Roasted Chicken

Hello, everyone.
In an older post, I was telling you all that I now have a sweet new place to live, and we are starting a whole new year! My goal in this new place, and in this new year, is to cook better and eat better. I plan to use as little pre-made food or spice as possible. We will use some of the pre-made since I work a lot or am gone, and have 3 kids all being home schooled.

I am starting with roasted chicken, so simple for some, really challenging for others. So, as I have said many times, I love brining all my meat, and here is a picture of me brining two whole chickens. If you choose to brine or question the purpose, here is a link to the article I posted on Why Brine?




Regardless of whether you brine or not, after your chicken is ready to go into the oven, you need to season your chicken. You can season it with anything you like. As for me, I kept it simple and just used sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I did infuse many herbs into my brine, so that added flavor as well. I also rubbed my chicken down with olive oil before adding my seasoning. This gives it flavor and a crispy skin.



Depending upon what cook books or websites you read and visit to learn about roasting chicken, you will find everyone saying different things: 1)start with low heat and turn it up later, or 2)start with extremely high heat then turn it down. If you are unsure what to do or what way is best, then try them all and figure out what works best for you.

I like to pre-heat my oven to about 425 degrees and cook my chicken for about 30 minutes at that temperature. Then, I turn it down to about 350 degrees for the rest of the time. In order to tell if your chicken is done, you can use a thermometer, or wait until you see the juices running clear from the cavity. I don't use a thermometer at home. I pull it from the oven when I see the juices run clear. You can also grab the chicken leg and wiggle it; if it feels really loose and like it would pull out of the bird with little to no resistance then it is done. Usually these ways of checking come in time after making many chickens and getting a feel for them.




If you choose to use a thermometer, use a fast instant-read one. You can usually pick one up for $20.00 or less. They are digital, and they typically register in two second increments. Most people or recipes will tell you to have the temperature of the chicken at 165 degrees. I personally go for 160 degrees because there will be carryover heat. Carryover heat simply means the food is still cooking and will raise the temperature by about 5 to 10 degrees.

I know this is hard for many people, but after pulling the chicken from the oven, let it rest for about 20 minutes. This helps the juices in the meat to redistribute back into the meat. If you cut it right away, all the natural juices will run out and you will lose lots of flavor, and you may even dry out the meat.

Now, in my picture it is hard to tell, but the chicken is moist and juicy, not dry and overcooked.



After I carve my chicken, I save the carcass for chicken stock. Why let all those good bones get wasted? Chicken stock, and other stocks, will be coming in posts later in the month.