More Chicken Discussion

After the last post there was a comment asking for the details - how much time in the oven, and what temperature, and the brine amounts and times?

I will give you what I'm doing but you need to understand they will most likely not work for you! Why am I saying this? Because, each cooking condition is different. You will be using a different oven. Your oven's performance is most likely very different than mine. In fact much of my work over the last two years has related to trying to figure just what would work with my oven because when I followed the original recipe I just ended up with chicken charcoal.

But for what it is worth, this is what I'm doing.

The Brine - I use 3/4 of a cup of salt and 3/4 cup of sugar to a gallon of water. The recipe calls for one cup each but that gave me a bird that was too salty/sweet. I brine a 5 pound chicken for 3 hours at room temperature. A gallon of brine is enough for two-5 pound chickens. I add flavorings to the brine as fit my whim at the moment. This last time I put in big handfuls of thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley because these are all abundant in the garden at the moment. I put in four crushed garlic gloves as well.

Oven Temperature - I'm currently using 375. The original recipe called for 450.

Cooking Time - 2.5 hours

Oven Setting - I use my bake setting to start (elements only firing on the bottom). I put it at roast (elements on top and bottom firing) for the last 30 minutes. I am going to put it on roast for the last hour next time as I thought the skin could be crisper.

Oven Rack Height - I have the rack at the lowest point of the oven.

Other Flavorings - Other than the brine, I don't season it at all or put on any fat. The brine is sufficient for the bird to be moist through even the white meat.

Resting - I let the birds rest for 30 minutes after they come out of the oven before I carve them...actually I suck at carving...it is more massacring of them :(