Chicken Cooking Tips: Brining, Stuffing, and Poaching Secrets You Must Know

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Brining the Bird

Some cooks swear that the secret to a moist and tender whole roasted chicken is brining.
 

How to do it right: Soak poultry in a brine solution of 1 ½ cups salt and 1 ½ cups sugar to 1 ½ gallons ofwater for 5 to 6 hours. Rinse off with tap water, pat dry, then ligthly brush with melted butter before roasting.

Stuffing Flavor
Add a lot of flavor to roast chicken by stuffing it with fresh herbs such as rosemary, lemongrass, sage or thyme. Tuck a whole head of unpeeled garlic that's been sliced in half, onion, and even lemon or orange pierced with toothpick. These will steam inside the cavity of the chicken and flavor the meat.

 

Healthy Poaching
How to do it right: Season and then boil 2 pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breast in 2 cups of water.After 5 minutes, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is tender. Drain and chop in bite-sized pieces. Place on top of salad greens and drizzle with low-fat dressing for a healthy lunch or dinner.

Tips to remember when cooking with chicken:

Never thaw poultry on your countertop. Bacteria can multiply rapidly at room temperature. Thaw out chicken in the refrigerator.

If you want to cut down on fat and cholesterol, remove the skin and fat from raw chicken pieces before cooking.

See Also

Delicious Fried Chicken Starts With These Cooking Tips

Feb 16, 2015

See Also

4 Top Tips for Making Amazing Chinese-Style Fried Chicken

Feb 4, 2016

Tips and photo appeared in the Yummy Chicken Recipe Cards (2008)