Mmmmm. I love grilled chicken breasts. Partly, it’s because they taste great.
Mostly, it’s because Hubby does the grilling.
We generally marinate the chicken, but I wanted to try a dry rub this time. I searched around for a dry rub recipe, but mostly found people saying to make one up.
Making up recipes is one of my very favorite things. I started grabbing anything that sounded good from the cabinet and came up with this: a little sugar, a little salt, a little garlic powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper.
It tasted good on my finger, so I decided to go for it.
But the one problem with a dry rub . . . is that the chicken needs to be dry. I’ve heard the instructions to “pat it dry” before, but the thought kind of freaked me out.
I suffer from chickaphobia. (Which isn’t a word.)
Maybe I should call it chickajuicaphobia. I like chicken, I just can’t handle chicken juice. It’s why I’m obsessive about doing huge prep-sessions for large amounts of chicken so I can disinfect everything after I’m done and then dump each meal-sized bag of chicken into the pot without touching it again.
But just-thawed chicken isn’t dry. In fact, it’s pretty wet. So I had to do the pat-it-dry thing.
I was thankful my Bounty DuraTowels came to the rescue. They’re cloth-like so they don’t tear up when they get wet. Which is good, since I’m not into eating paper-coated chicken.
Yes, using a Bounty DuraTowel, so much less-germy than a dishrag, just makes sense for this kitchen task.
I made sure the chicken was completely thawed so that I could get it as dry as possible.
(Why yes. My 7yo DID paint my fingernails.)
I used a triple-layer on the top and bottom.
I pressed down on the DuraTowel, and it did great. Once the chicken was dry, I dragged it through the shallow dish that held my dry rub.
And then I sighed with relief as I just threw them away.
I don’t know that my obsessive-compulsive side would EVER allow me to believe that a dishtowel was thoroughly rinsed enough to be forever rid of chicken juice. Nor would I be able to NOT envision the molecules of chicken juice floating through the washing machine.
And then, as I was giving Hubby the prepared chicken, I saw something awesome!
Dirty, grimey paper towels!
Why yes, he had used a Bounty DuraTowel to clean the grill since his grill brush has seen better days. I’d say that’s a good paper towel that can hold up to that task!
Yes, he gladly posed.
The results?
We really liked the chicken breasts. I need to work on perfecting my rub (a little less sugar next time), but I do feel like this method (as opposed to our usual marinating) makes the chicken taste more like the grilled chicken you get in a restaurant.
What is your favorite way to prepare chicken for the grill?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I am a paid spokesperson for Bounty DuraTowel. But the made-up dry rub, the chickaphobia, and the totally hot husband are all mine.
--Nony
Lenetta says
Hee hee! Raw chicken totally sleeves me out too. I actually use those vinyl gloves when I prep. (Related: holy cow you don’t take your diamond off when dealing with raw chicken??) what a fun pic of your hubs and how well matched you two are! 🙂 <3
Lenetta says
Right as this was posting I realized it autocorrected skeeves to sleeves. 🙂
Patty@homemakersdaily says
I usually marinate the chicken, too. I’ll have to try a dry rub next time. Thanks for sharing.