how do I get a juicy chicken?

DKLS

I am lucky my oven has a rotisserie feature, so my chicken is always cooked to perfection

Gwilli

prettypennies wrote: »

Do you need to add water?

I have had a slow cooker for about a year now and haven't made much use of it. Everything I have cooked so far in it had tasted a bit 'stewy' for my liking.

No I didn't add any water, I just wrapped the chicken in foil and left it on for about 7 hours!

BASHFUL_2

Put bacon on top of it, it helps to keep it moist!!!

reallylost

Thanks to everyone for the advice
I did it with butter under the skin and turned it upside down halfway through and it was fine so this week I will try butter and bacon!!!
The main thing is that it was fine for all the family for a change and I made chicken and pasta for Mondays tea and for the 1st time (Hang my head in shame) I boiled the bones and ended up with chicken and veg soup for lunch 3 days running!!!!
Only thing is I must get a seive cos picking the bones and grisly bits out after was horrible.

Sarahsaver

Shove a lemon up its a*** and it will be nice and juicy.
Or I have seen this method but not tried it. cook the chicken 'sitting up' over an opened can of beer, lager or cider (tesco value I would think LOL;)
also Hugh F-W's recommended 'half hour sizzle' works well for most meat - cook at high heat half an hour then do on gas 4 or 5 until done.

BTW it is possible to inject water and water holding compounds into whole birds. I found the website to a commercial chicken wholesalers once and you could chose the meat on the basis of water content.

BoingBoing_2

The best OS tip has gotta be to just put 2 tablespoons of water in the tin, put the chicken on a rack and cover with foil. No need to baste, no need to buy extra ingredients, and tastes great! Plus the juices are lovely in gravy or as a base for soup

sandiep

Stab a lemon, and shove it you know where, whilst it's roasting!

BrandNewDay

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article1980529.ece

This article mentions chicken fillets rather than whole chickens, but I'm fairly certain I've read/heard elsewhere that whole chickens are similarly affected. The water/sugars/proteins are injected into the flesh so they most definitely could inject a whole chicken too. It's not just "processed meat" that's affected.

But... if it results in a tasty chicken, I can't say I really care.
Right now, there's a special on whole chickens at Asda - the kind that are pre-basted and seasoned on top and have a silly little pat of butter on them. I ordinarily never even look at them, but they were 2 for £5 and that's a good price. I cooked one last night and it was the most delicious chicken I've ever made. Even tonights chicken pie was tastier than usual. I'm going back to Asda tomorow and if they are still on offer, I'll be buying a couple more.

competitionscafe

A 'chicken brick' (like a clay pot with a tight fitting lid) always results in a lovely moist bird - you might be able to pick one up at a car boot /freecycle or ebay. I got mine for £16 from amazon in January but they have almost doubled the price - it's £28 now!
http://forum.rivercottage.net/viewtopic.php?t=30431&sid=c44b8bc6443cfab735437635b29536e4

Jamie Olivers tip of adding a whole lemon to the water when par-boiling the spuds (for your roast potatoes) then carefully stab the hot lemon several times with a knife and shove the lemon inside the chicken before roasting it
- it sort of steams the inside to keep it moist and also gives a nice lemony flavour.
Cooking it breast side down and then turning it over for the last 30/45 mins aslo helps as does rubbing the skin with butter or olive oil before cooking, you can add crushed garlic and or herbs (tarragon, thyme etc) to the butter or olive oil. Olive oil gives a crispier skin. If you rub the skin with salt and pepper the morning or night before cooking it this also makes the skin nice and crispy............

moanymoany

I have a roasting tin that has a lid. This roasts all meat perfectly and they still crisp.

For a chicken, I put the - yes, unwashed - chicken in the tin and around it I put a couple of garlic cloves, chopped onions and celery and lemons if I have them. I then put in red wine - if I have any - or water. I have to cook my chickens well as I have a thing about not doing that.

However, this method results in a moist, crisp chicken and lovely gravy. I take the liquid and blitz it with my hand held.

Otherwise, I think the roasting bag idea, as already suggested.

Benefits: The lid and the bag mean no filthy cooker