Debug

[0 - 2] - I'm Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor

[2 - 4] and today I'm gonna show you the best way

[4 - 6] to grill chicken at home Frank style.

[6 - 9] We're talking juicy, tender, not overcooked

[9 - 11] and stringy chicken breast every single time.

[12 - 13] This is Grilled Chicken 101.

[15 - 17] Chicken breast is kind of problematic

[17 - 19] for most beginning cooks

[19 - 22] because it dries out really quickly.

[22 - 24] Grilled chicken breasts can actually be delicious and juicy.

[24 - 27] I know people have had dry, stringy chicken breasts.

[27 - 32] This is not gonna be that. [upbeat music]

[32 - 34] The chicken breast has just come out of the fridge.

[34 - 37] I like to keep it as cold as possible before I grill.

[37 - 39] One of the things I like to do with chicken breast

[39 - 41] is pound them out lightly.

[41 - 42] I have a mallet.

[42 - 47] This side with the spikes is for meat that is tough, right?

[47 - 50] Whereas this flat side is for meat that is not tough.

[50 - 52] So chicken breast is not tough.

[52 - 53] Don't start whacking at your chicken breast

[53 - 54] with the tenderizing side,

[54 - 56] you're just gonna tear it up and ruin it.

[56 - 59] Basically what I want to try and do with my meat mallet

[59 - 60] is even that out.

[60 - 63] If you cook this chicken breast without pounding it out,

[63 - 65] this little tail end is gonna cook and get dried out,

[65 - 68] whereas this one, the fat side might not be cooked enough.

[68 - 71] So a lot of times people who pound meat out

[71 - 74] with a mallet will use cling film and that's fine.

[74 - 76] But what I like to do, I get a Ziploc.

[76 - 78] I'm gonna take off the top of the Ziploc

[79 - 82] and I take off the sides of the Ziploc with a knife,

[82 - 85] and then you get this nice piece of plastic

[85 - 88] that you can reuse over and over and it's hinged.

[88 - 90] Plastic wrap sometimes gets a little fussy,

[90 - 92] it sticks to itself.

[92 - 94] I find that sacrificing one Ziploc bag

[94 - 96] for all of my pounding is well worth it.

[96 - 99] Chicken breast sometimes have little pieces of fat.

[99 - 100] I like to just trim them.

[100 - 102] A lot of times there's a little piece of cartilage

[102 - 104] and some like little bloodlines here.

[104 - 106] I like to trim those out.

[106 - 108] I want it to be nice and clean and neat.

[108 - 111] I'll take the plastic Ziploc

[111 - 113] and you don't have to like really whack it,

[113 - 115] you just have to lightly tap.

[115 - 117] Make sure we're not going on an angle.

[117 - 119] You want to be perfectly flat

[119 - 120] because if you hit it with an edge,

[120 - 123] you're gonna get like a divot in your chicken breast.

[123 - 125] You notice how I'm focusing on the fat side,

[125 - 127] not the skinny side, right?

[127 - 129] And get in there and touch it once in a while

[129 - 130] and see how you're doing on thickness.

[132 - 133] And I think this one looks pretty good.

[133 - 135] We're not going for a chicken cutlet here.

[135 - 136] We're going on the grill.

[136 - 138] We still need some of that thickness there

[138 - 140] so we have time to get that char.

[140 - 141] Let's get the other one in there.

[141 - 143] This one's pretty good so far.

[143 - 146] I'm not gonna go too crazy with it, just lightly hit.

[146 - 149] I go around, I'm not just pounding in one area

[149 - 152] and as I hit it kind of spreads out under that plastic.

[154 - 156] It's so much more equal than it was before

[156 - 158] and this is gonna allow us to cook it evenly.

[158 - 161] If it cooks evenly, in the end it's gonna be juicier,

[161 - 166] especially if we take it off at the right time. [upbeat music]

[166 - 169] One of the tricks here is to season ahead

[169 - 171] and technically this is called a dry brine.

