Roasted Brined Chicken, How to Brine a Whole Chicken for Roasting

If you have never brined meat, you don't know what you've missed. Try this whole brined chicken roast and be convinced too, it will be the juiciest, most flavorful chicken you would have ever cooked, try it and it will become your family's favorite.

Why I ❤️ it • Recipe • Ingredients • Preparation

Why I ❤️ it

We have heard before the old maxim that while cooking is an art, baking is science. Well, that's not entirely correct, there is just as much science in cooking. And it is science that tells us that brining chicken for roasting works for its intended purpose: making meat juicer, more tender, more flavorful.

A little investment of some extra time can hugely improve your chicken roasts (works for other meats too). You can leave the chicken brining in the morning get it ready for roasting at lunch time. Your brined chicken will be the juiciest whole chicken roast you've ever tried, the perfect weekend meal.

Utensils and tools

• 20-quart pot (5 gallon [22 liters])
• Roasting tray with wire rack

Ingredients

For the brine

• 1 cup of kosher salt
• ½ cup of red wine vinegar
• 1 red onion, cut into quarters
• 6 clove garlic, sliced
• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• Rind of half an orange
• 2 tablespoons peppercorns

For the chicken

• 1 whole chicken, (about 4 lb [1.8 kg])
• ½ cup of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)

Preparation

Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.

Step 1

To make the brine, pour 1 gallon [4 liters] of water into the pot, and combine with the ingredients for the brine (kosher salt, red wine vinegar, onion, garlic, and parsley).

Step 2

Butterfly the chicken (cut open through the breast plate and flatten).

Place the chicken in a deep pot and cover completely with the brine mix. Place the chicken in the fridge and let it rest for 4 hours.

Step 3

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F [175°C].

Take the chicken out of the brine and discard the brine. Rinse the chicken to eliminate the excess salt (be mindful of salmonella cross-contamination). Pat dry with paper towels and brush all over with oil. Sprinkle the chicken with pepper.

Step 4

Place the chicken skin side up on the roast tray with rack.

If you have a meat thermometer

Roast until the thermometer reaches 71 °C [160 °F], start measuring at 1 hour.

If you don't have a meat thermometer

Roast for an hour, remove from the oven and turn around, the chicken will be ready when you can pierce between the thigh and body and the juices run clear. If any red or pink shows, return to the oven for another 15 minutes and repeat the test.

What's brining?

Brining is the practice of bathing meat in brine (water with a high concentration of salt) to make it tenderer and juicier.

Using red wine vinegar, salt, and a few other ingredients and herbs of choice, I ended up with the juiciest chicken roast I have made so far. It was plump, tender and bursting with flavor, you will be sure to incorporate this technique in your cooking after you try it.

Top tips

You can also add other herbs if you like, adding a sprig of rosemary or some thyme are two of my favorite, if I have them at hand.

Serving suggestions

You can roast potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables along with the brined chicken, and make your meal in just one step.

Nutritional information

Calories: 625kcal - Carbohydrates: 3g - Protein: 39g - Fat: 50g - Saturated Fat: 10g - Cholesterol: 156mg - Sodium: 534mg - Potassium: 432mg - Fiber: 1g - Sugar: 1g - Vitamin A: 290IU - Vitamin C: 5.6mg - Calcium: 33mg - Iron: 2mg

FAQs

Print card

This is just a printer-friendly summary, some useful details are found in the recipe above.