How can you stop chicken becoming dry without adding butter or oil?

Answer 1

Wrapped in foil during baking it shouldn't dry out - and forget all this rubbish about shoving lumps of fruit inside it - just stuff it with REAL poultry stuffing!

Answer 2

Brining your chicken will not only season it, but will also give you the most moist and juicy chicken you have ever eaten. The onyl draw back is that you need to do it a day in adnvanced, so if you don't have that much time, see my list of others suggestions after this one.

Get a pot, bowl, container, etc...big enough to put your chicken in and deep enough that you will be able to completely cover it with the brining solution. You also need to make room for it in your frig. Start by placing 1 cup of salt (preferably kosher) and 1 cup of sugar in the container. Add 2 -3 cups of hot (not boiling) water and stir until dissolved. Once dissolved, add a a cup of ice cubes to cool down. Once cool add your other seasoning...some suggestions would be rosemary, sage, thyme and black pepper. Fresh is better, but if you don't have fresh then dried will do. You want at least 2 tablespoons of each (except for the pepper...only 1 tablespoon). Add your chicken and then add additional cold water to the mixture until the chicken is covered. Cover and place in your frig for approx. 12 hours (overnight works great). Longer is ok, just not less. When you are ready to cook, remove your chicken from the brine, wash thoroughly inside and out then place in your roasting pan. You can lightly rub with oil (olive is best - use very little and it adds minimal calories and is a "healthy" fat which actually has many health benefits) and/or then lightly sprinkly additional seasonings on the outside (to match what you put in the brine). Cover with foil and bake as normal. This recipe also works wonders with turkey, so if you like it on your chicken, try it on next Thanksgivings turkey (although you will need a bigger receptacle for brining). The brine solution denatures the protein molecules in the chicken...what this means is that is removes some of the molecules. What this does is allow more moisture to be drawn deeper into the meat of the bird, and with the moisture, the flavor gets drawn deep into the meat too. What you end up with is a very juicy, tasty bird.

Answer 3

You'll be amazed! Take an oven proof dish that's large enough to take the whole chicken. Cover the base generously with salt. Stuff the chicken with the stuffing of you choice and cover the whole chicken with salt. (Chicken must be covered completely). Put in the oven at about 180° C for about 1 1/2 hours. Crack open the salt and you have a beautifully moist chicken which is not in the least bit salty.

Answer 4

Ok it's really simple. Most "food safety people" say that chicken needs to be cooked to 165 degrees before it's "done" and all the bacteria has been killed. Cooks and Chefs a like will tell you that meat needs to rest before serving (depending on the method used to cook). During this rest time there's what you call "carry-over cooking". This means whatever you've taken off the heat will continue to cook from the residual heat.

The solution for chicken? Cook it so it's just underdone. The carry-over cooking during the resting period will keep the juices in the chicken AND prevent it from over cooking while bringing the temperature just up to where it's done.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I would say marinate it, but that would be adding extra calories. How about boiling it in a small amount of water, almost as if you were stir-frying it. Make sure it is all the same thickness/thinness, and don't put it in the pan straight from the refrigerator, let it warm up a little bit so you don't shock it, thus making it tough. Also, don't overcook it. Remember, it will continue to cook after you turn off the heat. Hope this helps!

Answer 6

when i roast a chicken i put a whole lemon with the peel scratched and cut in half inside the chicken ,i put the chicken breast side down into a pyrex dish and put in about 1/2 pt water containing the juice and rind of another lemon .i also put fresh thyme in the water under the chicken to stop it sticking to the bottom of the dish and cover with foil.i then cook it slowly for about 2hourson whatever heat is recommended .about threequarters of the way through cooking i check it and add more water if needed and turn the chicken right side up and remove the foil.when done i check the juice is clear and remove from dish and serve.the water i then use for gravy.this is not just food this is my signature dish food "enjoy"

Answer 7

If you mean when you are cooking it:

Its simple - always cook a whole chicken breast side down - there is a bit of fat in the underneath of the chicken and by cooking it upside down that fat bastes through to the breast without you having to do anything at all! I never use oil or butter to roast meat.

If you are cooking chicken breasts - cover them with foil and bake.

Answer 8

Place on a rack breast side down and cover loosely with tin foil - pour a little chicken stock in the roasting dish to keep the air moist around the chicken. Works like a dream, lovely succulent chicken every time

Answer 9

Although chicken is a low fat meat, it does still produce fat/juices while cooking - when I cook a roast chicken i baste it after about half an hour with the juice it has produced through cooking - either use a spoon or a baster (my baster is fab as it incorporates a brush too). Baste every half an hour or so for the first hour and a half of cooking, and you will have a lovely succulent chicken with nice crispy skin ;-) Enjoy!!!

Answer 10

A whole chicken? If so I cook mine breast down covered in foil with a little water in the dish....cook it on a low heat for a cpl of hours then about 20 mins before its done remove the foil and turn it the right way up to get it to brown. hth....

Answer 11

if you are cooking chicken breasts, i found a great way is to place them on a sheet of foil, add about two tablespoons of water, fold the foil over, folding the edges over to form a parcel. Put on a baking tray, and cook in the oven at about 180degrees. The chicken is basically steamed, and is kept lovely and moist.
Just keep checking it till it's cooked.
Plus you can add any herbs or flavourings you want.