Tenderized and Brined Chicken Breasts rolled and centered with Pepper Jack Cheese, buttered, and corn flake-battered on a bed of vegetables all cooked in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. This is a crowd-pleaser for sure.
From Fire-to-Plate, I’ll show you how to create this recipe using either Chicken Breast, Bone-in / Skin-on Chicken Thighs, or Skinless / Boneless Chicken Thighs…in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven!
Easy. Simple. Delicious!
The scene is suspenseful; dark and gloomy. The climb down is hard and treacherous. Out of his pocket falls a small box. He reaches out in desperation but to no avail. He calls out to his single companion struggling below to hold on to the rope. They are dangerously exposed on the cliff face. His companion reaches for the small, falling box and loses his grip on the rope. He yells out as he falls back and into the mist below. Luckily, the fall was only a few feet. The companion gathers the box from the ground and examines it. “What’s this?” he asks.
Sam answers Froto: “Nothing. Just a bit of seasonin’. I thought maybe if we was having a roast chicken one night or somethin’.”
Clip from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Plan a bit ahead with this recipe. As always, we brine our chicken before roasting. There’s an article on Beer and Iron as well as a video that shows you how to brine a whole chicken: WATCH IT HERE
The next time you go grocery shopping or make an online grocery order, pick up a whole chicken. Most grocery store chickens are about 3-4 pounds (1.5 kilograms). As soon as you get home and settled, set that whole chicken to brine. Yes, that same evening.
Here are two links WITH VIDEOS on brining meats (chickens are in the examples given). Trust me when I say: brine the chicken. It will not disappoint.
The Hot Method: https://beerandiron.com/basic-beer-brine-template-recipe/
The Cold Method: https://beerandiron.com/how-to-beer-brine-whole-chicken/
Here’s another way to Roast Chicken: https://beerandiron.com/roasted-beer-brined-chicken-cast-iron-dutch-oven-on-grass-straw-hay/
And a roasted chicken sure does sound good for tonight. Roasted chicken seems to be a simple thing; yes, it does. Put the chicken in the oven at 350°F / 177°C and cook it for 20 minutes per pound and until the juices run clear. You and I both know it’s not that easy. Naw, it ain’t that easy; and that’s why Costco sells 100 million rotisserie chickens every year out of over 625 million sold each year in the USA. That’s like 2 grocery store-cooked chickens for every person in the USA each year.
Someone ate my two chickens!
I am going to share with you how I create the perfect roasted chicken each and every time. It’s going to be crispy, it’s going to be juicy, and it’s going to be evenly roasted. And best of all, it’s going to be easy. But it’s going to take a bit of planning (there’s always a “but”). But, don’t let that bit of planning sway you back to Costco for that plastic-packaged over-cooked rotisserie chicken, this ain’t near the work or planning you think it is.
The secret to the perfect roasted chicken is this: preparation and a bit of planning. Just telling y’all how it is. It’s really not that much preparation. I am just like you: BUSY! BUSY! BUSY! There are times when I don’t have a clue what’s for dinner; and then comes the “where do y’all want to go eat at?” question.
Meal planning seems to be a hassle. And it is. But mealtime experiences are usually the pinnacle of our evenings and time together as a family. I find myself planning out a day or three down the calendar to make sure I’ve got some ideas. And, if you follow this recipe and plan, you’ll have a perfectly roasted chicken and be ready for dinner by the time everyone is ready for their after-work and after-school meal.
Step 1: Brine the Chicken.
2-5 days before you plan to roast your chicken, set the whole chicken in the brine (follow the links for either the cold brine method or the hot brine method). Place that brining chicken in the refrigerator and let it rest there. Move it about each day or so to make sure the salt stays stirred up and the chicken evenly brines.
Start with the cold method of brining. You’ll have that chicken out of the grocery store bag and packing and in the brine in less than 10 minutes. IT’S EASY!
