Chicken is a great source of protein, and it’s extremely versatile. Not only can you eat it on its own, but also you can add it to soups, salads, and wraps. But one thing that people often complain about is that chicken is dry and bland. Our response - “You’re not cooking it right!”
Even though rotisserie chicken is versatile, it needs to be cooked properly. When this is done, you’ll get a tender, juicy, moist bird that melts in your mouth! Below are five tips for preparing the best-roasted chicken!
The best way to get tasty chicken is by buying the right bird in the first place! The chicken comes packaged in a variety of ways. Some have the giblets stuffed inside the cavity, while others come in pieces with the bone on or off, and the skin on or off. If buying chicken with the skin on, look for smooth, intact skin. The skin can be different colors depending on the bird’s diet.
For the highest quality chicken, we recommend looking for the following labels:
Don’t be fooled by 100% natural, hormone-free, cage-free, or free-range on the label. While they might sound good, they probably don’t mean what you think they do!
This step makes a huge difference in how the chicken tastes, so don’t skip it! A brine adds flavor and keeps the meat tender and juicy by drawing moisture out of the skin. You can use either a wet brine or a dry brine.
A wet brine needs a minimum of four hours and works best for smaller pieces of meat. A dry brine can be done in a shorter period of time and is good for large pieces of meat, like a rotisserie chicken.
When you position the chicken breast side down, you allow all the juices to gather in the breast meat while it cooks. When you flip the bird, these juices slowly redistribute through the chicken, leaving it tender and juicy. This is especially important for white meat, as it tends to come out drier.
Chicken is easy to overcook, but if this happens, it makes the meat dry and chewy. That’s why you want to cook your chicken at the right temperature. We recommend a temperature of 450 degrees, as this browns the skin quickly and keeps it nice and crisp. Some recipes will have you cook the bird at 450 for about 12 minutes, and then drop down to 350 for another 60 minutes.
Don’t be tempted to cut into the roasted chicken when it’s done cooking. This will let all the juices out! Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for about 15 minutes. This way, the juices can redistribute themselves into the meat, making it moist and tender.
Roasted chicken is an inexpensive and easy meal that can feed the whole family! And if you’re ever in the mood for chicken but don’t want to go through the trouble of cooking it, you can stop into La Rosa Chicken and Grill. We serve grilled, crispy, and roasted chicken daily!