the field of healthy nutrition highly appreciate the advantages of this method of cooking. From the point of view of preserving useful substances during the heat treatment process, baking is second only to steam boiling.

During baking, poultry meat does not become dry, as with simple frying. It acquires softness, tenderness, while maintaining its juiciness. An additional plus is that you don’t need to use oil when cooking.

Classic recipe for charcoal-roasted chicken

The chicken is marinated in a spice mixture with salt and garlic, and then cooked flat on the grill, a la chicken tabaka. The peculiarity of the recipe is to carefully remove the bones from the carcass while maintaining its integrity.

Required ingredients:

• one large chicken;
• one head of garlic;
• Khmeli-Suneli seasoning mixture;
• salt;
• freshly crushed black pepper.

Cooking technique:

1. Rinse the chicken carcass and dry it. To begin, cut off the wings at the joints at the very base.
2. Continue culinary “surgery” on the chicken thighs. Carefully cut through the skin at the ends of the thighs, turn the carcass over and place on the skin. Use a sharp knife to trim each thigh along the entire bone. Cut off at the joints and remove the femurs.
3. You will have to tinker even more with removing the ridge, but it will be worth it. The main thing is to try to cause as little damage to the chicken skin as possible. In addition to the already cut off wings, all other parts should be folded into a single chicken whole.
4. After removing the bones, the chicken along with the wings should be salted, seasoned with freshly crushed black pepper, and a mixture of khmeli-suneli spices. Crush half a dozen garlic cloves through a press, add salt and carefully rub the boneless chicken layer with this aromatic mixture. Mix the meat thoroughly with your hands. Marinate for about an hour. During this time, prepare the coals.
5. When the required amount of coals is ready, you can start baking. To do this, you will need a three-dimensional grille with good fastening. The chicken is laid out along with the wings on the grill.
6. You need to bake until fully cooked. Turn the grill over periodically.

It is better to place the finished bird on a large dish for the convenience of all those present. Each of them will have the opportunity to cut off any part of the chicken carcass they like. You can decorate the dish with fresh herbs and vegetables.

To get a large amount of good coals you will need to light a real fire of wood

Chicken baked in foil

Another option is chicken in foil baked in coals. The advantage of this method is that you don’t have to stand by the fire all the time and make sure it doesn’t burn or dry out.

Required ingredients:

• one chicken;
• about 100 g bacon;
• garlic;
• pepper;
• salt.

Cooking technology:

1. Beat the chicken carcass until it takes a flat shape.
2. Rub with salt, pepper and garlic outside and inside.
3. Thinly slice the lard and place the slices on the chicken.
4. Wrap the carcass in foil and bake in coals for 30 minutes.

If you have a spit on your farm, you can roast chicken with it. This method has its advantages: the bird is securely fixed on the spit and with uniform rotation it will acquire an appetizing red-golden hue.

Charcoal-baked chicken is a truly luxurious and festive dish. It can become the main decoration of the holiday table. A unique smoky aroma, an appetizing crust and the most tender light meat - what else is needed for an excellent result?

There are a wide variety of recipes for cooking chicken on the grill. In our article we will look at the general principles of cooking, talk about marinating and the intricacies of baking.

Process Features

Nutritionists believe that roasting over hot coals is one of the best ways to heat food. Of course, this method is inferior to steaming in terms of preserving useful components, but the taste of the finished dish is excellent.

People learned to cook chicken over coals quite a long time ago. We can say that this method is one of the most ancient. Today it has not lost its relevance.

During the baking process, the meat is steamed and becomes very tender and soft. Unlike frying, this cooking method allows you to maintain the juiciness of the product and the chicken does not become dry. Another advantage is that there is no need to use additional oil. On the contrary, excess fat is rendered from the bird's thighs.

Poultry selection and preliminary preparation

Carefully inspect the carcass, remove feathers with tweezers, if any. Using a sharp thin knife, carefully cut out the gland along with the duct from the rump. Rinse the carcass inside and out. If you do not plan to cut the bird when cooking, pay special attention to the neck: check to see if there is any trachea or crop left inside. To prevent the bird from flying off the spit, be sure to loop the carcass. Tie the ends of the legs together, make a knot over the tail, bring the ends of the rope under the breast, cross them, tie them around the carcass, pressing the wings to it. Tuck the tips of the wings back towards the shoulder joints.

