Grilling season is here. Finally. For our long-time readers, you know I'm on the grill at least 4 nights a week, Spring through Fall. And when we moved to Idaho, I actually gave my grill away in hopes of getting a new one. But as you know, pretty much nothing went as planned when we moved here, so the grill took a back seat to higher priorities.
Last summer, during our monthlong stretch of homelessness, I was helping my mom make dinner at their house. She asked me to cook something on their grill, so I went out and fired it up. I had never used a Char-Broil Tru Infrared grill, but it didn't seem all that different. A propane tank, grill grate, lid, knobs. Everything in its proper place. But the real magic was inside.
I cooked pork tenderloin for 26 people that night. It all went on the grill at the same time, and it all came off the grill at the same time. I had never used a grill that heated so evenly. Not a single cold spot on the whole thing. I've used Weber grills (supposedly the best out there) and Stok and everything in between. They all pale in comparison.
Now before you start touting the superiority of charcoal grills, let me first say this. Food cooked on a charcoal grill tastes better than food cooked on a gas grill. There's a smokiness and depth of flavor you just don't get on a gas grill. But whether one is better than the other is completely subjective. Sure, charcoal grilled food may taste better, but it's also higher in carcinogens (you know, those things that cause cancer) and the heat can be a bugger to control. And with most gas grills, you're going to have the same problems. Uneven heating and flare ups. But not with the Tru Infrared. Observe this video:
If I had one critique to make on this grill, it would be... um... ok, I've got nothin'. Seriously, it's amazing, and cleaning it is also way easier than other gas grills. There are just two trays in the bottom that catch everything - clean those, and the grill grates every so often. That's it.
For the past two weeks, I've been grilling almost every night, and I have a pretty awesome line up of recipes to share this grilling season. You can also follow me on Instagram (@c_marcum) to get sneak peaks on things as I make them. But above all, if you're in the market for a new grill this year, go with a Char-Broil Tru Infrared. They have a couple different lines, and they're all equally awesome. Seriously, it'll blow your mind.
Speaking of mind blowing, this is the chicken from the video above. It's kind of my default for chicken thighs, because it's quick and delicious. I call them "Curried Chicken Thighs" because the rub is mostly curry powder, though curry powder is hardly curry. Even still, I think you'll like it. Peace out, Internet friends and be sure to come back and let me know if you try it out!
Grilled Curry Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup canola oil
For the rub:
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp curry powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Mix the rub ingredients together.
- In a large bowl, toss the chicken thighs with the oil.
- Add the rub 1 Tbsp at a time and toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes.
- Grill the thighs on medium high heat, beginning with the skin side down and the lid closed.
- After 5 minutes, check the skin to make sure it isn't burning. If so, flip the chicken and adjust the heat down. If not, close the lid and allow to cook an additional 2 minutes before flipping.
- Cook the chicken 9-10 more minutes. If you don't have a Char-Broil Tru Infrared grill, check the grill frequently to make sure things aren't catching on fire. If you do have a Tru Infrared, congratulations! Go grab a drink and relax for a few minutes. :)
- At 16 minutes, flip the chicken one more time so the skin side is down again. Cook for another 4 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
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Medium-high?
My chicken is super burned now, thanks.
I can only tell you the settings I used for mine. Know your grill, I guess.
Good recipe. But I never use a recipe with more than 5-6 ingredients. For this one I just skip a few. Really...who has garam masala on hand or even know what it tastes like?
Stumbled across this as I was looking for tips on using our new char-broil tru-infraed grill. Question for you, have you done marinades with the tru-infrared? I'm hesitant after reading the grilling guide. Thinking if I wanted to do a teriyaki or we have a great recipe for chicken with a marinade, but the guide says to add at the end of grilling time. Whereas a typical marinade soaks for a while. Any thoughts!? Thanks!!
The issue with marinades and grilling in general is they tend to contain a lot of sugar, and the high heat of grilling can cause the sugar to burn before the meat is cooked through. That's for grills in general. The Infrared grills have an additional concern, which is the way the heat is dispersed - through tiny holes in an otherwise solid, wavy grate. The marinade can drip and burn in the holes, clogging them up and causing cold spots in the grill until the holes are cleaned out. That's really the only issue - after you cook something with a marinade, you want to give the grates a good scrape with the cleaning tool (that comes with the grill) so the holes are clear.
