How To Cook Chicken and Keep it Juicy

How to cook chicken and keep it juicy is not hard but it does take time. Cooking chicken is a staple in America today. The production and selling of chicken is a multi-billion dollar business. Most of the time if you want juicy chicken it must be fried.

Popeye’s, KFC, Raising Canes have the market cornered on fast and juicy chicken. However, they fry the chicken. We all know that fried chicken vs grilled chicken is not as healthy. The grease and the breading makes fried chicken very unhealthy.

However there is another way.

Here are the things you will need to cook chicken and keep it juicy.

1. Pellet smoker (helps but not necessary)
2. Tony’s Chachere’s creole seasoning
3. Margarine
4. Granulated garlic
5. Rosemary
6. Italian seasoning
7. Parsley flakes

Here are the steps to cooking chicken and keeping it juicy

Step 1 Make a Paste

Soften some butter in a bowl. Do not melt, just soften. After the margarine is soft sprinkle season into the margarine to your liking, Tony’s Chachere’s and Granulated Garlic. Mix it till it is a paste. The paste is key to trapping the juices in the meat.

Step 2 Prepare your Chicken

The next secret to keeping your chicken juicy is to prepare it properly. Cut the chicken along the backbone. Once cut, flip the chicken over and break the breast bone by pushing down on the breast. You want the chicken to be flat.

Step 3 Season the Chicken

Take your paste you made in step 1 and rub chicken top bottom all around. After you have rubbed the chicken with the paste. Sprinkle more Tony’s Chachere’s on both sides. Also add the rosemary, Italian seasoning, and parsley flake. Do not be afraid to do too much. Be aggressive with your seasoning.

Step 4 Set the Pit

You do not need a pit however I recommend the zgrills. Many grown men pick on other men when it comes to owning a pellet grill. However, the pellet grill allows you to smoke meat like you cook in an oven. The main negative to smoking meat on a traditional smoker is the constant struggle with the smoke and heat. The zgill eliminates that giving you the ease of smoking meat like cooking in an oven

Don’t get me wrong. Drinking beer all day and adding wood to a pit to generate tons of smoke is not a negative but it is only done on special occasions. Using a traditional smoker is very time consuming. A pellet grill such as the zgrills allows you to have that wonderful smoke flavor without all the work.

Set your pellet smoker to 220 or 200 the main difference is how much time you have. The lower and slower the better.

This process will take between 4 to 6 hours. However, certain zgrills have the ability to hook to your phone so you can check pit and meat temperature from your phone along with turning the pit on and off.

The zgrill also allows for alarms and reminders to be set. But another great benefit to cooking low and slow is it is hard to over cook.

Step 4B In the Oven

You can cook the Chicken the same way in the oven. However, the negative is the lack of smoke. The smoke in the zgrill will penetrate and trap flavor in the meat. This will be lost in the oven. The smoke is a key component to keeping the chicken juicy and flavorful. It will work in the oven just not as well. I personally highly recommend cooking the chicken on a pellet grill.

Step 5 Temp and Timing

An important tip to remember is that your meat does not just stop cooking. Once the chicken is taken off the pit it will continue to cook. It will not cook for long but the temp will not just automatically drop to room temp. I recommend cooking your chicken till 165. Take it off at or right before 165 degrees. I also recommend this hand temperature gauge (Weber Meat Digital Thermometer). I have learned that the pellet grills' temperature gauges are not the best when it comes to measuring the temperature of the meat.

Step 6 Let the Chicken Rest

Once you have taken the chicken off the pit place it on a cutting board. I recommend this one (Hiware Extra Large Bamboo Cutting Board)

Let the Chicken rest for 15 to 25 minutes depending on the time of year. If it is cold you can rest for less time. If it is summer time, give the chicken more time to rest. Resting your chicken after removing it from the pit does two things.

1. Saves your fingers from burning
2. Allows the juices to settle in the meat.

If you cut too soon the juices will just run out onto your cutting board.

Conclusion

This is the best way that we have found to cook chicken so it stays juicy. When we cook chicken this way we normally cook two. We have 10 people in our home. The kids love this style of chicken so much one entire chicken will disappear in the first 45 mins. With two we can have plenty for later and the next day.

If you struggle with keeping your chicken juicy while cooking, I recommend you give this a try. It is easy to do and you will not be disappointed. The people in your life will think you attended some type of cooking school. They will be amazed at how juicy and delicious this normal chicken tastes. Good luck on your next meal.

If you like this meal make sure you checkout all our cooking blogs and videos. Here are a few links of some more great dishes.

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