Engagement Roast Chicken (Barefoot Contessa) Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

What temperature is engagement chicken done? ›

I prefer a middle ground between the two (if only because it's the way I've been doing it for years), which is to say: For crispy, crackly roast chicken skin with wonderfully juicy meat, try 425°F for 15 minutes per pound, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh reaches 165°F.

You can roast or bake anywhere between 325 and 450 degrees F. When roasting a whole chicken, a nice rule of them is to start at 400 to 425 degrees F and then turn the oven down to 350 after 15 minutes and cook until the internal temp of the chicken is 165 – 175 degrees F on an instant read thermometer.

Fattier dark meat can stand a higher temperature than lean white meat. While it's safe to eat dark meat cooked to 165°, you'll get a bouncier bite. Allowing thigh meat and the like to reach somewhere between 175° and 190° will give you more tender meat because the connective tissues have longer to break down.

By letting the chicken sit uncovered in the refrigerator, we allow the surface moisture to evaporate, leading to extra-crisp skin once roasted. In addition, during that time the salt has an opportunity to work its way into the meat, which will help the chicken hold onto its juices, preventing dried out meat.

Why You Should Butterfly a Chicken Breast. Butterflying a chicken breast gives you thinner, more even pieces that will cook quicker and more evenly. It also allows you to easily pound the meat to a very even thickness. Prepared this way, the split and pounded chicken breasts are called paillards.

Place chicken breast-side up in a roasting pan or large ovenproof skillet. Stuff cavity with herbs and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. (If you don't have twine, leave the legs as they are.)

Always leave your chicken to rest for at least 15 mins before carving. This will give you a juicy chicken that is a lot easier to carve. For a more succulent chicken, take it out of the fridge one hour before cooking to bring it up to room temperature. This rule applies to any meat you are roasting.

The amount of chicken that is safe to eat daily depends on several factors , such as your overall health , age , and activity level . However , according to the American Heart Association , it is recommended to consume no more than 6 ounces of cooked chicken per day .

Is chicken done at 165 or 180? ›

Simply insert your food thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken (for a whole chicken, that would be the breast). You know your chicken is cooked when the thermometer reads 180°F (82°C) for a whole chicken, or 165°F (74°C) for chicken cuts.

The FDA Food Code recommends cooking chicken to 165°F (74°C). But the pasteurization of chicken is actually a function of both temperature and time. If you can hold your chicken at 145°F (63°C) for 8.5 minutes, you can achieve the same bacterial reduction as at 165°F (74°C).

Once the liquid is boiling, reduce the heat and let simmer until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer or is no longer pink in the center, about 8 to 16 minutes, depending upon the size and number of chicken breasts that you are poaching.

Some chefs prefer to cook it to 170 to 180 degrees for that extra-tender, falling-off-the-bone experience. Bailey said he never recommends going over 165 degrees, but he said grill cooks should be careful to not get into the 190- to-200-degree range where chicken can become dry and hard.