I have already written more than once or twice that for our taste (me and my family) - shop chickens belong to the category of "conditionally edible." It is not the shops that are to blame for this, but the large producers - the technology of growing poultry is now all sharpened in order to get the carcass of the greatest possible weight in the shortest possible time.
Therefore, we are now buying halal chickens. They, nevertheless, differ from factory monsters-broilers, in the structure of meat and aroma - including.
But halal products are not available everywhere (a colleague from the Yaroslavl region often reminds me of this, no one sells such a bird in her district). And therefore today - the result of the work of the collective, so to speak, reason.
Several tricks that allow you to turn a "conditionally edible" bird into a delicious dish. From my experience and hers.
Rule one: no monsters
Overgrown broilers, of course, are good at the idea - bake one and the whole family is full, there will also be leftovers. But the taste of these broilers is lame in both chicken legs. And their fat spoils everything (it has a taste that can spoil a dish, and the fat itself is somehow strange in consistency).
Therefore, it is better to choose a chicken weighing one and a half kilograms, maximum - seven hundred kilograms.
Rule two: no marinade
This was before, when the hens led a healthy lifestyle (well, or plowed, laying eggs, from dawn to dusk), their meat required marinade. Now the chicken does nothing but eat and shit. Moreover, he does not eat worms and grains at all, but a feed specially designed for rapid growth and weight gain. Because her meat is so soft. Even too soft. It's impossible to cook it - everything will creep. And there is no point in pickling before baking.
Rule three: hygiene
The word "hygiene" in this case does not mean washing the chicken, but the removal of any unnecessary things - for example, fat reserves around the technological hole (through which the chicken was gutted). You need to cut everything. There are few lovers of such fat - even among those who love fatty foods. Simply because this fat is not tasty. He, as I have already written, often has a strange smell and taste.
And the bird is baked very well if you put it on a wire rack and pour boiling water over it. Everything. Do not hold it in boiling water, but pour it over: the skin immediately "sits on the figure", the chicken becomes white and pretty. Well, on the skin, everything that is superfluous immediately becomes visible - the remnants of fluff, films, etc. After such a shower of boiling water, by the way, the crust on the bird is better!
Rule four: dry
It is best to dry the chicken before baking. Because the moisture in the store chicken is superfluous - to the fig, forgive the non-literary expression, and more. And this moisture will actively flow out during baking. One can hope that this is the juice flowing from the bird, but too much of it always baffles me. If you bake such a chicken on a baking sheet, then it is not baked, it sunbathes on top, and stews from below!
Therefore, before cooking, the chicken can be placed on a jar or bottle, or on a special pin (they are sold just for roasting poultry). Place on a plate or baking sheet and refrigerate - from evening to morning, or from morning to evening. it would be better for 24 hours, but who can withstand so much? It’s even psychologically difficult - immediately thoughts begin to gnaw that the chicken is windy, such a good product has deteriorated!
Well, then, after drying, it is already possible to smear spices with a drop of oil (an hour before baking), and tie the bird (or not tie to get more fried skin), and grease with honey and soy sauce to make it rosy yes appetizing).
I'll write again: all these dances with tambourines are for store broilers. It is possible to prepare a peasant bird of free grazing in this way, but there is no special sense - it is, just, pickling is better, and there is no need to dry the slaughterhouse chicken - it usually does not have excess moisture It has.