Major newbie question

[Cb_biggs]

So I have literally no grilling experience. I was looking to grill some boneless chicken breasts, and I was thinking about making it barbecue. I have read that the chicken is only grilled 5-6 minutes per side, but to coat the breast with barbecue sauce in the last 10 minutes. So if it takes 10 minutes or a little more...then I'm adding the sauce after like the first few minutes?

 

[hardcookin]

You want the chicken breast to get to 165 degrees for the finished temp. It will probably take longer than 10 mins.

 

[mosparky]

Chicken Breast is arguably the most difficult meat to grill. There is no fat and they tend to have a very thick end then taper to nothing at the other end. Some of the frozen breast that come in the bags at the grocery tend to be much more uniform in thickness and may be the best choice for grilling.
There are a few things you can do to improve your results.
Cook over low heat or indirect heat. Especially after sauce is applied. The sugars in most sauces scorch VERY easily.
Before starting your cook, pound the breast out to a more even thickness.
A good instant read thermometer is your friend.
I like to apply sauce at about 140* and pull from heat at 155-160* and let the carry over take to the 165 safe temp.
To be Blunt... Screw the time. cook to temp. Your odds of a good cook increase dramatically.

 

[noboundaries]

Since this thread was from last Saturday, the point may be moot, but I'm sure someone is curious.

I grill BSCBs quite often. I always brine them, from a simple salt/sugar/water brine, to a more complex brine using orange juice and a little curing salt. The brining denatures the meat, allowing it to hold more liquid.

I grill them one of two ways. Now, here's where I decide how I'm going to prepare and grill them.
1. If they are all big and thick, and relatively the same size, I brine them for 12-24 hours, then grill them direct over high heat for 4 minutes a side. Then I move them to the indirect side of the grill, sauce them, and let them go 4 minutes a side, closing the lid, flipping and saucing as necessary, until the IT of the thickest part is 165F.
2. If they are different sizes, which is usually the case, I pound them with a mallet until they are about 1/2" thick. Then I brine them, usually only for 4-6 hours. Grill them over direct heat for 2-3 minutes, flip, sauce, then move to the indirect side and sauce again. They only need another 2-4 minutes a side until the IT is 165F.

Now, here's the key to getting accurate IT when you sauce BSCBs, especially with the pounded version. Make sure your sauce is hot. DO NOT use cold sauce. It will mess with your IT and you'll end up over-cooking the breasts. Trust me. Took me a long time to figure out why I was overcooking my sauced BSCBs.