Brined Roast Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• The day before you want to cook the chicken, remove the wingtips by cutting through the first wing joint with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Reserve for stock. Season chicken generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.
• Stir 2 tablespoons kosher salt or 4 teaspoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the chicken in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. (If the chicken won't fit in a gallon-size bag, double up 2 plastic produce bags to prevent leaks and tie the bag with twine.)
• Seal the bag, squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. If you're so inclined, you can turn the bag periodically so every part of the chicken gets marinated, but that's not essential.
• Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. Heat the oven to 425 degrees with a rack set in the center position.
• Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Tightly tie together the legs with a piece of butcher's twine. Place the chicken in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a shallow roasting pan.
• Slide the pan all the way to the back of the oven on the center rack. Rotate the pan so that the legs are pointing toward the rear left corner and the breast is pointing toward the center of the oven. (The back corners tend to be the hottest spots in the oven, so this orientation protects the breast from overcooking before the legs are done.) Pretty quickly you should hear the chicken sizzling.
• After about 20 minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 400 degrees and continue roasting for 10 minutes.
• Move the pan so the legs are facing the rear right corner of the oven. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and the juices run clear when you insert a knife down to the bone between the leg and the thigh. If the skin is getting too brown before it is cooked through, use a foil tent. Remove it to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Steps:

• Mix water, kosher salt, white sugar, garlic, sage, basil, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the salt and sugar are dissolved completely, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat and cover with a lid. Cool brine at room temperature for 2 hours before refrigerating to cool completely.

Steps:

• Mix together salt, brown sugar, and water in saucepan until sugar and salt dissolve.
• Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, add herb/spices and allow to cool to room temp.
• Place chicken in a food-safe plastic bag and add slices of 1 lemon to the bag or place in the chicken cavity.
• Add the brine to the bag, making sure the chicken is covered completely.
• Seal bag, removing as much air as possible, and refrigerate for 24 hours, agitating brine mixture from time to time.
• The next day, remove chicken from the brine and discard brine.
• Rinse chicken with water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Place chicken in a roasting pan and stuff cavity with additional sliced lemon, fresh thyme sprigs, if desired.
• Tuck additional garlic cloves under the skin of the chicken, if desired.
• Rub skin with unsalted butter and seaon with salt and pepper.
• Roast chicken at 400F until the internal temp reaches 170F and the leg moves easily in the joint, 1 1/2- 2 1/2 hours.

Steps:

• Remove chicken from packaging, remove giblet packet from cavity, and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Place in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Mix salt, orange zest, rosemary, and thyme together in a small bowl; rub 3/4 of the mixture all over outside of chicken; rub remaining mixture inside cavity. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove plastic wrap from chicken.
• Bake chicken in preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 2 to 2 1/2 hours depending on size. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove chicken from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 20 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• For brine, combine the first seven ingredients in a large kettle. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until salt is dissolved. Remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature., Remove giblets from chicken; discard. Place cold water in a 2-gal. resealable plastic bag; add chicken. Place in a roasting pan. Carefully pour cooled brine into bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, turning several times., Discard brine. Rinse chicken with water; pat dry. Skewer chicken openings; tie drumsticks together. Brush with oil. Place chicken in a roasting pan. , Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 80-90 minutes or until a thermometer reads 180°, basting occasionally with pan drippings (cover loosely with foil if chicken browns too quickly)., Remove chicken to a serving platter and keep warm. Pour drippings and loosened browned bits into a measuring cup; skim fat and discard. Add enough broth to measure 1 cup. , In a small saucepan, combine flour and broth mixture until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with chicken.

Steps:

• Prepare the brine: In a large pot combine 8 cups water, the salt and the sugar and bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring to help dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from heat and add garlic, leek, thyme, sage and shallots; let cool to room temperature.
• Place the chicken in a deep container large enough to hold it and the brine. Pour the cooled brine over the chicken. Pour in the 3 bottles of beer until the chicken is submerged; cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Prepare the chicken and vegetables: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, chopped sage and lemon zest in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to evenly coat.
• Remove the chicken from the brine and pat the skin dry with paper towels. Place about half of the vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan or large sauté pan and set the chicken on top. Rub the butter evenly over the top of the chicken to coat. Pour the bottle of beer into the pan and arrange the sage sprigs in the pan around the chicken.
• Roast the chicken for 1 hour, basting every 20 minutes with the liquid in the pan.
• Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Spread the remaining vegetables on a baking sheet and place on a low rack or the bottom of the oven. Cook until the chicken skin is golden brown and crisp and the vegetables are just tender and slightly charred, 20 to 30 more minutes, stirring the vegetables and basting the chicken once halfway through.
• Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Plate chicken with a mix of roasted veggies and the vegetables from the pan. Spoon the reduced cooking liquid from the pan over the top.

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into a container that is twice the volume of the water. Pour in the salt, sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
• To use, place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to overnight for whole chickens. Drain and pat the chicken dry before cooking. One gallon of brine is enough for 6 pounds of whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces, and up to 10 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Steps:

• The day before serving, combine 2 ounces feta, 2 teaspoons salt and 4 cups water in a blender and blend until smooth. Put chicken in an extra-large resealable plastic bag or a container large enough to submerge chicken, and cover with the feta brine. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Before cooking, remove chicken from brine and transfer to a towel-lined tray. (Discard brine.) Pat chicken dry with paper towels and allow to come to room temperature for 1 hour.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, the pepper, the oregano and the zest of the lemons (about 1 tablespoon). Liberally cover chicken in herb mix and gently massage entire bird. Halve lemons and place 3 halves in cavity (save remaining half for serving). Using kitchen twine, tie legs together.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add oil and heat until it just smokes. Place chicken, breast-side up, in pan. Transfer entire pan to oven. Cook, basting once or twice, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife, 50 to 60 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven, then stir remaining crumbled feta into juices in pan and stir well. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving on a bed of greens, with feta-laced pan juices on top, drizzled with a little lemon juice from the reserved lemon half.

Steps:

• Whisk the salt and sugar into the water until they are completely dissolved, add 3 stalks of Thyme. Place the chicken in a large bowl or pot and cover with the brine. Refrigerate over night or at least 2 hours, then remove it and dry well with a clean towel.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F Toss the vegetables and onions with oil and a bit of salt and pepper then pour them into a casserole dish or shallow roasting pan along with the bay leaves. Sit the chicken on top and roast until the thermometer reads 160°F instantly in the thickest part of the breast and 165°F in the thigh. Take a brush and brush the Browning Gravy all over the chicken generously and let cook to the desired color.
• Cooking time depends on the size of your chicken. Use the leftover thyme as garnish.