Should I BBQ chicken on foil?
My wife tells me I should be putting aluminum foil on the grill and BBQing the chicken kebob on that and not the naked flame. She cites that it won't get burnt, easy to clean the grill and the marinade won't drip off. I tell her that the whole point of putting it on the BBQ is for the naked flame otherwise we might as well do it in a pan on the stove.
Should chicken be BBQ'd on foil?
Best Answer
Grilling vs BBQ semantics aside.
A gas grill doesn't add any flavor of it's own. Some of the food will sear, char, or even drip and catch on fire. These will produce a variety of new flavors that range from delicious, maillard goodness to sooty, bitter, death. These new flavors are not a function of the open flame but of the very high, direct heat.
In this regard, the only advantage of a gas grill over the broiler in your oven is that it is:
- more accessible to work with and
- located outside of your house so you don't have to deal with smoke or excess heat.
Maillard reactions require the food to be dry. You don't want your marinade to pool around your meat because that isn't grilling- that's braising. Delicious for ribs but not so great for chicken.
Her other argument for the foil was ease of cleaning. Just leave your grill on high for 10 minutes after you finish cooking and any food particles will disintegrate easily under your brush.
In my opinion, unless you do intend to actually braise your meat, the foil is completely unnecessary.
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Quick Answer about "Should I BBQ chicken on foil?"
Fat from the chicken can drip and burn, too. As a result, explains Harvard Health Publications, chemicals called heterocyclic amines and aromatic hydrocarbons from, and they have been linked to cancer. Reduce the formation of these compounds by putting chicken in foil on the grill.Should I BBQ on foil?
Don't line the grill grates with foil either. It restricts the airflow in the grill which can be a fire hazard. Lining your grill grates with aluminum foil doesn't allow the juices and fat to drain naturally.Can you barbecue with aluminum foil?
Foil does have useful applications in our grills though, and works well as a makeshift smoker packet. It's also great for wrapping up vegetables, ribs, fish and other foods for a different method of cooking on the grill.Grilled Barbecue Chicken and Vegetables in Foil Recipe
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