Super easy, never fails, grilled drumsticks for the whole family. Pat dry, spice and cook over medium-high heat. Then you will have crispy goodness for all.
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. 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 180-190, 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).
My Rating
Recipe Notes for Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
- 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 185 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.
Charcoal Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
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. Cool the drumsticks over the direct heat, but use the other side for any flair 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!”
Update: (June 23, 2012) rbeland asked a question in a comment below. Specifically, what temp on the grill surface? Well, I did a test cooking tonight on my new super-duper Weber, which is a much “hotter” grill than my previous grill. I chose a surface temp of 450 which is what I estimated was the surface temp of my old grill. To get that stable temp on my Weber, the burners were at about 50%. The drummies were done in 32 minutes and were great. I now use a done temp of 185-190, and they are fall off the bone tender with great skin. I have updated the description to reflect their facts.
Another Update on grill temperature( October 10, 2014). 450 is the suggest surface temperature on the grill grates. NOT the temperature on that useless thermometer in the grill hood. You can get a $8 thermometer from Amazon, Lowes or Home Depot and it will save you many times the cost of meals you won’t ruin. Don’t blame me when you burn your drummies.
Related Recipes
Oven Baked Chicken Legs – The Art of Drummies
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 6 | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 30 minutes |
|
|
| Super easy, never fails, grilled drumsticks for the whole family. Just pat dry, spice and cook over medium-high heat. Then you will have crispy goodness for all.
|
- 6 Chicken drumsticks
- Pat dry the drumsticks. Trim off excess skin and any loose bones/tissue especially in the joint area.
- Now preheat grill to get a surface temp of about 450. That is medium high on a standard gas grill and medium on a hotter gas grill. Clean and oil.
- Season to your taste and do not use all the mixed seasoning. A little cayenne is nice. You may want to skip the cayenne if cooking for little ones. Just some salt and pepper will do or use seasoning of your choice.
- Lightly sprinkle chicken on all side to taste. Let rest at room temperature until grill is ready.
- Check grill temp if possible and place chicken on the grill.
- Flip every 5-7 minutes until internal temp of 185-190 degrees. About 30-35 minutes.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. They are way too hot anyways.
A note on the seasoning: I included a nice mix that I like on these drumsticks but it makes more than you probably need. So DO NOT use all the seasoning. Season to your taste and save the remainder for another time.
Charcoal instructions from Craig in the comments:
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. Cool the drumsticks over the direct heat, but use the other side for any flair 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!
________________________________
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated. Rating is done by clicking on the stars above.
Last Updated
April 6, 2017
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Hi All, I’m DrDan and welcome to 101 Cooking for Two. We present some of the best recipes with easy to follow step by step photo instructions to make your everyday cooking needs easier.
Chris
The dry skin before cooking is a critical tip that you gave. Very nice dry rub too. Effective without using 37.5 spices.
Dr Dan
I though about putting it in caps. I try to keep my total ingredients down to a reasonable number.
Jeffrey and Juli
These look great! We use a charcoal grill, so getting our heat just right is a little harder. But looks like the results are well-worth it.
Do you have a recipe for the grilled ears of corn?
Thanks, as always! -Juli
Debbie Simmons
I can tell you this much with corn if you mix a little bit of ranch dressing powder mix with melted butter and slather it on your corn while grilling gives a great taste to your corn
Dr Dan
I have two. My naked corn is my almost daily recipe right now. There is also a Mark Bittman recipe. Both are in August 2010.
rbeland
Looks like a great recipe. Do you use a thermometer on the grilling surface to get a temp reading? Med and high are somewhat vague & vary between grills.
Jay Dub
Just cooked the best ribs ever! I think beyond world class. Temp is everything and oh yeah an awesome rub!
DrDan
Umm… maybe the rib recipe.
But thanks for the note.
DrDan
rbeland
Do you use a thermometer on the grilling surface for a temp reading? Med and high are somewhat vague and vary between grills.