Start your brining journey with a 2-day brine. I can’t “taste” what salty taste like to you. So, start with 2 days and if the chicken tasted perfectly salted and juicy then you have your brine time that works for you. If it was lacking a bit of saltiness and flavor, next time add a day to the brine time and see how things go. Read more about saltiness here: https://beerandiron.com/salt-to-taste/
Step 2: Remove the Chicken from the Brine.
When you are ready to cook your chicken. Pull it down and leave it in the brine about an hour or two before you start your chicken to roasting. When you are about 10 or 15 minutes from ready to put the chicken in the oven, start the following steps.
Chef Tip: I will usually call my wife to pull the chicken down even before I get home from work. Or, I will pull it down as soon as I get home and let it “warm up” as I change and “get the day off of me.”
Step 3: Set your oven to preheat to 350°F / 177°C
When you are ready to get busy and cook this chicken and while your oven is preheating, gather your 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven or skillet. Get your trivets ready.
We are going to cook this without a lid on the Dutch oven.
Step 4: Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry the chicken with paper towels.
Set the dripping chicken on a tray with paper towels underneath the chicken while you pat dry the chicken. Watch the fluid “hiding” in the cavity; it’ll spill out everywhere.
It does not have to be bone dry. All you need is to dry the brine from the chicken and before you apply the oil to the chicken skin.
Step 5: Truss the chicken.
Chicken has so many different “thicknesses.” And, by the time the depths of the breast or the thigh joint has reached doneness, the leg and wing have long since been cooked and has likely reached an over-cooked state. Trussing the chicken draws everything in and keeps the parts-and-pieces dress-right-dress. Trussing promotes an evenly cooked chicken.
How do you truss a chicken you ask? There’s a video of this whole process above; if you still have problems trussing the chicken, let me know. It’s not hard…once you’ve done it a few times…but…it’s hard the first time!
Trussing is optional. Your chicken will roast just fine if you do not. It’ll be less than perfect but it will be AMAZING nonetheless.
Step 6: Oil the outside of the chicken.
You will not need much oil at all. Oiling the chicken skin will help that skin to crisp up and work like a “sack.” That “sack” will hold that moisture better. You will even see that sack-like nature when you pull the roasted chicken from the oven and see the skin “deflate” as the air temperature changes from the oven to the air of your kitchen.
Step 7: Using your 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven, set a trivet in the bottom.
Most all chickens from the grocery store will fit nice and neat in a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven. You need some air space all around the chicken while it’s in the Dutch oven.
For you fine folks that grow your own chicken, you may need to consider a 7-quart or a 9-quart Dutch oven. The size of the chicken will determine the size of the Dutch oven you will need.
I use a trivet for this recipe. Not too many folks have a good trivet. If you don’t have one, then get one here:
I have two of these and use them all the time. They also work GREAT as bacon presses and don’t let moisture build up under them like most presses causing all that popping and grease stinging.
A trivet is optional. I want the chicken not to be in direct contact with the heat and cook evenly. I usually use TWO trivets like in the video.
Step 8: Set the whole, trussed, oiled chicken on that trivet inside the cast iron Dutch oven.
I don’t use a lid for this recipe. I leave it open to air at the same 350°F / 177°C the whole time. Some will suggest heating up the oven to a very high temperature and letting it “seal” or “sear” in the moisture. But, we do just fine at one constant temperature.
This is where you are free to add anything else to the pot along with that chicken. Sometimes we’ll put spriggles of thyme, rosemary, or whole cloves of garlic. These additional will add to the flavor of the chicken.
If you do add something to the pot with the chicken, make sure it will both tolerate the longer cook time and finish cooking at the same time your chicken is done. If not, add it later in the cook. Most of the time, when we add something to the pot with the chicken, we add those ingredients as flavor ingredients.
Step 9: Set the chicken in the oven without a lid.
Just pick a middle shelf in your oven and set it in there but close enough to the door to reach it with our temperature probe.
