Halp Me Cook A Chicken

[Woozie]

Well, the first thing you should do is brine it. If you're not going to cook it whole, you could just brine the breast. The rest of the chicken is fine with or without brining and whether or not you do so depends largely on how you're going to cook the chicken.

Edit: Just reread the OP, and yeah, brine it.

Edit2:

SHIT

I just realized I used the last of our carrots and celery the other night for pot roast


going to do the chicken tomorrow

Good, now you actually have time to brine it. Get a pot of about 3-4 quarts of water. Put in some seasonings (I vary what I use in mine very often. Things like Terragon, bay leaves, and thyme are good places to start. Be creative from that point. Boil the water with the seasonings in it for a half hour to an hour, then let it cool all the way down. Measure out 3-4 quarts of the water seasoned water (you can add some extra water if you're below the amount of quarts you're going for. The flavors will stay) and add the salt and sugar (1/4 cup of kosher salt and 2 tbs of sugar per quart of water. If you have regular salt instead of kosher salt, then you should only use 1/8 cup of salt per liter). Simply let the chicken sit in the water for a few hours (I think it's 8 hours for whole chickens. I haven't made a whole chicken in a really long time. I can look it up for you).

Remember to pat the chicken dry before you bake it (Because sugar browns so fast).

As for cooking it. You can't go wrong with garlic and butter. I typically use seasoned salt, terragon, thyme, lemon pepper, garlic salt, ground muster, and (believe it or not) ground ginger. Ground ginger sounds strange on poultry, but it's actually pretty good as long as you don't go overboard. When I make lemon chicken, I add brown sugar and chicken broth to it as well. I would just post my lemon chicken recipe, but that's best for just breasts, not the whole chicken (the way I make it involves deep frying before baking). Well, you'll probably need chicken broth either way. There's a billion ways to cook a chicken.

Edit3: The tricky thing about brining is that there will be salt inside your meat, so you can't oversalt the meat when seasoning it. I really don't know how to explain how to balance the seasonings that are inside the meat with those you add to the meat. It's something that comes from experience.

Edit4: Add oregano and sage. My bad, I use those too, but I didn't put it on the list above. The lemon pepper I use is more lemon and less pepper, so I typically add a little bit of extra pepper. It depends on your taste. Like I said, experience. You mentioned that you used to cook, so you probably know what you're doing.

[Ksandra]

what woozie is trying to say calli is brine it

[HAMBURGERMEAT]

rub butter all over it

[Linliel]

dude best best best roast chicken I do is also super easy:

- preheat oven to 450degF
- get chicken, wash it thoroughly inside and out, then dry with a paper towel. The idea is to get it as dry as possible.
- peel some garlic cloves and shove them inside the chicken (optional but it gives it a lovely flavour)
- get lots of salt and rub it all over the chicken, put plenty into the middle too (several good shakes). The skin should be pretty dry with a light salt coating
- get thyme (dry or fresh, fresh is better) and sprinkle it all over the chicken (inside too)
- chop up some vegies and place them around the chicken so they soak up the fat when it cooks (or you get smoke everywhere) -- potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, carrots sliced in half lengthways are good, sprinkle with salt and thyme too
- cook for about 60 mins or until the juice runs clear -- don't mess with it in this time.

Seriously that's it. No messing around with basting or oil or anything, and every single time I've done this chicken it's been hugely popular and successful. You get a delicious crispy salty outside and wonderfully tender chicken on the inside.

I originally found this recipe here if you want to read what others have to say: My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken Recipe at Epicurious.com

[Falisa]

God I remember going to a friends house when I was 8 and they were boiling an entire chicken and it was so soft and yummy. I dont think I've had chicken that good since. I even ate the gizzard and heart. Hell if know what they did to it though.