Vivian Chan's Pro-Tip For The Juiciest Baked Chicken
Flavor plays an obvious role in the quality and taste of baked chicken, but the juiciness of the meat is just as important. A dry piece of chicken is hard to disguise even under the most delicious sauce or gravy, and let's be honest, it just isn't as delicious as one that's properly cooked. If you overbake your chicken, adding the moisture back in, while possible, can be a difficult task, and one that requires a bit of creativity.
It's never a good idea therefore to just stick your chicken in the oven and hope for the best. Instead, you'll want to start with an overnight brine, baste the chicken well, and it also helps to bake it covered in parchment paper. Food & Wine (via YouTube) even suggests wrapping it in a cheesecloth soaked in butter to lock in all the juices while it sits in the oven.
But while all these tips will ensure your chicken is as juicy as possible, an even more foolproof way to go about it is to use a Chinese method, specifically the one TV personality Vivian Chan swears by (via Food Network).
You'll need plenty of salt
It isn't uncommon to bake chicken in a Dutch oven, but the technique Vivian Chan shared with Food Network takes it a step further. Per The Woks of Life, the traditional cooking method comes from Hakka cuisine, and it requires an amount of salt equal to the weight of the chicken you use. That means if you have a 3-pound bird, you also need 3 pounds of salt.
To prepare salt-baked chicken per Chan's instructions, via Food Network, you first add coarse Kosher salt into a Dutch oven over medium high heat. After 20 to 30 minutes, the salt gets to around 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. At that point you remove the salt from the pot, add in parchment paper-wrapped chicken, then pour the hot salt back in over the chicken. Rather than putting it in the oven to bake, you'll instead cook it on the stove with the lid on for 50 minutes over medium high.
Let it rest for 30 minutes after that and when you unwrap the chicken, you'll find the meat to be extra succulent and juicy.