Broiler chickens do not require pre-marination; their meat will be soft in any case. But most cooks prefer not to skip this step, because it allows you to imbue the meat with exquisite aromas. Try to choose a large bird, weighing about 2 kg.

Another thing is meat poultry. Before cooking chicken on coals, it must be kept in mineral water or kefir. It is better to immediately cut the carcass into portioned pieces so that the meat is sufficiently cooked.

But it’s better not to mess with breeds of domestic laying hens at all. The meat of such chickens is much tougher, the bones are massive, and there is almost no fat. The heat treatment process will take a long time. It is better to leave such meat for making broth or jellied meat.

The best marinades for chicken

Of course, you can improvise by putting everything you have on hand into the container with the bird: mayonnaise, a little soy sauce, tomato pulp, pureed in a blender, herbs. However, if you decide to cook chicken over coals, recipes for successful marinades will come in handy in any case.

Yogurt mixed with tomato juice is perfect for this. This marinade not only speeds up the cooking process, but also gives the meat a gorgeous golden hue.

If you like oriental notes in your usual recipes, combine 50 ml of teriyaki and soy sauces in a container, add the crushed pulp of one orange along with juice, and your favorite spices. Rub the carcass with the mixture and leave for at least 3 hours. If desired, you can add 1 tbsp to the marinade. l. liquid honey.

For those in a hurry, the best solution may be a regular highly carbonated mineral water. Pour water over the poultry pieces, add spices and light the fire. The time required to prepare a fire with burnt coals will be enough for the bird to marinate sufficiently.

Acidic marinades are not suitable for chicken. Vinegar spoils the taste of meat and dries it out. But if you like piquant sourness, it is quite acceptable to sprinkle the carcass with lemon juice before baking.

Additional Ingredients

You can use vegetables when cooking chicken over charcoal. Country and tropical fruits and mushrooms will also be useful.

Cooking chicken over charcoal in foil? Feel free to use onions, eggplants, zucchini, young carrots, and bell peppers. If you cut the potatoes into cubes and bake them along with the meat, you will also get a wonderful side dish - aromatic and juicy.

Berries and fruits go well with chicken. Cut the apple and pear into large pieces, add peeled orange slices. Place the fruit inside the carcass and prick the skin with toothpicks so that they do not fall out during baking. The skin does not need to be cut off, but the stalks and seeds must be removed immediately.

Whole or pieces?

Should you cut the carcass right away or can you do the cutting after the charcoal chicken is ready? Act according to your mood and available equipment.

You can cook a whole bird on a large grill grid. Make a cut either along the spine or along the keel. If you are cooking several chickens at once for a large company, it will be convenient to cut the carcasses in half or into quarters.

To cook on skewers or skewers, it is more convenient to cut the meat immediately before baking.

Serving

Baked, they go perfectly with side dishes of potatoes, pasta, and rice. It is customary to eat poultry with a fork and knife, but if the feast takes place in a relaxed picnic atmosphere, you don’t have to adhere to strict rules of etiquette. It is quite acceptable to take pieces with your hands.

Be sure to serve a salad of seasonal vegetables, homemade pickles, pickled mushrooms or canned olives. Don't forget the sauces!

In the fresh air, any food seems more appetizing and tastier. But you’re tired of kebabs, pilaf is no longer fun, and you don’t want to bother with fish? To come up with something new like this?
If we don’t want to cook either in a cauldron or on a grill, there is only one way out - to hide it in the coals.
Yes, yes, heat them up harder and bury something special with the hot coals. Let it be an ordinary chicken, but we will prepare it in a cunning way - we will dress it in triple armor.