Dr Dan
Good question. This is on my old grill and High on that would get to about 500. My new grill is 600 at times. If you are measuring, I would aim for 400 to 450. I need something for dinner tonight so I think I will try it and post an update.
rbeland
Great, thanks. Im making them now!
Dr Dan
The 450 is the right surface temp. I also have been using 190 as the finish temp for a while. I have updated the post to reflect these changes. Thanks for the comments.
Barb
Perfect!!! 425 to 450 degrees on our Weber for 35 minutes did the trick. Brushed on BBQ sauce and flipped twice in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Legs were crispy, juicy and full of flavor. Thank you for all the great tips.
eb8f5048-0030-11e2-852d-000f20980440
is your grill open or closed when cooking
Dr Dan
Closed. The only “open grill” cooking I have done so far is fajitas on a griddle.
Jon
Thank you for tje clarification here.
Brooke Beeler-Klein
I am so indebted to you and this recipe. I am really new to grilling and need details like you mentioned! These were seriously some of the best chicken legs I have ever had. I was a little reserved on my heat (guessed, no surface thermometer), so they took forever and a day. Next time I will crank it up a wee bit more. But WOW. Thank you!
Kathy
Just BBQ’d drumsticks for the first time EVER and, following your recipe (with one added seasoning), they turned out PERFECT! Everyone loved them and they were so juicy with a just-right crispy skin. YUM! Thank you for your grilling advice. SO glad that I clicked on your link. I was always afraid to buy drumsticks because I wasn’t exactly sure what to with them. Now I do and I see many more drumsticks in the future. THANKS!
Dan Mikesell
Great… glad it worked for you. There is nothing like a good drummie
Brett Yonally
It looks like you use direct heat? Your site looks interesting, I’ll check the rest of it out.
Dan Mikesell
Yes, direct heat.
costanza
When I told my boys I was going to do chicken on the grill, one of them suggested “indian food chicken” instead, because the chicken on the grill is boring. Well I’d planned to grill, so that’s what I did, using your recipe. I made 12 drumsticks and left the two boys home while I drove my daughter to gymnastics. When I returned 20 minutes later, 4 drumsticks were left. Out of 12.
The boys claim the dog got one of them, but I think they were so good they just couldn’t control themselves, even though my daughter, husband and I had yet to eat : 0 The grilled veggies are good, so we won’t starve, but this is the best grilled chicken I’ve made to date.
Dan Mikesell
Great… I’m glad they liked them. Since it’s so easy, you will just need to cook more next time. Also you might want to check the oven method for future use. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/the-art-of-drummies-oven-baked-chicken/
costanza
I’ve bookmarked your page– thanks so much!
TRINITY
excellent
Dan Mikesell
Danke
lilzero11
Would this work without skin?
Harry Newhall
We invited some great friends over for grilled chicken wings n legs.I will cook with your recipe tomorrow.Thank you very much.,,
DrDan
I have never done wings on a grill but would think they would be faster and since they are “white meat” maybe a 165-170 end point.
Good luck with the cookout
DrDan
BBQ Wifey
Too funny about you not ‘winging’ on the grill! That is a “go to” BBQ regular here, even in the snow-I get one of my nephews or my DH to shovel a path to my grill so I can make wings for weekend football! I got to your site looking for temps for drummies! I have made undercooked, stringy drummies too many times! THANKS for the great detailed instructions! Mwha!♡
DrDan
Now if I could get my wife to do the cooking….
Thanks for the note
DrDan
Bradford
Who is manning your grill, 7 minutes at 450, burnt thanks for the recipe maybe you should try it out sometime.
DrDan
Sorry you had trouble but it works fine for me (at least 20 times) and many others have no issue.
DrDan
Cj
I tried it, but I still burned the legs, should I keep the legs away from the flame
DrDan
Actually I just did this recipe again tonight. Yep flames are always bad and always be avoided in any grilling. You should not have flames…
A couple of possible issues. Some fat from the drummies causing the flames. And be sure to know the surface temp of your grill and that the thermometer is accurate. My grill has two hot spots. They are small but I was cooking 14 drumsticks so it was hard to avoid completely but I was able to work around them.
