Brined Roasting Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

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:

• 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:

• 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:

• 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.