My personal preference for grilling, as opposed to a marinade, is a good brine for 24 hours, then adding sauce right at the end of cooking. Wash the brine off and pat dry before putting on the grill, maybe rub down with some oil. But you could also do something similar with a marinade. Only use some for soaking, wash it off, pat dry, grill, then brush with some reserved marinade toward the end of grilling.
I hope this helps!
Hi, Chris!
I stumbled upon your site when looking for tips on cooking with our new Char-Broil Gourmet Infrared. Thank you so much for sharing your method for chicken thighs. The cook method/times were right on.
I had already begun marinating the chicken in a little oil, drizzle of vinegar, garlic, onion and chili powders, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper, black pepper and kosher salt. So I didn't use your recipe this time, but I will certainly try it soon.
I couldn't believe how incredibly juicy the chicken was, nor how quickly and evenly it cooked (roughly half the time it took on my old, non-infrared grill).
You mentioned pork tenderloin in your post. If you have any tips for grilling that (or ribeyes/burgers), I'd love to read them if you have time at some point. Thank you again! :)
So glad the tips helped, Bunny. I definitely have tips for ribeye (my personal favorite steak) and burgers - stay tuned and I'll do some posts about them soon! :)
Chris, please do. Our favorites are also ribeye, and we do grass fed burgers about once a week. I'd love to hear your tips. As mentioned, your cooking time for chicken thighs is epic. Comes out so tender, juicy, and perfect everytime!
Thanks, Chris, I appreciate that so much! :)
I've made this 6 times using the curry recipe. Every time it comes out excellent. So I've tried using the canola oil and spice up my chicken in other ways, like with seasoned salts, or poultry magic, etc. The cooking time you've provided is just perfect every time! One night my gas tank ran out during the pre-heating, so I put them in the oven but it just wasn't the same :)
I'm actually going to make this again tonight, with the curry spices. LOVE IT.
Thanks again.
Awesome! I love hearing that. Way to think on your feet with moving to the oven. I've had to do that a time or two, and you're right, it just doesn't turn out the same. Though, something that helps is to use the broiler and put the chicken on the middle rack. The broiler is basically a grill upside-down. Just give it lots of attention and turn the chicken as needed.
So glad you enjoy the recipe, and even more glad you're doing your own thing, as well. Keep it up!
Made this last night. Best chicken I've ever made. I can cook amazingly perfect ribeye and perfect tri tip, but I could never get chicken right on my Char-Broil Commercial TRU Infrared T-36D. By using your timing scheme, I had the most wonderfully tender and juicy thighs that I have ever cooked, on any platform. Your curry style recipe was quite amazing, that's for certain! I will be using your cooking time and procedure with all of my chicken recipes from here on out. Oh, and maybe the 20-30 minutes in the canola and spices helped with the tenderness? I don't know. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you liked it! And you definitely have the right grill to pull it off. :)
Did you do anything special to chicken so it wouldn't stick to the grates?
Great question, Gus. A lot of times you see people brush oil onto their grill grates or use spray oil or things like that. I'm not a big fan of either of these, because you'll end up singeing your brushes, and spray oil burns easier than regular oil so your food can taste burned. I prefer coating my food before hand with a little oil. So in this recipe, you toss the chicken with cooking oil first (something like Canola, which has a high smoke point), add your seasonings and then allow it to sit at room temp for at least 20 minutes, but you could go as long as an hour. This allows the flavor and oils to penetrate the skin, which makes it taste good and keeps it from sticking to the grate.
I hope this helps! Thanks for the question, Gus.
Thanks Chri!
I've never commented here, but want to thank you for sharing your recipes. My husband and I have tried quite a few and have been happy with the results! Also appreciate all your helpful hints!
Keep it up :-)
Theresa
That's the grill we have and we LOVE IT! I was a little skeptical at first, but it is so worth it - fool proof with the even heating :)
Isn't it so nice to not have to worry about it? They really are incredible.
I love that chicken-thigh/grill movie : )
Thanks Jill! Fingers crossed the Academy recognizes my work this year. ;)
I want a grill SO bad! We can't have one because all our porches in our complex are screened in...booo! That curry chicken looks delish. I wonder if I could bake it in the oven until done, and then switch it over to Broil to maybe get some crispy edges...would that work?
That's exactly how I do it when I don't have a grill. Cover your pan with tinfoil and be sure to heat it up in the oven for a long time. Bake at 450 on the middle rack, then broil until the skin looks crisp (but not burnt)