• ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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    23 hours ago

    Also true, but salting it leaves a much dryer, crappier chicken. Brining one works great, but I’d much rather get one already brined vs having to brine one myself like 6 hours before I want to start cooking it. That’s a lot of time and a lot of salt I’ll only use once before dumping.

    • cattywampas@lemmy.world
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      23 hours ago

      Salting only draws moisture out of the outermost layer of skin and meat, which improves browning and crisping. It won’t affect the interior. The best way to reduce moisture loss in the meat is to spatchcock it so it cooks faster and more evenly.

      • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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        20 hours ago

        I only spoke of salting in comparison to using a brine. There is no cooking method that doesn’t leave you with a more moist cooked piece of meat if the meat was brined beforehand. Spatchcocking is great. It’s better in combination with brined bird. Same with rotisserie, which I generally prefer over spatchcocking.

        There’s a lot of great cooking methods, but starting with more moisture trapped in the protein always means there’s more moisture left after cooking.

        • cattywampas@lemmy.world
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          20 hours ago

          Well agree to disagree then, I don’t see the point of cooking a whole chicken at home if I’m not getting crispy skin.

            • cattywampas@lemmy.world
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              18 hours ago

              You can definitely still get it crispy but because it’s retaining moisture, It’ll never get as crispy as a dry brined chicken. I spatchcock my chickens and cover in a mixture of salt and baking powder, then leave it in the fridge uncovered overnight to dry the skin out. Then I poke some holes in the fat deposits to let the fat render out, bake it at about 400F, brush it once or twice with the rendered fat from the pan until done. Crispy skin, moist meat, can’t beat it.