Step 10: Insert a meat thermometer temperature probe to the thickest part of the breast.
We set the thermometer probe into the thickest part of the breast, but we don’t go all the way down to the bone. We stick the temperature probe about 2/3rds the thickness of the chicken breast. If you hit the bone, just pull back a bit and you’re A-OK.
The wired thermometer keeps life easy! Trust me on this one. We use this Wireless Meat Thermometer to keep from guessing when the chicken is done. I don’t have to open the oven door but once and that’s to use my other meat thermometer to do a double check.
I am writing this article as my chicken cooks now. I don’t have to do anything while the chicken cooks but wait on that “beeping” from my device.
I also use this with my Camp Chef camp cast iron Dutch ovens when cooking outdoors. It’s something I suggest.
All of my links are affiliate links and I appreciate you all if you chose to click and purchase from these links. Disclaimer: I use each and every item I link you to. And, I try not to fluff up the links. I want this website to be about the food and not a bunch of pop up ads and videos.
Step 11: Roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F / 74°C
This is a tricky step. If you have ever cooked a whole, roasted chicken and find that there is still some “pink” in the center, you know the struggle is real. The breast reads “165” and the thigh joint reads “148.” Dang it!!
We are assured the chicken is completely done by the initial breast meat temperature reaching 165°F / 74°C. Then, we pull it from the oven and double check with our other meat thermometer.
Step 12: Remove the chicken from the oven and check the temperature at the inner thigh to make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
You can check with the same temperature probe you cooked with. It’s a little sluggish on quick reads. We have this 2nd meat thermometer to make sure.
If the breast meat and the inner thigh joint are at 165°F / 74°C, we are sure the chicken is completely cooked and ready to eat.
And that’s all there is to it. Now you have a perfectly roasted chicken.
Roasted Chicken is a light-colored meat. So, stick with a light-colored beer. Hey, I ain’t making that up. Try it. But, take some more advice: Stick with a nice Pale Lager, Helles Bock, and Helles Lager; these are excellent choices.
And though a bit darker in color but excellent with roasted chicken: Amber Lager, Vienna Lager, and Märzen are good choices as well. Many ales go well with roasted chicken like the blonde ale, wheat ale, and Kölsch.
Golden Lagers (bottom fermented at cooler temperatures) and Golden Ales have similar characteristics (with lagers always being clear). Golden Ales will be a bit bitter but not too much. Golden Lagers have a tad bit of sweetness that definitely will not overwhelm, nor will it linger.
And if a not-too-bitter golden ale “calls” you from your beer fridge, then a golden ale will not disappoint with this meal. If a Pilsner is all you have, it will not disappoint either.
A bit of trivia: Where did lagers get their name? Going back to the 1600’s, lagers were brewed during the colder months and lagered for the summer months. Lager beers were lagered…meaning stored.
This recipe will produce a nice, juicy, roasted chicken that can either be served whole or can be deboned and used in different recipes. It will add so much to any chicken-as-an-ingredient recipe.
There’s not much that will not go well with whole, roasted chicken.
Roasted Carrots
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Roasted or Mashed Cauliflower
Asparagus
Potatoes au Gratin
Fettuccine Alfredo
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Garlic Baby Potatoes.
Garden Salad
Mac and Cheese
Sweet Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
BREAD!
Scalloped Potatoes
Can you think of anything that does not work as a side with roasted chicken?
Consider getting creative with these sides. Cauliflower, yeah! But what about Roasted Herb & Lemon Cauliflower or Garlic and Rosemary Brussels Sprouts?
Hands down, my favorite herb to use with chicken is sage. I love, love, love the flavor of sage and chicken. Thyme is my next go-to with rosemary being an equal love of mine.
Other herbs and vegetables go well with chicken such as cilantro, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, garlic, and lemon (though lemon is really a fruit).
Marjoram and Tarragon are not my go-to herbs but some recipes call for these two herbs and if I am preparing the whole chicken as an ingredient for other recipes, I will use one or both with my chicken.