If you are getting burning anyways, flip at 4-5 minutes and move them around some. Also a little lower surface temp since you are cooking to an internal temperature and not by time here. Never by time…
Hope that helps some and please let me know if you have more problems.
DrDan
Sandra
I did exactly as you said and the drumsticks were perfect !! Used the cayenne too. I can’t thank you enough. We have cooked a lot of chicken on the grill in 68 years and this was the best. Crispy outside and moist inside!!
DrDan
Thanks for the note Sandra. I thought it was relatively simple but some are having issues. As we say in science, it needs to be reproducible.
Again thanks for the support.
DrDan
WB
Just curious if you have tried Chilli Powder instead of Cayenne. I much prefer this.
Eric
I’m giving your recipe a shot tonight. Doing 40 burgers, 24 drumsticks, 8 Brats and 8 weenies. I will start the drumsticks 1st.
DrDan
Thanks for the note and I hope it worked well for you.
DrDan
Roger Williams
I only use a charcoal grill, and mainly indirect heat. I’m a recipe junkie so I would love to know if you have any charcoal grill tips and recipes. I have bookmarked this site and will check in often. Keep up the great job. I gave it a 4 rating mainly for the responses from those that have tried it.
DrDan
I haven’t done charcoal for almost 30 years but I realize many do. I have tried to do grill surface temps more and hopefully that helps. The trouble I had with charcoal was the ability to maintain a consistent temperature. I have too much science in me… I need things reproducible. Same method and same result every-time.
The old hand heat temp should be somewhat useful. Here is a link for that. http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/judge-temperature-charcoal-grill.aspx?pg=2
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Craig
I’ve made these several times on a charcoal grill. I use about 4 lbs of charcoal (~50 brickettes) and distribute them on one half of the grill. Cool the drumsticks over the direct heat, but use the other side for any flair 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!
DrDan
Hi Craig,
Thanks for the excellent instructions for charcoal. I’m editing the post and adding your comment for the charcoal people.
Thanks again
Dan
deb
Thanks for the recipe. I had a problem with the skin getting blackened and burnt. Can you help? ( I have a gas grill that does not indicated temp so I set the heat on medium. ) Thanks.
DrDan
I frequently use a surface thermometer… About $8 on Amazon. I do that frequently so I can tell people what temperature to have. So pick one up somewhere. Second, flip and reposition more often. My old grill had many “hot spots” that ran much higher temp then other spots. Lastly make sure you have no “flair ups”
Hope that help
DrDan
Tami
Wonderful chicken! Kudos on the instructions. So delicious. Not dried out, just perfectly cooked.
DrDan
Thanks Tami
DrDan
DaisyCat68
O.M.G.! First time grilling chicken w/ the bone. Did not have any thermometers, but followed your advice & comments. Made half w/ Lawry’s & onion powder, the other half w/ s/p & Herb de Provence (my husband is obsessed w/ that stuff). Dried the chicken! Took about 40-45 minutes, but then I was opening that lid every 5 mins, so maybe I’ll be better next time! Skin was beautifully crispy. My 11-yr-old, who shuns meat of any kind almost always, ate FOUR. At one sitting. Best directions for grilling ever!
Kim
Could I prep the chicken the day before or a few hours before then refrigerate until ready to cook?
Also, would a spray bottle be suitable for flare ups?
Also again, sorry. I want to make a lot, could I put
Kim
Phone fail
Could I put cooked ones in a crock pot to keep warm?
DrDan
Yep prepping ahead is fine. See my Chicken for a Hundred post. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/chicken-for-hundred/ . I used a large cooker to keep them warm after cooking. Now if you are doing a large number, you might want to consider the oven method since it would be easier to do a large number correctly. Again see the chicken for a hundred post.
