If you want to impress your guests at your next barbecue, you don’t necessarily need exotic spices or elaborate side dishes. Often, all it takes is an unusual cut of meat on the grill to wow your guests. Beyond cheese sausages, pork chops, chicken breasts, and the like, there’s actually a whole range of special poultry varieties that impress with their delicate flavor, tender texture, and surprising versatility. Gerhard Baischer reveals which of these are particularly well-suited for grilling and what to keep in mind when preparing them.
Baischer is the second-generation owner of the renowned butcher shop of the same name in Lochen am See, Upper Austria. From there, he supplies restaurants and customers at numerous weekly markets. He has been involved in the butchery trade since childhood and is also familiar with poultry specialties that rarely end up on the grill in this country. He shares with us five special alternatives to the classic grilled chicken—and a recipe.
Grilling Pigeon: Tender Gourmet Meat for Special Occasions
If you really want to impress, you should try pigeon. According to Baischer, young pigeons weighing around 500 to 550 grams are particularly well-suited for grilling. The meat is “very fine and tender,” explains the butcher. For the best results, he recommends cooking the breast and legs separately. The boned breast can be grilled until pink, similar to duck breast, while the legs are then finished cooking with the lid closed.
Grilled duck breast: Crispy skin meets tender meat
Duck breast also adds variety to the menu. This is especially true of female ducks, whose meat fibers are shorter and therefore particularly tender. Depending on the bird, the breasts weigh between 160 and 250 grams; it is crucial not to remove the skin: it provides the desired crispiness and added flavor when grilling. The duck breast can certainly be served pink.
Male duck breasts are significantly larger, weighing up to 400 grams, but when sliced thinly, they’re a dream of tenderness.
Grilling Black-feathered Chicken: An Insider’s Tip from Burgundy
Just a few years ago, black-feathered chicken was mainly served at Christmas. Nowadays, it finds its way onto gourmets’ plates all year round. Baischer sources the birds from Burgundy, France, and raves about their “extremely juicy, tender, and flavorful meat.” The breast is particularly well-suited for grilling, either plain or stuffed with herbs. The boneless thighs often need nothing more than a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. As a general rule: the higher the quality of the meat, the fewer spices it needs to impress.
Grilled Quail: A Mediterranean Delight in Ten Minutes
Quail is one of the easiest types of poultry to grill. In Italy, this delicate, tender bird is traditionally slit open along the back and laid flat on the grill. Because of its small bones, quail cooks very quickly and usually takes no more than ten minutes on the grill. Here, too, a simple seasoning of olive oil and salt is perfectly sufficient.
Grilling baby chicken: Tender, quick, and versatile
Another hidden gem is French baby chicken. They can either be laid flat on the grill or completely deboned and stuffed. They pair especially well with scallions, chanterelles, or seasonal herbs. The big advantage: “Because of their small size, they’re done in about 35 minutes, whether bone-in or stuffed,” says Baischer. If you prefer to avoid bones, you can have the chicken completely deboned before grilling—then they only need about 10–15 minutes on the grill.
High-quality poultry doesn’t need a heavy marinade
The same basic rule applies to all five types of poultry: the meat should take center stage. Baischer therefore advises restraint when it comes to marinades and spice blends. High-quality poultry already has so much flavor of its own that a little olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and fresh herbs are usually all that’s needed. This is the best way to bring out the subtle differences between pigeon, duck breast, quail, or black-feathered chicken.
If you’re looking for something more and want to try a local delicacy, we recommend the Styrian corn-fed chicken. Baischer says, “It’s perfect for the grill. Because it’s deboned, it cooks extremely quickly and evenly, and stays super juicy.” The expert also has a recipe ready to go:
Styrian Corn-Fed Chicken
Ingredients (for 4 portions)
- 1 Styrian corn-fed chicken (approx. 1.2 to 1.5 kg, boned; breast and thighs boned)
- For the marinade:
- Olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
- Sweet paprika powder
- fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley – finely chopped)
- coarse sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Marinating: Mix all the marinade ingredients together until smooth, then rub the mixture thoroughly all over the chicken. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2–3 hours.
- Prepare the grill: Set up the grill for indirect heat (about 180–200 °C). If you have a gas grill, light the outer burners and leave the middle ones off.
- Grilling: First, sear the marinated chicken over direct heat (above the coals or burner) for about 2–3 minutes on each side until it develops a nice color.
- Finish cooking indirectly: Place the meat in the indirect heat zone and close the grill lid. Finish cooking at about 180°C for another 25–35 minutes.
- Check the internal temperature: The meat is juicy and cooked through when the internal temperature at its thickest point reaches 75–80 °C. It’s best to use a meat thermometer for this.
Related posts:
Cookware series, part 1: Stainless steel
Windowsill farming: fresh ingredients from the mini garden
Sharpen knives, but do it right!
