The chicken is the most popular beauty on the table. There are many ways to cook it, but sometimes the bird does not want to get it. It goes dry and tough, does not form a crust, and the taste is far from ideal. Why it happens? Let us examine the most common mistakes.
Error One: A Bird from the Refrigerator
The chicken turns out dry, tasteless, the piece cannot be swallowed without sauce, if you send a cold bird into the oven. Many hostesses make this mistake.
Even after long marinating, the carcass needs to warm up. To do this, just an hour left at room temperature.
If the chicken is not marinated beforehand, then spices will not penetrate into the cold skin and meat. In addition to rigidity, we get a completely tasteless dish.
Under no circumstances should you bake a frozen chicken or other bird.
It is necessary to give it completely thawed, soak in spices, and only then send it to the oven. And be sure to drain all released water along with the ichor.
Error two: the spices are not forgotten?
The most tasteless food is the one in which there is no salt. It is important to report it. Even a slightly salted chicken can be put on the table, supplemented with a bland sauce, add fresh vegetables. If the bird is not soaked with spices, then nothing good will come out.
Ideally, it should be marinated for several hours. To do this, use spices, you can immediately take the mixture for poultry or pick your favorite seasonings yourself. They are rarely used in dry form, usually added to something.
What can be used for marinade:
- kefir, sour cream and other dairy products;
- soy sauce or teriyaki;
- honey;
- mustard, adjika.
Recipes with wine, orange juice are very popular, sometimes ketchup or other tomato sauce is added to the chicken. This all should be used very carefully.
Foods contain acid, which after prolonged contact makes tender chicken meat tough, it is not worth marinating poultry in such sauces for more than two hours.
Third mistake: breast on top
How do most housewives put chicken in shape? Of course, breast up!
As a result, it dries out. Trying to avoid this, oil is often thrust under the skin, the birdie is continuously poured with fat and draining juices on top of it. But everything can be much simpler - you just need to put the chicken back up. In this case, all flowing juices will soak up dry white meat.
So that the breast also turned out pretty and the skin does not stick to the form, you can put onion rings and carrots and potatoes from below.
These vegetables will be a wonderful side dish. Also close to the end of cooking you can simply turn the bird upside down, coat the skin with honey or its mixture with mustard, brown to a beautiful crust.
Error Four: No Forming
To make the chicken evenly cooked in all parts, it is customary to mold it. What does it mean? Wings and legs pressed to the carcass. Often used for this thread. Sometimes the legs just cross, push in the slots on the skin. But it is with them that you can not do this. Most often, the wings dry up and burn, as there is practically no meat in them, only thin skin and bones.
What can be done with wings:
- cut off the extreme phalanges and simply press against the carcass;
- wrap with pieces of foil;
- pin the toothpicks to the carcass.
By the way, you can also wrap the ends of the legs with pieces of foil. Then they will not burn. It is desirable to smear the chicken before this, since the foil has a tendency to stick to the skin.
Fifth error: wrong chicken
Sometimes the bird turns out to be tasteless, dry and tough, as the wrong chicken is used.
For roasting, it is advisable to choose young broilers. Old hens remain tough even after long marinating. It is also difficult to cook poultry that knew the will. She has a developed muscular system, coarse and hard fibers.
Great for cooking in the oven suitable factory young chickens. Just they are not suitable for cooking the first course, because they do not have a rich flavor. But quickly baked. Thanks to the spices and marinades, you can significantly improve the taste.
Error Six: washed, but not wiped
Before use, the hen should be thoroughly rinsed, even soaked. Along with the pollution, the blood will leave the water, this will have a positive effect on the taste and appearance of the dish. But in addition to washing the carcass must be carefully wiped with a towel, even better with paper napkins.
If there is moisture on the skin, then the spices are not pressed inside.
Also, because of the water droplets on the surface, the peel is overdry, becomes tasteless, a beautiful crust cannot form.
For this reason, the chicken is rubbed with something fat: mayonnaise, sour cream, butter. They do not allow the skin to dry up, but do not interfere with browning.
Error seven: size matters
The big chicken looks gorgeous on the table, but it's very difficult to make it tasty and juicy. Breast during long-term heat treatment dries out, the wings and lower legs burn, while the massive thighs take a long time to reach readiness. Therefore, a 4-5 kilogram home broiler is not the best option. It is more convenient and easier to cook poultry up to 2.5 maximum three kilograms. If you want to cook a large carcass, you will have to pack it.
What cook big bird:
- in the sleeve;
- in pan with sides;
- under the foil.
It is necessary to give the chicken steamed first, and then fry until golden brown.
If you openly cook from the very beginning, then the meat of large poultry will dry out and the skin will burn.
Error Eight: from the heat, from the heat and immediately on the table
The last mistake that is made very often is sending only cooked chicken from the oven to the table and immediately cutting it. You can not do this!
It is necessary to take out the bird, cover it with something large, for example, with an inverted bowl or pan, leave for 15-20 minutes.
During this time it will not cool, but the moisture inside will be evenly distributed, the wings and other small parts will become softer.
If the chicken is cut immediately, as soon as it is taken out of the oven, the juices will begin to flow out, gather at the bottom of the plate.
