How Long Do You Cook Chicken Legs On The Grill

Chicken legs cooked to perfection under the grill provide a succulent and delicious treat if cooked well. However, it is easy to overcook and indeed under-cook chicken legs using the intense heat produced through grilling. We all understand the importance of cooking chicken correctly and importantly, thoroughly. Therefore we need to ensure that our cooking using the grill is sustained enough to ensure total cooking of the chicken without burning them.

So how long do you cook chicken legs on the grill for?

Well, given my comments above and the fact that chicken legs themselves can be quite thick especially around the thigh area we need to ensure that we cook them properly. My advice when grilling chicken legs is to first place them in a hot oven before transferring to the grill pan. If you are cooking 4 chicken legs for example, simply place them into an appropriately sized baking tray and bake in a medium oven for around 40 minutes (turning once halfway through cooking) loosely covered with tin foil.

This will ensure that your chicken legs are first cooked through before transferring to the grill to ‘crisp up’. In effect all you are doing is grilling the skin, the chicken itself has already been cooked through. Set your grill to a medium high setting and place your pre cooked chicken legs under (ensuring they are not too close to the heat source) once heated up fully. Simply allow the chicken skin to crisp up turning once after 4 minutes. Do not forget to check the chicken once finished with the grill to make sure that it is cooked through thoroughly. Skewer the deepest part of the thigh and look at the juices, they should be clear and not pink. If they require more cooking simply place back under the grill and give them a further 4 minutes each side.

If for any reason you do not have use of an oven then you can still cook the chicken legs under the grill but emphasis needs to be placed upon the above. Use a low grill setting and give plenty of room from the heat source to the chicken legs and cook for 35-40 minutes turning in 10 minute intervals to ensure throughly cooked through. Check the thickest part of the thigh before finsihing to ensure that the juices run clear.

Why not try our Creole/Cajun Chicken Seasoning Mix recipe for your chicken legs, very simple to make and giving you wonderfully tasty chicken pieces!

How Long Do You Bake Chicken Leg Quarters

Chicken leg quarters are a great cut of chicken having a slightly more moist and succulent area of meat than the breast meat for example. But just how long to you bake chicken leg quarters for?

Given the legs are a much smaller area of chicken to cook once detached from the whole chicken the cooking time is drastically reduced. For an average sized pair of chicken legs you will expect to roast them for around 45 to 50 minutes in a hot oven around 220 degrees. Why not make up a home made chicken seasoning to coat your roast chicken legs and give them that extra spice?

Below is one of my favourite chicken seasoning recipes which derives from a Creole/Cajun source and is quick, easy and in most cases you will have the ingredients within your spice cabinet. Simply make up a batch and keep it together in an airtight jar for later use.

Creole/Cajun Chicken Seasoning Mix

* Quarter of a cup of salt

* 3 Tablespoons of Garlic granules or powder

* 3 Tablespoons of black pepper – grind it fresh for maximum flavour

* Half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (give it some more if you like, this is down to your preference)

* 1.5 Tablespoons of paprika

Simply place you chicken legs in a plastic bag and place a couple of table spoons of the spice in the bag. Blow into the bag softly to inflate whilst closing thereby trapping the air inside like a balloon. Simply shake gently to fully coat your chicken legs throughly, place on a baking tray and bake the chicken leg quarters as above until cooked through.