• whole chicken
• garlic
• salt pepper
• dried basil
• 3 oranges
• cabbage
• foil

First, chop the garlic.
Then rub the chicken thoroughly inside and out with salt, pepper and garlic. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with dried basil. If you don't like basil, use rosemary, which goes especially well with chicken. Or maybe you want to highlight the taste with coriander or cumin - there is any spice of your choice, the main thing is that you like both the taste and the smell.
While the chicken is infused a little and soaked in the aromas of spices, we cut two oranges into thin slices, straight with the peel, and cut the third into eight pieces.
Lemon should not be used here, it will give too much acid, and the high temperature will also cause bitterness.
We carefully disassemble the head of cabbage - we will need the large top leaves, and use the juicy middle for a salad.
Spread the foil on a flat surface. If it is thin, we make two or three layers so that nothing breaks during the baking process and removal from the coals.
Now let's dress up the chicken in armor!
We put a couple of cabbage leaves on the foil, a few orange slices on them, and our future knight on top. Place orange quarters inside the chicken and place circles on top. Cover with cabbage leaves and wrap well in foil - so that not a single hole remains!
Carefully rake the coals, place the bundle and pour it on top.
The best part is that the chicken will not be fried or baked. It will seem to be boiling in its own juice, soaked in the liquid from the oranges and cabbage leaves, and the cabbage leaves will take all the heat from the coals, but even if they burn, the orange slices will certainly protect the chicken.
You can forget about this delicious package for an hour or an hour and a half; the chicken should be stewed well.
And 10 minutes before it’s ready is just the right time to prepare a light salad for a hot dish - we still have cabbage!
Chop it finely, sprinkle with coarse salt and sugar, press a little to release the juice.
Cut the cucumber and bell pepper into thin strips and mix with cabbage.
Mix the juice of half a lemon with a few tablespoons of olive oil, season the salad and quickly run to save the chicken from the fire.
Just take it out very carefully so as not to tear the foil - hot coals make it somewhat fragile. Place on a plate or board, cut the foil along its entire length, remove the cabbage leaves and oranges and break the chicken into portions.
Somehow I have a feeling this dish will become your new favorite this season. If only the coals were hot and the weather didn’t disappoint!

Cut the chicken carcass lengthwise along the breast (as in the photo) and, pressing with your hands, unfold it like a book.

Peel the onions, cut into rings and place with the bird.

Pour in tomato juice, cover with cling film and leave to marinate in a cool place for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. During this time, you need to turn the chicken 2-3 times so that it marinates evenly.

Place the marinated chicken carcass along with the onions on the grill and place on the grill. The coals should smolder, not burn, otherwise the chicken will burn.

The chicken must be turned during frying approximately every 5-7 minutes. In total, cooking will take 30-35 minutes, but the time may vary, since the heat of the coals on the grill may be more or less. You can check readiness with a knife: when no pink juice comes out in the cut, the chicken is ready.

Juicy, aromatic and very tasty chicken fried on charcoal, serve immediately to the table. It goes well with fresh or lightly salted vegetables, light salads and all kinds of sauces.
Frying a whole chicken on the grill is absolutely not difficult, the main thing is to monitor the heat of the coals and marinate the meat well in advance, then you can treat everyone at the picnic to delicious, juicy chicken meat cooked in nature.

Food always tastes better in nature, especially if you cook it over an open fire. The most popular picnic dish is chicken, which can be grilled whole or in separate pieces. It cooks quickly, always turns out tasty, aromatic and very appetizing. Well, shall we try?

We cut the carcass

Before you cook the chicken over the fire, you need to cut it up. The simplest thing is to cut the breast in half, but it is more convenient to divide the bird into portions. To do this, place the chicken on its back and make a cut at the base of the thighs, break the thigh and cut again at the joint at the white bone. Carefully separate the legs from the carcass, and then cut them in half into the thigh and drumstick, feeling the joint between the two bones. This is most conveniently done by turning your hips over to the other side.

Do the same with the wings, cutting the skin and bending the wing to the side.

Now separate the breast from the back. Place the chicken carcass back up and feel the fat stripes on the sides - they go just under the breast. Cut the chicken along the length of the strips with kitchen scissors and the back will come off easily. You can use it to make chicken broth!

The breast can also be divided into portions by cutting in half into two equal parts. True, you will have to make an effort, since the breast bone is quite hard. Now use the tip of a knife to separate the fillet from the rib bones and remove the skin. And don't forget to cut off the tail and throw it away - it's not usually used.

