how long to cook chicken legs on grill

Cooking times for roast chicken legs

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 25-30 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. Although pre cooking using the oven should ensure your chicken is properly cooked just to be on the safe side, skewer the deepest part of the thigh and look at the juices, they should be clear and not pink when finished cooking. If they require time, 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 20-30 minutes turning in 10 minute intervals to ensure thoroughly cooked through. Check the thickest part of the thigh before finishing to ensure that the juices run clear.

POWER TIP

The thickest part of the leg can be 'cut' several times in order for the heat to penetrate and cook quicker. Simply make cuts into the thickest part of the leg and thigh (cutting down to the bone) around the thick meat of the leg before placing under the grill. This also works particularly well whenever you are using seasoning or marinades since the seasoning can penetrate into the flesh providing even more flavour!

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!