I’m going to show you how to grill chicken thighs that are nice and crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. Grilling chicken thighs can be a problem for some people, because of the fattiness in the chicken causing flare-ups, but I’m going to show you that it doesn’t have to be that difficult.
Sure you could grill your chicken thighs indirect so flare-ups would be a non-issue, but I’m going to show you how to grill your chicken thighs directly over the heat source. It’s really not that scary, and if you ended up with burnt up, dried chicken before, those days are over.
First off, if you like to marinate your chicken, do so at least 4 hours prior to grilling. I a lot of times will marinate my chicken thighs overnight. It helps to give the marinade the time to really soak in. If you use chicken rubs or other seasoning, I like to let that sit in contact with the chicken thighs for a couple hours as well.
Set up your gas or charcoal grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Also make sure to set up your grill so there is a cool zone in which you can move the chicken in case of flare ups. The use of medium heat and also have a cooler zone to move the chicken to is key for dealing with flare-ups.
Once your grill is ready, oil the grates a bit and place the chicken thighs directly over the heat source skin-side down. Starting skin -side down will melt out the fat and crisp up the skin. You will want to watch for flare-ups at this point and be ready to move the chicken to a cooler zone. Cover the grill.
Depending upon the size of your chicken thighs, I usually will grill them skin-side down for 8 to 10 minutes before filling. Turn the thighs and grill for an additional 8 to 10 minutes. You can check for doneness using an instant read thermometer like this one. At this point, transfer the chicken thighs to a platter and enjoy.
As you can seeing there isn’t much to learning how to grill chicken thighs that are crisp outside and moist inside. Grilling chicken thighs direct isn’t too scary as long as you follow those simple tips.