Brined Chicken Roast

If you have never brined meat, you don't know what you've missed. Try this Brined Chicken Roast and be convinced too.

This post is sponsored by Holland House

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We have mentioned before the old maxim that while cooking is an art, baking is science. We are sorry to have perpetuated a myth. This Brined Chicken Roast proves that this is not the case.

The fact is, cooking is as much science as baking, and baking is as much an art as cooking.

Enter brining, the practice of bathing meat in brine to supposedly make it tenderer and juicier. Brining is not a part of the Dominican cook's repertoire, and it's not like we have missed it terribly; after all, braising is the preferred method of cooking meats in our home kitchens. And when it comes to roasting we have our own version of brining: we rub and stuff the meat with seasonings that contain both salt and water.

So, does brining work? Yes, it does. So I decided to try it myself.

Using Holland House's lovely red wine vinegar, salt from my hometown of Montecristi and a few other ingredients and herbs of choice, I ended up with the juiciest chicken roast I have made so far. It was plump, tender and bursting with flavor, you will be sure to incorporate this technique in your cooking after you try it.

Best Brined Chicken Roast Recipe

Best Brined Chicken Roast Recipe: The juiciest, most flavorful chicken you would have ever cooked, try it and it will become your family's favorite.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: brining, salmuera, tender

Prep Time: 4 hours

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 625kcal

Recipe Author: Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

For brining

• 1 gallon [4 lt] of water
• 1 cup of coarse sea salt (no iodine)
• 1/2 cup of Holland House Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 onion , cut into quarters
• 6 cloves of garlic , crushed
• A bunch of parsley

For the chicken

• 1 whole chickens (4 lb [1.8 kg])
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 teaspoon of pepper

Instructions

• Mix water with the ingredients for brining.
• Butterfly the chicken (cut open through the breast plate and flatten).
  
  
  
• Place the chicken in a deep pot and cover completely with the brine mix.
• Place the chicken in the fridge and let it rest for 4 hours.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350°F [175°C].
• Take the chicken out of the brine and discard the brine.
• Rinse the chicken to eliminate excess salt. Pat dry and brush all over with oil. Sprinkle with pepper.
• Place the chicken skin side up on a a roast tray with rack (Amazon affiliate link).

If you have a meat thermometer

• Roast until the thermometer reaches 71 °C [160 °F], start measuring at 1 hour.

If you don't have a meat thermometer

• Roast for an hour, remove from the oven and turn around, the chicken will be ready when the juices run clear, return to the oven until there is no sign of blood.

Tips and Notes

Why not add some potatoes to the pan and make your dinner in just one step.

Nutrition

Calories: 625kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 534mg | Potassium: 432mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 290IU | Vitamin C: 5.6mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 2mg