How to Grill Chicken Drumsticks

I was going to entitle this article how to grill chicken legs because I think the term drumstick should be reserved for percussive instruments and kept far away from food. But then I realized that a drumstick is only half of a leg—the lower half. So what could I call the article? How to grill the lower half of a chicken leg?

The answer was no. I had already written an article—how to bake chicken legs—using this now defunct nomenclature, so I decided to run with the drumstick thing and see how it worked out. How to grill chicken drumsticks is a more popular search phrase anyway, so that will help. The grill in these pictures belongs to my friend, Eric. He brought it over for a meal a while back, and I decided to hang on to it for a few days. I have fed him a couple times to ease the transition. Full tummies have a tendency to demotivate people from doing things like take back their grills. Thanks for the grill, Eric! [Good luck getting it back. -Ed]

Steps to Grilling Chicken Drumsticks

1. Assemble your ingredients. When it comes to grilling chicken drumsticks, there are a thousand different ways to do it. For this article I did something I don't normally do: I used a strong marinade. The difference with my marinade however is that all the flavors are balanced, so it works well.
2. Marinate the chicken drumsticks. The marinade ingredients are listed to the right. The nice thing about marinades is they don't have to be exact. There is room to breathe. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Make sure to add the sesame oil last.
3. A zip-lock bag is a great way to marinate meat. If you pour the chicken and marinade into a large zip-lock bag, you will be able to store it easier. Plus, you wont need as much marinade. Notice that in the bowl the drumsticks aren't covered by the marinade. But in the bag they are surrounded.
4. Put the chicken drumsticks on the preheated grill. After the chicken drumsticks have marinated at least an hour but no longer than 8 hours, place them onto a preheated grill directly from the bag using a pair of spring-loaded tongs. Grill the chicken drumsticks at a medium heat, covered.
5. Flip and rotate the chicken drumsticks. After a few minutes flip a drumstick to see how it's cooking. If it is a nice dark brown, flip it to another side. Move and rotate the chicken from hot spots and cold spots as needed. Keep the lid on, but check it regularly, like every 4 minutes.
6. Check the internal temperature of the chicken drumsticks. After 20 minutes or so, there is a good chance they are getting near to done, especially if they are nice and firm when you squeeze them and they are brown and a little crispy. Stick a digital thermometer in the thickest part of the meat, next to the bone. You are looking for a temperature of 160 degrees F.

Tips for Buying Chicken

Industrial chicken is a sad and horrible machine. Try to purchase free-range chicken. And, even more so, try to find local, organic, true free-range chicken.

Variations for Marinading and Brining Chicken

The recipe I used for this marinade is just one of thousands of possible marinades. The key components of any marinade are salt and sugar. These two substances, once dissolved in a liquid, are part of what gets flavor into the meat. If you want to learn more about marinading, read my article on brining pork chops. It is very informative, and the recipe I provide works well for poultry too.