[171 - 173] Chicken breast tends to get dry,

[173 - 175] but if you season ahead,

[175 - 177] the chicken breast is gonna hold onto some moisture

[177 - 181] and basically it could be from 30 minutes up to 12 hours.

[181 - 183] If all you have is 30 minutes, season it,

[183 - 185] put it in the fridge, let it sit for 30 minutes.

[185 - 188] It's still gonna help you get a moister,

[188 - 189] juicier chicken breast.

[189 - 192] This one tip of seasoning ahead

[192 - 193] is going to bump your game up.

[193 - 196] If you take nothing else from this video,

[196 - 197] season your chicken ahead.

[197 - 200] So chicken breast down.

[200 - 202] I get a nice pinch of salt when I season.

[202 - 203] You notice I'm not close by,

[203 - 206] 'cause if I'm close I get little dots of salt.

[206 - 209] If I go up high and sprinkle back and forth,

[209 - 212] look at that, super evenly seasoned.

[212 - 214] It looks like a fresh snowfall.

[214 - 216] I can still see the chicken through the salt.

[216 - 218] And now all we do is flip it over,

[220 - 221] season the other side,

[224 - 226] and then we're gonna put it in the fridge

[226 - 230] and let it sit for at least 30 minutes up to 12 hours.

[230 - 231] That's dry brining, people.

[231 - 233] It is not complicated, it is not scary.

[233 - 234] It is super easy

[234 - 236] and this is gonna make our chicken breast juicier

[236 - 242] than if you just season it and put it on the grill. [upbeat music]

[242 - 243] It is time to grill our chicken breast.

[243 - 245] I've left my chicken breasts sit in the fridge

[245 - 246] for about two hours

[246 - 249] and there's a couple of things that I like to focus on

[249 - 252] when I'm grilling, whether it's indoor, outdoor,

[252 - 253] the first thing you have to do

[253 - 256] is always make sure your grill is preheated.

[256 - 259] My outside grill, I usually start heating it up 20 minutes

[259 - 260] before I plan on cooking.

[260 - 262] This will not only preheat my grill,

[262 - 265] it's also gonna gimme a chance to clean my grill off.

[265 - 266] Anything that's like kinda left over

[266 - 269] from my last grilling session kind of carbonizes

[269 - 271] and I can scrape it off with a brush.

[271 - 274] Same thing goes with my grill pan and my grill plate.

[274 - 276] You wanna make sure that it's hot and clean.

[276 - 280] I've let this preheat on high for about 10, 15 minutes.

[280 - 281] If you're gonna use a grill pan like this

[281 - 283] in your house, ventilate.

[283 - 285] I'm getting a little wavy smoke.

[285 - 288] I hold my hand on top of it and I can feel that it's hot.

[288 - 289] If your grill is not hot and clean,

[289 - 291] your chicken breast is gonna stick

[291 - 292] and that's what throws everyone off.

[292 - 296] I have a paper towel, I have some neutral vegetable oil.

[296 - 300] Take our oil paper towel and clean our grill.

[300 - 302] Now we can season our chicken breast.

[302 - 306] Now I want you to be careful here, because we dry brined it,

[306 - 308] it already has some seasoning on it,

[308 - 310] so we wanna go fairly light here.

[310 - 312] That means just light with a little black pepper.

[312 - 316] Again, I go high so I get a better dispersion.

[316 - 320] And again with my salt, nice and light, flip it over.

[320 - 321] Let's get our other side.

[321 - 323] One of the biggest mistakes home cooks make

[323 - 325] is they do not season their food enough.

[325 - 327] We've pre-seasoned this with salt,

[327 - 330] but we wanna make sure that we get the maximum amount

[330 - 331] of flavor out of this chicken breast.

[331 - 333] I tend not to do marinades, right?

[333 - 335] I'm a simple person like this.

[335 - 337] I find that marinades sometimes burn

[337 - 339] and make my chicken stick.

[339 - 341] One last thing I'm gonna do here,

[341 - 342] even though my grill is clean,

[342 - 345] I'm gonna hit this with a little olive oil on both sides.

