Warmer weather, long weekends and chicken on the grill – it must be summer in Manitoba.  If you’re just getting reacquainted with your barbecue, here are some tips to make your next grilled chicken meal a success.

• Take chicken out of the fridge 30 – 45 minutes before you intend to cook it.  Losing some of the fridge chill before grilling means the chicken will cook more evenly and a couple of minutes faster. 
• When you don’t have time to marinate your chicken, give it a quick flavour boost with a sprinkle of salt and few dry spices such as pepper, lemon pepper, paprika, basil or oregano. 
• Always throw out marinades and sauces that have touched raw chicken. To use a marinade as a basting or dipping sauce, double the marinade recipe then use half for marinating the chicken and save the other half for basting or dipping. 
• Keep the lid down on the barbecue during cooking.  This keeps the heat in, and keeps the critters out. 
• The best way to tell when chicken is perfectly cooked is to use a digital meat thermometer. Grill chicken pieces and ground chicken burgers to 165F, and whole chicken to 180F. 
• Let your chicken rest at room temperature after it comes off the grill. It will be much juicier after resting for 5 minutes (boneless pieces) or 7-10 minutes (bone in pieces) or minutes (whole birds).