How to Grill Chicken Drumsticks

August in Birmingham is not a month. It is a test of character. The heat sits on the city like a lid on a pot, and everybody inside is simmering whether they like it or not. I have lived through forty-six Alabama Augusts and I can tell you this: you do not beat the heat. You accommodate it. You drink more water. You wear less clothing. You move slower and forgive yourself for it. And you absolutely do not turn on the oven before five o'clock in the evening unless the situation is dire, and by dire I mean somebody is having a baby or the pastor needs a pound cake, which are the only two emergencies I recognize.

Marcus goes back to school next week — his senior year, his last year of living in this house full-time, and I am not thinking about that because if I think about that I will make his favorite mac and cheese every night until he leaves for Tuskegee and that boy will gain forty pounds and his future pants will not fit. So I am not thinking about it. I am thinking about dinner, which is a controlled form of not thinking about things that are too big to look at directly.

Made watermelon agua fresca this week because it was too hot for anything else and because I had a watermelon the size of a small child that Carolyn brought from a farm stand in Bessemer. You take the watermelon, cube it, blend it with lime juice and a little sugar, strain it, and serve it over ice. It is the simplest thing in the world and in August it tastes like mercy. Marcus drank three glasses. Calvin drank two and asked if I could add vodka to his, and I said Calvin Simms you are a pastor and he said pastors get hot too, and I said not in my kitchen they do not.

The church youth group had their end-of-summer cookout Saturday at Kelly Ingram Park. I made deviled eggs — four dozen of them, the kind with paprika on top and a little pickle juice in the filling for tang. The youth pastor, Brother Devon, grilled burgers. Marcus was there with his friends, laughing, throwing a football, being seventeen in a way that looks permanent but is not, because nothing at seventeen is permanent except the memories you are making for the people who love you.

Visited Daddy Sunday after church. Brought him banana pudding in a little container. He ate every bite. His hands were steadier today. He looked at me when I came in, and for a moment — just a moment — I thought he knew me. He did not say my name. He did not say Mama's name. But he looked, and in the looking there was something. Recognition or its ghost. I held his hand and told him about Marcus going back to school, and he listened or he didn't, and either way I talked, because talking to your father is its own kind of prayer, and prayer does not require the listener to understand. It only requires the speaker to mean it.

I brought the deviled eggs to that cookout, but Brother Devon’s grill was the heart of the whole afternoon — and watching Marcus laugh with his friends in the August heat, I kept thinking I wanted to carry some of that into the week ahead, something smoky and unhurried that tasted like summer still had a little time left in it. Grilled drumsticks are the honest answer to a day like that: affordable, forgiving, and good enough to make a seventeen-year-old look up from his phone. If you’ve got a grill and an hour, this is the recipe that belongs at the end of August.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35–40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

12 chicken drumsticks (about 3 1/2 lbs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor gas or charcoal grill to medium heat (about 375°F–400°F). For charcoal, let coals ash over fully before cooking. Oil the grates lightly with a folded paper towel dipped in vegetable oil.
Pat the chicken dry. Use paper towels to pat the drumsticks completely dry. This helps the skin crisp rather than steam on the grill.
Season the drumsticks. In a large bowl, toss drumsticks with olive oil until coated. Mix together salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne, and brown sugar in a small bowl, then sprinkle the spice blend over the chicken and toss to coat evenly on all sides.
Grill over indirect heat first. Place drumsticks on the cooler side of the grill (indirect heat). Cover and cook for 25–28 minutes, turning once halfway through, until the internal temperature reaches about 165°F.
Finish over direct heat. Move drumsticks directly over the flame or hot coals. Grill uncovered for 5–7 minutes, turning every 1–2 minutes, until the skin is charred at the edges and deeply golden.
Rest before serving. Transfer to a clean platter and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with your favorite sauce on the side, or eat them plain — they do not need help.

Nutrition (per serving, 2 drumsticks)

How to Grill Chicken Drumsticks — The End-of-Summer Cookout That Felt Like a Last