[345 - 347] Back of the tongs is actually really good

[347 - 349] to spread out that oil.

[349 - 351] Not only does it add a little flavor,

[351 - 353] it helps ensure that we won't stick.

[353 - 356] When I take my chicken breast and I put it on the grill,

[356 - 360] I'm going to put it at 11 o'clock.

[360 - 363] A lot of people would think that when chefs do this,

[363 - 365] they just want to get really nice grill marks

[365 - 368] and that is part of what we're trying to do.

[368 - 371] But the other thing is actually it's kind of like a signal

[371 - 373] to whoever's watching the grill,

[373 - 375] what state of cook we're at.

[375 - 377] If I see that my chicken breast is raw

[377 - 379] and it's at 11 o'clock,

[379 - 382] what it tells me is those were just put on the grill.

[382 - 387] If my chicken breast is at two o'clock,

[387 - 389] that's telling me the chicken breast

[389 - 391] has been on for a few more minutes.

[391 - 394] When I flip it, if it's at 11 o'clock and I see grill marks,

[394 - 396] that means my chicken breast is about halfway through.

[396 - 399] Grill marks are a really good way to keep track

[399 - 401] of how long my chicken has been on the grill.

[401 - 403] Now, one of the biggest mistakes people make

[403 - 404] is they put it on here,

[404 - 406] they start to see a little bit of smoke,

[406 - 408] they start freaking out and they get in there,

[408 - 409] they start trying to move things around.

[409 - 411] Stop moving things around.

[411 - 412] I could take a little bit of a look.

[412 - 414] I have some decent grill marks here.

[414 - 417] Look, it's not as caramelized as I want,

[417 - 418] but I'm not gonna worry about it

[418 - 420] because my chicken breasts aren't super thick.

[420 - 421] So I'm gonna give it a turn.

[421 - 425] So I go from 11 o'clock to two o'clock.

[425 - 427] If you look at this chicken breast here,

[427 - 430] you can see that the edges are starting to kind of cook

[430 - 431] and become opaque.

[431 - 433] It's not raw.

[433 - 435] I give it a quick look see,

[435 - 437] make sure my grill marks look good.

[437 - 438] I know that it's time to turn.

[438 - 441] Just remember also with cooking, things take practice.

[441 - 443] I want you to just pay attention to your food.

[443 - 444] I do find the best way

[444 - 447] to get an accurate cook on my chicken breast

[447 - 449] is to use an instant read thermometer.

[449 - 450] When you're grilling outside,

[450 - 452] it's pretty much the same technique.

[452 - 453] On outdoor grills,

[453 - 455] you'll start to notice that most grills have hotspots.

[456 - 457] Not all of 'em are the same.

[457 - 461] After you oil it, the hotspot actually start to look dry,

[461 - 464] whereas the other spots that aren't super hot tend

[464 - 465] to look oily.

[465 - 468] Now I'm looking at my chicken, I can see it's cooking up.

[468 - 470] I can see I'm getting a little moisture coming

[470 - 472] outta the chicken on top and I'm gonna take it

[472 - 475] and turn it to that 11 o'clock.

[475 - 479] So if I have grill marks here and I'm at 11 o'clock,

[479 - 482] I know that my chicken is halfway there.

[482 - 484] If you look at this, this is thicker, this is thinner,

[484 - 486] this is obviously gonna cook faster than that.

[486 - 488] I'm gonna go and turn again.

[488 - 491] I'm starting to see a little protein leaking out over here

[491 - 493] and I'm gonna turn this chicken breast.

[494 - 496] I think this back one is really close.

[496 - 500] When I tempt my chicken breast, I get my thermometer,

[500 - 500] I'm gonna take the point

[501 - 503] and put it in the thickest part of the chicken.

[503 - 505] Just stick it in there and see where you're at.

[505 - 507] I'm at about 120.

[507 - 510] I'm gonna go to about 140, 150.

[510 - 513] Technically you're supposed to cook chicken to 165.

[513 - 515] If you cook a chicken breast to 165

[515 - 516] and then take it off the grill,

[516 - 518] it's gonna be dry and stringy.