DrDan
Kira1965
I am so glad I came across this- I usually bake my drummies in the oven, but it is close to 40 c. here today, so too hot to have an oven on. I cannot wait to try this tonight and give feedback. It’s just my mom and I tonight so a good time to test the technique. I do not have a surface temp gauge so will preheat the BBQ and will know within a few turns if it is too hot/cold.
Will let you know how we liked them a little later!!!
Claire
WOW! I just found your recipe and made it tonight, my husband said this was the best chicken ever and wanted to know how I seasoned it. The cayenne pepper kicked it up a notch. It was spicy so I would definitely leave it out or minimize for kids. Thank you for giving detailed instructions, my chicken turned out perfect.
DrDan
Some days I want the cayenne, some days not so much. But is is just a little touch anyways.
Thanks for the note
DrDan
Melody
This is the third time I’ve used this recipe and each time the chicken just gets better and better(or I just better at grilling)! I’m somewhat new to grilling but with these results I’m encouraged to try more things. My boyfriend raved about them, thanks so much!
Ethan
I have never cooked drumsticks on the grill before. Using your guidelines, I was very pleased with the results. Crispy skin, good an moist. I just need to dial in the burners on my grill and they will be perfect. Also used (roughly) your spicing recommendations and I was very pleased with the flavor. Thanks for the right up.
Ethan
*write up
DrDan
Thanks so much for the note and rating.
DrDan
Whippy
Thanks for the recipe! I tried your method a little while back and (like others) ended up with burned drummies, but I think I understand where I went wrong.
When you say, “surface temperature,” I translated that to mean the temperature that the thermometer in the hood of my grill reads, when I am now thinking that is NOT what you mean and that you actually mean “surface temperature” like you said! lol
The only way I can think of to get an actual surface temp would be to use a laser thermometer (which I don’t have) so I’m going to try this again tonight and just cook on low/medium setting (Ducane 3100) to see what happens.
Your tip of drying the skin is good and works really nice for baked drummies too!
DrDan
Thanks for the note.
I use a $8 grill surface thermometer from Amazon but also they are also at Lowes and Home Depot. You are right about the thermometer in the grill lids… usually useless at best or miss leading at worse. Mine seemed right on the first few times only.
I now do the surface temp for posted recipes to helps problems with grill variations.
Thanks again for the note and tonight when I have time I may re-edit a little to be sure other avoid that issue.
DrDan
Johnny
Tried your recipe last week, first time grilling drumsticks. On new grill. Turned every 5 min. Med high heat. Put on top rack after 4th turn kept turning every 5 min for total of 40 min .With your recipe and barbecue sauce, they turned out fantastic. Making a bunch again tonight.
DrDan
Thanks so much for the note.
DrDan
Elle
This was amazing!!! Thank you!!!
DrDan
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
eddie.b
Thank you for the recipe.I combined the dry with a little bit of bbq sauce, and it was amazing !
jules
Never knew so much in the details.. I learned to use indirect heat in the grill – do you do yours over the flames ? or indirect ?
DrDan
This is direct heat with the top down. You could do indirect but would need the temp in the 450 plus range and a lot of grills can’t handle that. Also a lot of people have issues with doing indirect. Since I don’t do this indirect I really can’t give instructions but would think it would be about 35 minutes give or take some. As always cook to the final internal temperature.
DrDan
wayne
great job
Steve Walker
I tried this last night. Turned out pretty well, but I did singe them a bit. Had a lot of flare ups when I first started cooking.
Any way to avoid that?
DrDan
Flare ups are usually from draining fluids with fat hitting flame. So to prevent it generally, trim all fat that is possible and be sure that your flames are covered. The later depends on the grill. My old grills needed lava rock or something similar. I now have metal covering the burners. Also if the drummies were frozen, then they are more juicy so more drainage.
Hope that helps.
DrDan
Mike
These rocked my world ;)
Jeff
Bought a extra large sleeve of dummies at the store for this weeks meal prep as I was looking to switch up my chicken. Came across your recipe, used my charcoal webber. I let the coals get to red with out flames, then threw them on, turned every four to five minutes open, and the last five to ten minutes (total cooking time for 18 drummies was right around 40mins) I basted them with Stubbs BBQ sauce. These were probably the best drummes I’ve ever eaten. So glad this was the first recipe I came across. Thanks for sharing DrDan!
