We had some bone-in chicken breasts in the freezer that one of Debby’s sisters bought on a recent visit. These were pretty big chicken breasts and the three of us are not huge eaters, so we split one for dinner tonight. It was already in a zip-loc bag, so I thawed it in the fridge and then salted it in the bag last night. Today I added some freshly ground pepper, a pinch of dried tarragon, and about 2 Tb of butter. In at 142F at about 3PM. I picked the temp to be between Kenji Alt-Lopez’ recommended 140F and “if your family is queasy about slightly pink chicken “145F in the comments. Kenji discusses the role of time in killing off bacteria at the lower than FDA recommended temperatures.
Kenji recommends cooking bone-off, but I left the bone in not for any bone-in flavor myths, but just to have the bone cooked before I remove it and discard it. Because I seasoned the chicken just by opening the mouth of the bag and tossing things in (relying on exuded liquids to redistribute the seasonings), this was one less handling step. If I had done the bagging, I probably would have removed the bones before freezing.
Pulled it a bit before 7PM. Put it under the broiler for a bit, but didn’t get the skin crisp; I probably could have left it in longer, but I didn’t want to dry it out. Served with roasted red potatoes and blanched asparagus. I liked this a bit better than the previous attempt at chicken at 140F, but the dry-brining might have also been a difference. The meat was tender and flavorful.
The thing I’m really liking as I use the Nomiku more is the convenience. The results are excellent, but I’ve also made very good conventional roast chicken, with much better crisped skin. However, I can’t just leave the bird in the oven while I do other stuff or wait for Debby to finish walking the dog. The immersion circulator lets me start things much earlier and then finish them fast. Plus I can roast something else at the same time at a different temperature than I might have used. It’s like the appeal of a slow cooker, but with the ability to hit much lower internal temperatures.
And I think the crisped skin is solvable.