Successful marinades for chicken

The simplest dish for a picnic is chicken wing shish kebab, the meat for which does not necessarily need to be marinated. But if you soak the wings in the sauce at home, then outdoors there will be no hassle at all - all you have to do is fry them. Many lovers of weekends in nature know how to marinate chicken wings for barbecue. This can be done in any container or even in a plastic bag that needs to be tightly tied. It is better to keep the meat in the marinade for at least 3-4 hours.

As a base for the marinade, you can use kefir, mayonnaise, red or white wine, beer, soy sauce, any vegetable oil, tomato or pomegranate juice. Additives can be any aromatic herbs, onions, garlic, ginger, honey, mustard, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, lemon or lime juice. However, some housewives, instead of marinade, sprinkle the meat with salt and spices, leaving the chicken for a while, and this turns out to be quite enough to make it tasty, juicy and aromatic. Using this principle, you can also prepare shish kebab from legs and other parts of the carcass.

Shish kebab melting in your mouth

Let's talk about how to quickly and tasty marinate chicken for barbecue if you don't have much time, but really want to eat, because the fresh air works up your appetite in earnest!

Experienced barbecue lovers advise first to beat the meat with a special culinary hammer, but there should be no bones in the meat, otherwise they will turn into small fragments. The chicken is first covered with plastic wrap to prevent pieces of meat from flying in different directions. The fastest way to marinate chicken is in natural yogurt, buttermilk or kefir, since these products contain enzymes and acids that destroy meat protein. If you soak the meat overnight in yogurt, it will become so soft that the kebab will melt in your mouth! Since chicken quickly absorbs flavors, you can add salt, a variety of spices, onions and garlic to the fermented milk marinade. The ideal marinade for tenderizing meat is sour, such as lemon juice, but experienced chefs do not recommend using vinegar for this purpose, believing that it can make the chicken tough. Barbecue chicken becomes softer in a fruit marinade of pineapple, mango or kiwi. Coat the pieces of meat with fresh fruit puree, leave in the refrigerator for an hour, and you will be surprised how soft the chicken will be. You can also marinate meat in carbonated drinks such as water, cola and Sprite, adding aromatic seasonings to them.

Secrets of tender meat

After the chicken has marinated, pierce the meat with skewers or place it on a grill and cook the kebab, turning and basting with marinade occasionally. Chicken fillet is fried on the grill for about 40 minutes, depending on the frying temperature. You should not cook for a long time, otherwise the kebab will become too tough, because during the frying process the meat loses moisture. At the very beginning of cooking, the coal in the fire should be red, and then it is better to simmer it a little so as not to burn the meat. Some lovers of outdoor barbecues cook them over low heat - this way the aroma of spices and marinade permeates the chicken more deeply and it does not lose its juiciness.

Another secret is to wrap the chicken carcass in foil after cooking and let it rest for 10 minutes. This way the aromatic juices will be evenly distributed inside the meat and will not leak out.

By the way, for a picnic, take young broiler chicken meat, since the kebab made from them always turns out softer. If we talk about a frozen carcass, then during the freezing process, cells in the meat are destroyed and moisture is lost, so it becomes harsh.

Also keep in mind that dark meat contains more fat, so it cooks faster and is softer than chicken breast. It is better to cook white chicken meat with the skin on to make the kebab fattier and juicier.

How to cook a whole chicken

In order to fry a whole chicken carcass, you need to buy a gutted fresh broiler chicken, since they have tender meat that is always cooked well. The chicken should have excellent appearance, dry and clean skin, a pleasant smell, elastic meat and light pink color.

Cut the chicken along the breast, unfold it like a book and rub both sides with salt, pepper and other spices - rosemary, thyme, dried garlic and paprika. Add fresh onion rings to the meat, then pour tomato juice or other marinade over it, cover with cling film and leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Turn the carcass periodically so that the meat is evenly saturated with the aroma of seasonings. Sometimes the carcass is not immediately cut in half - first the marinade is poured inside and left overnight, and in the morning the chicken is cut and rubbed with spices.

