Easy and Simple Beer Brined Roasted Chicken
Easy and Simple, BEER-BRINED, Roasted CHICKEN COOKED IN A CAST IRON DUTCH OVEN
Equipment
- 5 or 7 Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven Depends on the size of your chicken
- Larger Zipper Storage Bag To Brine In
- Larger Bowl To hold the brining chicken while it’s in the refrigerator.
- Meat Thermometer Optional
- Butcher's Twine
Ingredients
The Brine
- 36 Ounces Beer Light colored lager or ale with less bitterness
- 3 TBLS Salt Kosher is best
The Chicken Roast
- 1 Whole Chicken 4 Pound (Give or Take)
- 2 TBLS Oil Any oil will do. Use this to coat the chicken.
Instructions
Brine The Chicken 2-5 Days Before Roasting
- Create your brine - In The Zipper Bag, add the 32 ounces of beer and then add the 3 Tablespoons of Salt. It will foam up!
- Remove the chicken from the market packaging and remember to remove anything from the cavity of the chicken.
- Place the chicken in the brine. Do not truss your chicken yet. Just the whole, raw chicken into the beer brine.
- Store the brining chicken in the refrigerator for two to five days.
Ready To Cook
- Remove the Chicken from the Refrigerator about an hour or two before you are ready to cook.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 177°C.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry the chicken with paper towels.
- Truss the chicken with the butcher’s twine.
- Use the oil to coat the outside of the chicken.
- Using your 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven, set a trivet in the bottom.
- Set the whole, trussed, oiled chicken on that trivet inside the cast iron Dutch oven.
- Set the Chicken in the Oven Without a Lid.
- Use a temperature probe to the thickest part of the breast.
- Roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F / 74°C
- Remove the chicken from the oven and check the temperature the inner thigh to make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Notes
Chef Tip 1: The 2nd best place to make sure the chicken is done through and through is the inner thigh area near the breast but not touching bone.
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.
Chef Tip 3: 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.”
Chef Tip 4: Don't toss the bones, innards, or skin...MAKE A BROTH
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