Grilled Chicken Breast in Three Simple Steps

Countless words are devoted every year to finessing the usual centerpieces of your summer barbecues: how to grill up the perfect burgers, juiciest steaks, flakiest fish, most tender pork butt.

But what about the humble boneless, skinless chicken breast? The staple of dinner tables all over this country most of the year, it doesn’t get much attention when grilling season arrives.

This may be because as easy as boneless chicken breasts are to eat (all that uninterrupted white flesh), they can be tricky to grill just right. The usual outcome is either an attractive bronzed, crisscrossed exterior covering a desiccated center, or something rubbery, pale and slightly burned around the edges.

But given a little forethought and attention, the grill can be perhaps the best place to cook chicken breasts, imbuing them with enough char and smoke to bring out the best in their delicately flavored meat. So, to figure out exactly what the fastest, easiest road to grilled chicken breast perfection was, I spent some time experimenting this spring.

The upshot is that grilling juicy, well-cooked chicken breasts involves three basic steps: pounding the breasts to even out the thickness, marinating them aggressively with salt and aromatics, then grilling them hot and fast.