Place the marinated chicken on the grill or barbecue and cook for about half an hour, turning it every 5 minutes to ensure even cooking. Pierce the meat and if the juices run clear, the chicken is ready. It is served with salads, vegetable appetizers and potatoes. If you have time, you can fill the whole carcass with vegetable, fruit or mushroom filling, sew up the holes, and then bake on a spit, pouring marinade over it.

Shish kebab with cherry notes

Children love chicken shish kebab because it turns out very tender and easy to taste. And if you marinate meat in a mixture with cherry jam, the taste will be very unexpected and bright.

Prepare the following ingredients:

• chicken drumsticks - 8 pcs.
• vegetable oil - 150 ml
• soy sauce - 4 tbsp. l.
• cherry jam - 2 tbsp. l.
• mustard - 2 tsp.
• ground coriander - 0.5 tsp.
• sugar - 1 tsp.
• salt and pepper - to taste

Rinse and dry the chicken legs. Mix vegetable oil, soy sauce, sugar, cherry jam, mustard, coriander, salt and pepper and coat chicken meat with marinade. Leave the drumsticks in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Cook the chicken skewers on the grill, placing the meat in rows over the coals over a good heat. Roast for about 20 minutes, basting the chicken legs with the remaining marinade and being careful not to burn the meat.

To check readiness, pierce the meat in the thickest place, trying to reach the bone. If a clear liquid appears, and not blood, the kebab is ready. Serve it with herbs, fresh vegetables and.

Chicken breasts with pineapple on the fire

Pineapple and chicken seem to be made for each other, and you can easily see this by cooking chicken breasts on the grill. In addition, pineapple juice softens the tough white meat of chicken and gives it a piquant, rich flavor. And most importantly, the dish will be appreciated by everyone who is losing weight and leading a healthy lifestyle, since chicken breasts are dietary meat and help digestion, and besides, the chicken is cooked not in a frying pan, but on the grill without a drop of oil!

Take the following products:

• chicken breast without skin and bones - 1 pc.
• half a fresh pineapple
• white wine - 1 tbsp. l.
• a pinch of salt
• half a white onion
• half a red onion
• bell pepper - 1 pc.

Cut the chicken breast into large pieces and grind the ingredients for the marinade in a blender - white onion, wine and salt. Mix the resulting slurry with chicken pieces and leave to soak for 3 hours.

Peel the pineapple, remove the stem and eyes. Cut the remaining pineapple pulp into pieces the size of chicken pieces. Chop the red onion and pepper into large pieces. Place chicken, pineapple, onion and pepper on skewers, alternating between them.

Grill kebabs for 15 minutes, turning constantly to avoid burning. This dish does not require any sauces. Shish kebab with chicken and pineapple is delicious on its own, without any additives. Enjoy a healthy and delicious dish with your loved ones!

Fragrant chicken in foil

They say that chicken in foil over a fire turns out tastier and softer than regular kebab, and it’s easier to cook, because you don’t need to watch such chicken. So, fry the chicken over the fire, wrapped in foil!

For this dish you will need the following products:

• chicken wings or other parts of chicken - 6 pcs.
• a mixture of black and red pepper spices, curry or chicken seasoning
• salt - to taste
• garlic - 4 cloves
• onion - 2 pcs.
• potatoes - 8 pcs.

Rinse the meat and dry it well, rub with a mixture of spices and garlic, then leave to marinate for a while. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices, chop the onion. Cut the foil into squares, put some potatoes and onions on each, and place pieces of chicken on top, which need to be salted and peppered. Fold the foil into bags and place them on the barbecue grill or on the bottom of the grill, pouring warm coals on top. Cook the chicken and potatoes for an hour, turning the pouches occasionally to ensure the contents cook evenly.

Let the dish sit for a while and unwrap the foil, and then enjoy the juicy meat, especially since it will seem especially tasty in the fresh air!

If you haven't tried chicken kebab at an outdoor barbecue yet, you're missing out on a lot! Be sure to prepare this delicious dish that will decorate any picnic, even if the weather does not please you with sun and warmth.