After following Heston Blumenthal's recipe we found the the chicken to be succulent, tender and quite delicious.
As you may see from the picture, the chicken was not fully cooked, we only used the breasts, which were ok; after watching the tv program again I realised I had not followed it properly, after resting the chicken for 45 minutes, put it back in the oven for 10 minutes on a high heat to brown the skin, although I think the extra time wouldn't have cooked the meat through, just browned the skin.
Wanting to keep the succulence in the meat I poached the remainder, with reasonable results.
I would definitely use the brining technique again as I really enjoyed how moist the meat was. I usually prefer my chicken tikka but I would forgo that for the succulent taste.
Heston's recipe is
60g salt per 1 litre water
To cover chicken and leave overnight
Roast at 90c for 1.5 hours
Leave to rest for 45 minutes
Roast on high for 10 minutes to brown the skin
Next time I shall leave the chicken in for two hours, although at first attempt I did use a meat thermometer and that registered meat cooked, but the unclear juices that were very evident showed that the meat needed more time. I expected the meat to have a salty taste, but it did not.
I guess you have noticed the lack of picture, unfortunately my iPad seems incompatible with the image hosting program. I shall have to wipe the dust off the PC tomorrow and sort that. Although a bloody chicken is not very appetising!
Lesson for me here is do not trust the meat thermometer!
All the best
Colette.
Topic: Chicken Brining ( 2,174 )