The beer ingredient in this recipe is added during the brine. Most any light-colored, easy-on-the-bitterness beer will work. When you start out brining for this recipe, or any chicken that you plan to brine, use a lighter-colored, easy-to-drink beer and then experiment from there.
I often use a nice citrusy beer with this recipe.
I love craft beer and appreciate the craft beer’s value. They are more expensive than big-brewery beers. And, truth be known, many of them big-brewery beers ain’t too bad to drink. If that’s all I have or have been offered, I’ll enjoy that big-brewery beer and the friends I am enjoying it with.
Less expensive, easy-to-drink beer works very, very well for brining chicken. Consider Corona, Modelo, or even a DosXX. You will not be disappointed in how this chicken will turn out. Not to mention, that brine will not deplete your craft beer stock nor break the bank.
24 12-ounce Coronas at my local market right now costs about $26.88. I venture to say that 24 12-ounce craft beers would be 3 times that much.
Lastly, don’t think that using a beer that you consider inferior as a drinking beer will be a bad brining beer. Not in the least. They actually make for BETTER brining beers. Craft beer takes brewing to new flavor heights and we love craft beer and the brewers who toil over perfection.
However, these delicious flavor notes may cause the chicken to taste a bit off. Stick with a plain-Jane brew (sorry you Janes…I ain’t talking about you but other Janes).
Avoid dark beers, sweet beers, and beers with a high IBU. The IBU is the International Bitters Unit which is a measurement of how bitter or hoppy the beer will taste.
5 or 7-Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven (a 5-quart will work for most every chicken you pick up from the market).
The size of the Dutch oven depends on the size of your chicken. I have a Vintage Cast Iron 10-quart Sportsman Fish Fryer with the Griddle cast iron lid that I use when I want to roast two chickens at the same time. After all, the energy and time it takes to cook one chicken in the oven is the same if you put two in the oven.
Most ovens will accommodate two 5-quart cast iron Dutch ovens and even a 5-quart and a 7-quart at the same time.
I have included some affiliate links:
Larger Zipper Storage Bag: https://amzn.to/3wCz6Ek
Bowl to hold the brining chicken while it’s in the refrigerator.
Meat Thermometer (Optional): https://amzn.to/3wCnS2o
Butcher’s Twine (Optional if you plan to truss): https://amzn.to/3HDjJBw
36 Ounces of Beer (for the brine)
3 Tablespoons of Salt (for the brine)
NOTE: This is the basic brine. You can create a brine either using the cold method or the hot method. Yes! I do have a how-to article and video for both!
4 Pound Whole Chicken give or take a few ounces (or even a pound).
2-3 Tablespoons of Oil to Coat the Chicken Before Roasting
Chef Tip 1: Chicken is considered “done” at 165°F / 74°C. Because chicken has different parts with varying thickness, be sure to check the chicken at a few other spots to make sure it’s done.
Chef Tip 2: The truth be known: it takes the same energy to cook one chicken as it does to cook two. We will cook a chicken in two 5-quart Dutch ovens at the same time. I have a large Fish Fryer Pot that I set the two trivets and chickens in; one on one side and one on the other. They fit perfectly. I found my used, so keep your eye out for one:
Chef Tip 3: Don’t toss the bones, innards, or skin…MAKE A BROTH (How to Coming Soon).
There you go! Now, what do you think? It’s really as easy as brine, roast, and enjoy (with a few days in between).
Yes, there is very little difference between this recipe and our Chicken On Grass Recipe.
We roast chicken all the time mainly for the chicken to be used in an ingredient in Gumbo, Chicken Stew, Chicken Enchiladas, and so much more.
Let me know what you think and how your roasted chicken turned out.
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I am always sharing fresh, flavorful, recipes cooked up in well-seasoned cast iron awesomeness with a bit of my liquid, hop-based, happy-maker as an ingredient.
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