So, we took a visit to the Kingston Farmer's Market later than we should have on Saturday so Terry was out of a lot of stuff but still had some chickens we put on order a month or so back as he tries to only raise enough chickens as he has demand for.

So, we see these two birds and choose them:


One went into the freezer and the other kept fresh. I brined the bird today in cold water and about a cup of kosher salt for about 3 hours or so. 2-4 hours is pretty typical. Brining does not salt the bird but allows the salt water to change the structure of the cells inside the meat to be "hungry" for moisture so as the meat cooks it wants to take in moisture rather than get rid of it. Seriously, it makes for the most moist meat ever. Try it.





I put down a good layer or onion, carrots, celery, garlic, summer savoury, sage, thyme, and whole black peppercorns in the roasting pan. I then seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and dried thyme. I put that in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes and then turned down to 275 for, oh, 4 more hours. Wait now, 4.5 hours for a 5-7 pound bird!!! You got to be kidding me, right? No, low and slow will cook a brined bird the best. Seriously, try it. The high heat at the beginning gets the vegetables going plus starts to brown the skin and render the fat. After that, the meat needs low heat to cook properly. How many times have you had really elastic chicken that is tough to eat and doesn't want to come off the bone? If you have, it means that the high heat made the meat contract too quickly and toughened it. Low heat allows it to cook gently and will give you a much better tasting chicken.



Some local beans and potatoes finished off this dish along with some tasty beer and gravy.

And then, not to waste anything I took the roasting pan vegetables and some fresh ones and made a stock. This will be useful in ways I can not think of yet but having chicken stock available at all times is a must in my kitchen.


That picture was taken before adding the water.