Super easy, never fails, grilled chicken legs for the whole family. Pat dry, spice, and cook over medium-high heat. Then you will have crispy goodness for all.
Introduction
The "art" of the grilled chicken legs (drumsticks)... that is what I have been working on for several weeks.
All the recipes I looked at said things like until "fluid runs clear" or 30 minutes over medium-high heat. I need more precise instructions. Plus overnight marinades and lots of other magic cooking stuff. Not good for me.
My mistakes or at least the ones I remember. First, I cooked them to 165° just like I love chicken breast. They weren't done. They were tough and stringy.
Then I went to 180°-185°, yep just the right temp. But I cooked it too fast on high heat. Burnt skin. Char is good, burnt is bad.
I tried several spice mixes and settled on the one below. Just some kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper (but not too much of kids but just enough for the taste for adults). But just a sprinkle of salt and pepper is fine.
My Rating
An easy and tasty 5.
👨🍳Method
- DO NOT SKIP PAT DRY or you will not have crispy skin. (See https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/chicken-rinse-not-rinse/)
- Check the cut joint area for loose parts. You may be handing this to a child and don't need loose bone aspirated.
- You must use a thermometer to be sure you get to 180° plus. Do not guess.
- Spice as you want. I frequently add the Cayenne but if you have little ones, skip it.
- Scale to any amount you need
- Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes to make great BBQ drumsticks.
♨️The Grill
Gas Grill
The grill should be 450°-500° surface temperature. That is usually a bit above medium on most gas grills. If you have questions about grill set up, see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.
Charcoal Grill
In the interest of helping you charcoal people, this comment was posted by Craig on Nov 8, 2016. I believe you will find it helpful
"I’ve made these several times on a charcoal grill. I use about 4 lbs of charcoal (~50 briquettes) and distribute them on one-half of the grill. Cook the drumsticks over the direct heat, but use the other side for any flare-ups or if you have smaller drumsticks that cook faster.
I’ve never measured the surface temp, but rotating every 5 minutes to get a good char until the temperature is right, seems to work out perfectly. I usually end up with 40 min of coin time and apply BBQ sauce liberally in the last 10 min.
We’ve only had success with this recipe, and we’ve found it’s hard to overlook the chicken, just avoid flames and burning early on!"
⏰Time
Chicken drumsticks, like all chicken, should generally be grilled over medium heat on the grill. That would be a surface temperature of about 450° and will take 30 to 35 minutes.
They will need to be flipped every 5 minutes or so to prevent burnt skin and to a final internal temperature of 180°-185° which is best for drumsticks and thighs.
You can use a lower surface temperature, but it will add time and tend to dry more. Again, cook to the correct final internal temperature. You can not get acceptable results with a grill temperature of 500° plus.
And finally, remember that the size and thickness of the drumstick is a big variable.
🌡️Temperature
Many recipes suggest cooking chicken drumsticks to 165° which is the minimum safe internal temperature for chicken for the FDA. There is a difference between safe and done. Pork is safe at 145°, but you sure won’t want your pulled pork to be cooked to 145°. It would be terrible.
Also, some recipes call for cooking “until fluids run clear” or “no pink at the bone.” How are you supposed to do that? Also, I suspect that it may even be below the safe minimum temperature since the pinkness disappears at about 155°.
While I cook my chicken breast to 165°, there is way too much fibrous tissue in chicken drumsticks and thighs. They will be tough and stringy. Just plan not done. Please use 180°-185° as you finish temperature. Check the comments if you need confirmation.
📖Related Recipes
Oven Baked Chicken Legs – The Art of Drummies
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat grill to get a surface temp of about 450°. That is medium-high on a standard gas grill and medium on a hot gas grill. Clean and oil.
Pat dry the drumsticks.
Trim off excess skin and any loose bones/tissue especially in the joint area.
Season to taste. You can use my 7:2:2 spice mix. A little cayenne is nice. You may want to skip the cayenne if cooking for little ones. Or use the seasoning of your choice.
