How do you make chicken not dry and gross?

[ANITASHARP5]

Chicken is one of those basic foods (and meal prep staples) that’s easy to screw up and hard to nail in the beginning. I still can't nail it!

[Vacyone]

well my way is too place portions ie leg, breast, in a foil wrap and bake until core temperature is 75/6, . I never eat the skin, being sort of a good girl. So I’m not concerned if skin isn’t crispy.

[Fleur29 in reply to Vacyone]

Regardless of how I cook the chicken, I always prep by soaking in milk (do not rinse after draining) Use a little oil during cooking.

[Screen77]

Hi there!

The best I have to work with where I am is a halogen oven, which is pretty similar to a normal fan oven but a little weaker. I usually cook my chicken on 180 C for 25min but with foil fully wrapped around it, which keeps the juices in, and for me that keeps it juicy enough. Might be worth trying if you haven't already? I know that some brands do chicken that you cook in the bag and the idea is to trap the juices inside and leave as minimal surface area exposed to air as you can to avoid it drying up. I guess that theory might work in other ways, just try to either cook for less time to avoid dryness or keep as much juice in proximity as you can. Your other option is, if you want to use the chicken with a sauce, to cook it in a slow cooker, that way it's absorbed in moisture start to finish.

I should also mention that when I cook chicken I usually use chicken breast pieces (about 200g) not a full chicken, since the weight of the meat will make a difference with cooking time.

You may have covered these ideas already but it's just an idea in case you haven't.

Hope this helps in some way

[amykp]

If boneless, saute in oil or butter at a relatively high heat to brown, then remove from your pan and sautee onions, garlic, deglaze with whatever (wine, lemon, mustard, cream, spice, etc.) but don't put the meat back in until you are just about ready to serve. In other words, don't overcook!

If a whole chicken, soak overnight in buttermilk and a few spoons of salt, then drain (don't need to rinse) rub w/butter then roast at about 350 F (is that 180C?) JUST until leg is loose. Put butt end into oven first (Butt cooks more slowly and back of oven is hotter)

If you have a convection setting, use it--it will cook more evenly. Leave skin on, because it will protect meat. IMO it is the best part. We fight over it. Make a gravy with the drippings and any dry bits will be tasty with the gravy anyway!

Gravy for us: roast along w/chicken: chopped small onion, chopped small carrot, couple of smashed garlic cloves (add garlic near the end because it burns) Make sure to drizzle veggies with butter or oil.

After chicken is done, remove it, sprinkle a little flour in the pan, put on stove and deglaze with mix of broth (stock cube) and wine and scrape up all the roasty carrot onion and garlic bits.