[518 - 518] Once you take it off the grill,

[518 - 520] it still has some residual heat,

[520 - 522] it's gonna continue cooking.

[522 - 527] If I take this off at 165, it's gonna cook up to 170, 175,

[527 - 528] and that's when it gets dry and stringy.

[528 - 531] So what I'm gonna do, 150, 155,

[531 - 533] take it off the grill and let it rest.

[533 - 535] I'm gonna give it a little poke.

[535 - 538] I think this back chicken breast is really good to go.

[538 - 540] I rest it on a rack.

[540 - 543] Let me temp this chicken breast, see how we're doing.

[543 - 545] This one's a little thicker.

[546 - 548] Yeah, we're at about 120 something,

[548 - 551] so let's give it another couple of minutes there.

[551 - 554] Took me 25 years to get down a lot of methods.

[554 - 556] If it takes you a couple of chicken breasts

[556 - 558] and you get it right, you're doing great.

[558 - 560] Okay, don't worry, don't stress.

[560 - 562] This chicken breast is getting close.

[562 - 564] I'm gonna take it off and let it rest.

[564 - 566] The chicken breasts are off of the grill.

[566 - 567] You'll notice that I have them on a rack.

[567 - 571] If we put these on a flat plate or a flat pan, it sits

[571 - 573] and it steams in its own juices and we don't want that.

[573 - 576] We've taken the time to try and get nice grill marks.

[576 - 578] We wanna see those when we're done.

[578 - 580] If I don't let it rest and I cut that chicken breast,

[580 - 581] all the juices flow out.

[581 - 584] Don't skip the step of resting, resting is super important.

[584 - 587] We're gonna let this rest for about five to seven minutes.

[587 - 589] A lot of people ask me, "Hey chef, I let it rest,

[589 - 589] it gets a little cold."

[589 - 590] First thing you wanna do

[590 - 592] is make sure you're putting it in a warm place.

[592 - 594] Notice how mine's right next to the grill.

[594 - 596] If it gets cold, just reheat it, put it in the oven,

[596 - 599] put it back on the grill for a minute or two and reheat it.

[600 - 600] Chicken is rested.

[600 - 603] If you look, there's a little bit of juice underneath,

[603 - 604] and it's still hot.

[604 - 606] So all I'm gonna do is slice this,

[606 - 607] plate it with a simple salad.

[607 - 610] You'll notice on my cutting board, I have two sides.

[610 - 613] The flat side, I call this the chopping side.

[613 - 614] And the other side of the cutting board

[614 - 617] actually has this indentation or groove.

[617 - 620] It's called a juice groove so that when I slice my meat,

[620 - 623] if any juice flows off, it goes into the groove,

[623 - 624] not onto my counter or my table.

[624 - 627] I'm gonna get this nice piece of chicken here

[627 - 630] and I'm gonna slice it on an angle.

[630 - 633] This is just for aesthetics so we can see the meat.

[633 - 634] It just looks pretty.

[634 - 636] You can see that it's still juicy.

[636 - 638] It's gonna be nice and tender.

[638 - 642] Use my knife as a spatula, put it on my plate.

[642 - 644] Give it a little fan so we can see that meat.

[644 - 647] Got my nice simple salad here, give it a light toss,

[647 - 650] a nice little wedge of lemon on here.

[650 - 652] And this is how I grill chicken breast at home.

[652 - 654] It's time to taste, let's get in there.

[654 - 656] Let's get a little piece of this chicken.

[658 - 661] It's juicy, it's flavorful, it's tender.

[661 - 664] That dry brine gives it a nice seasoning

[664 - 666] and that dry brine kind of goes throughout the chicken.

[666 - 670] It's not just on the outside, it keeps it nice and moist.

[670 - 672] Perfect, easy weeknight meal.

[672 - 675] Grilled chicken breast does not have to be dry and stringy.

[675 - 677] Just use the techniques from this video

[677 - 682] and it's gonna be juicy and flavorful every single time. [upbeat music]