Lightly sprinkle chicken on all sides to taste. Let rest at room temperature until grill is ready.
Check grill surface temperature and place chicken on the grill. Flip about every 5 minutes until internal temp of 180°-185° degrees. About 30-35 minutes.
Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot anyway.
📖Full Recipe
Grillied Chicken Drumsticks- The Art of Drummies
Ingredients
- 6 Chicken drumsticks
- 7:2:2 Seasoning or salt and pepper - to taste
- cayenne pepper - optional - to taste
Instructions
- Preheat grill to get a surface temp of about 450°. That is medium-high on a standard gas grill and medium on a hot gas grill. Clean and oil.
- Pat dry the drumsticks. Trim off excess skin and any loose bones/tissue especially in the joint area.
- Season to taste. You can use my 7:2:2 spice mix. A little cayenne is nice. You may want to skip the cayenne if cooking for little ones. Or use the seasoning of your choice.
- Let rest at room temperature until grill is ready.
- Check grill temp if possible and place chicken on the grill. Flip about every 5 minutes until internal temp of 180°-185° degrees. About 30-35 minutes.
- Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot anyway.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Pat dry and season to taste. I like my All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2. You can add a pinch of cayenne pepper but not if children are involved.
- Medium grill with surface temperature of about 450°. Over 500° will not work well.
- Final internal temperature of 180° plus is the key to this recipe.
- Charcoal instructions are in the post.
- You can also cook chicken leg quarters this way.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published June 26, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Sandra
My husband grills every day.... we have chicken legs and thighs every week using this grilling recipe on an electric grill, rules of our high rise condo. In the past 2 years he has tried different seasoning and sides to go with. The crispy skin and moist meat is the best. Thank you for your site, if not for it we would still be cooking for a family with way too many leftovers.
John
I've done this countless times on my old gas grill with great success! Now on to my new adventures with a pellet smoker/grill! without the direct flame I think it may end up more like the oven version with the extra smoke taste. Anyone have experience converting this recipe to pellet smoker?
Heather Beckman-Erwin
The best recipe and directions - so simple and delish!!!
Billy Mueller
I followed this recipe on a Gas Grill...and I was thinking 30-35 minutes seemed way to long! But they turned out delicious. Did half with dry rub, and added BBQ sauce to the others. Both turned out well. FYI: when I took off the grill I put legs in a cheap aluminum “cake” pan with a lid on it. They rested 5+ minutes - still quite hot temp and very juicy.
Thank You,
Billy in #STL
Garn
I have BBQ'd chicken legs/wings many times and NEVER does it take as long as the recipes claim. To me 30 minutes on the grill is absolute max - and yes i use an instant read thermometer and yes the chicken is always cooked.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Grill surface temperature? If you cook at higher temperature, they will cook faster, but will dry more. But if you have the grill and final temperature under control, great. (I can't comment on wings on the grill)
Dan
Anastasia
I was hesitant to make drumsticks on the grill because I don’t have a cooking thermometer. However I still ended up making this and it was absolutely delicious!! I highly recommend!!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Anastasia,
Welcome to the blog and glad it worked well for you.
You should pickup an instant read thermometer sometime. It will make your results consistently good.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
George
Great recipe and info as I was weary of bbqing drumsticks but the time and temperature is just right and the tender meat literally fell off the bone.
Shana
This recipe did not work on my grill.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Shana,
Welcome to the blog.
Let's trouble shoot if you have a moment. What type of grill and lid open or closed, what was the grill surface temperature and what happened?
Dan
michael silverstein
Do you close the grill cover at any time?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Michael,
Closed. The general rules for lids: under 1/2 inch thick can be open or closed. Between 1/2 to 1 inch can be open but much better control closed. Over 1 inch is always closed.
Dan
Victor
You preheat the gas grill first and then oil and clean the grates before cooking the legs?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Yep, Instruction #1.
I don't think the order is important but I find the grates clean better if hot. So I turn on, then clean and oil during or at the end of preheating.