Guy Fieri's Tip For Perfectly Grilled BBQ Chicken

While you shouldn't put barbecue sauce on your chicken to cover up cooking mistakes, that doesn't mean it isn't a great way to add a glaze of tangy-sweet flavor to your meat. To achieve this, Guy Fieri insists that temperature control is key to getting the perfect texture for both the meat and the sauce.

Barbecue sauce is a deceptively delicate ingredient thanks to its sugar content. If your coals get too hot, the sauce burns into a carbonized mess rather than forming a sticky-sweet glaze. The one thing you should never do with grilled chicken is leave the grill lid off, as this provides too much oxygen and leads to flare-ups that burn the exterior before the inside comes to temperature. Fieri emphasizes that by slowly bringing the meat up to temperature, you get that tender, fall-off-the-bone protein that's ideal for chicken, especially dark meat. "Heat it up and slowly cook it to really break it down," he told Parade — and when grilling, let the meat rest at room temperature for no more than an hour to ensure even cooking.

Even if you nail the temperature, you'll still want to avoid applying the sauce too early. Long exposure to moderate heat is just as damaging as a brief blast of high heat. The sauce only needs about 10 minutes to evaporate its moisture, leaving behind the seasonings and sugar you're really after. Once you've perfected the glaze and texture, consider other ways to build flavor — like brines or smoking woods — for truly exceptional grilled barbecue chicken.

Grilled barbecue chicken is already smoky and sweet, but a bit of added salt or acid can round out its flavor. Techniques that also add tenderness and moisture are especially effective — and often more hands-off — than simply seasoning the meat right before it hits the grill.

When grilling over lower temperatures, you run the risk of drying out the meat. Brines introduce both salt and moisture into the chicken, and since pickles are a barbecue classic, why not use some leftover pickle brine to prep your chicken for a few hours beforehand? The salt penetrates the muscle fibers along with the brine's seasonings, breaking them down slightly so they hold more moisture and turn out more tender. The result is chicken that's sweet on the outside and tangy on the inside — a full range of barbecue flavor in a single bite.

The sticky glaze of barbecue chicken essentially acts like a sponge, soaking up all the surrounding flavors. While charcoal contributes some smokiness, it can't quite match the depth of classic smoking woods like mesquite, apple, or hickory. Soak a few wood chips for 30 minutes before grilling, toss them onto the charcoal, and watch as they release flavorful smoke. The tiny particles cling to the barbecue sauce like glue, adding restaurant-quality complexity with minimal effort. For even more flavor, you can soak the chips in beer, vinegar, brine, or just about anything else — as long as the liquid encourages the wood to smolder rather than ignite.