John
Going to try this recipe this weekend. I think it’s going to solve many issues I’ve had. Was wondering if seasoning 30 minutes to an hour before (aka dry brining) will mess with the crispy skin?
DrDan
I wouldn’t bother. The skin will probably still be crispy but I don’t think you will have much of any effect on the meat.
DrDan
Andy
I was looking for a quick recipe for the pack of drumsticks I had in the fridge. Stumbled across this one and thought “simple enough”. Fired up my webber Q to a med-low heat and threw on the chicken. Left for about 35 mins (turning every 5-7 min). And wow!!! Honestly one of the best chicken I have cooked. So simple yet so tasty! I don’t normally comment on recipe sites but just thought I would say thanks and I highly rate this one for anyone thinking of trying!
Thanks!
Tom
OMG this was great, thank you for posting
DrDan
Thanks Andy and Tom
DrDan
Chickenkiller
Tried this.. Grill’s medium seems maybe too high. Legs caught fire in the first 5 minute cycle. We ate pizza.
DrDan
I have never had fire. During my relatively extensive testing for the correct way to cook legs, I once tried high since one recipe used it… about 550 degrees but I got burnt skin and raw meat but no fire. Must have had a lot o fat or drippings from before. But I do like pizza.
Dan
Brian
I didn’t know food could be this good…
The seasoning was great and I added a light coating of barbecue sauce for the last couple of flips – they were amazing. Will be making these again soon.
Dave
Made this today, very salty. I’d suggest halving the salt if you’re going to add barbecue or any other sauce. Was fine for naked legs.
DrDan
If I add sauce to these, I cook them bare of any spices and add the sauce for the last 5 minutes or so.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Jackie Treehorn
Great, really easy recipe. Drummies were perfect. Meat was fall off the bone tender and skin was nice and crispy. Having a meat thermometer and slathering sauce at the end in order to avoid sugar burn was key. 5 stars!
Johnboy
I did this but added one thing: After spicing the chicken, I carefully coated them with spray oil (Pam, etc.) It didn’t affect the taste and the chicken was extra crispy.
Ron Garstka
Well I just finished my dinner of drummies. Had a bit of a problem getting my grill DOWN to 450 during the first 5 min. Weber Spirit 310. At MEDIUM my grill surface registers in excess of 600. To get to 450 I had to turn all 3 burners to LOW. Had a bit of char after the first 5 min. but they finished up just short of 30 min total and were absolutely delicious. I have to give both the grilled chicken thighs and now the drummies a 5. Also looking forward to some ribs and steaks soon. Great library of recipes. Nice work, continue to enjoy it. Best wishes.
DrDan
Hi Ron,
Thanks for the note. I’m glad it worked well for you.
I have a Weber Summit s470 and it doesn’t run that hot. All burners on low will be about 300 range. Medium is 450 plus minus. I get almost 700 plus on high with long preheat or if I add in the 5th burner. But I’m on natural gas which will be a bit cooler than propane. The variance in grills is tremendous so those cheap little grill surface thermometers are so worth the $10. I go through 2-3 per year since they get unreadable after a while.
Dan
amber
Have you ever tried sous-vide the drumsticks … then throw them on grill for quick char? saves slaving over the grill for 30 min
DrDan
Hi Amber,
No, I haven’t. For the readers, the term sous vide is French I believe for under vacuum. The food is vacuum sealed and cooked in hot water to a final temperature and then can be seared or finish however you want. Somewhat like reverse searing a steak but involves the sealing and water. I think it is an interesting technique and if you are so equipped, it would be interesting to try.
Dan
sreno7
I dried the drumsticks and brushed them with oil. It was crispy and didn’t stick to the grill.
I enjoyed the spice mix except it was too salty.