Introduction
If you’ve ever tried meal prepping or just eating better, you’ve probably been disappointed by a homemade meal. If chicken was involved, then dry, overcooked chicken breast was probably the cause of your kitchen woes.
Thankfully, there’s an easy fool-proof way to save yourself from more crippling disappointment. Even better, all you need for this method is the meat, and an applicable amount of salt.
If you haven’t caught on, the method I’m talking about is brining. Specifically, dry brining.
What is Dry Brining?
Dry brining involves covering something (usually meat) in salt – often hours or days before cooking. This gives the salt time to season both the inside and outside of the food.
Unlike regular “wet” brining, dry brining doesn’t require lots of liquid or a large, lidded container. You really only need salt, and something simple like a dinner plate or plastic bag to hold the food.
This technique produces meat that’s more flavorful and less dry than meat seasoned just before cooking. This is especially useful for something like chicken breast, which is easily overcooked – often with a bland flavor to match.
Tips For the Best Oven-baked Chicken
Salt your chicken ahead of time, up to a day in advance. The longer it brines for, the better it will be.
Use regular-sized chicken breasts. If the ones you tend to buy are the size of your head, I recommend trying a different product and comparing the difference.
Use the correct amount of salt, and the correct salt. As I’ve mentioned before, I use Morton’s kosher salt. For 1 lb of boneless chicken, I use about 1 tsp of salt. If you’re using something more coarse (sea salt) or more fine (table salt), you’ll need to adjust accordingly.
Use high heat. If your heat is too low, the outside of the chicken can be overdone before the inside is cooked. A higher heat also gets you more browning, which means more flavor.
While it’s not mandatory, I highly recommend an instant-read thermometer – or even better, a probe thermometer. Both will be more accurate than a time range, or cutting the chicken to be sure it’s done. A digital probe thermometer is especially useful. Just set the internal temperature you want, and the thermometer will tell you when the meat’s come up to temperature.
Conclusion and Recipe
Below I’ve listed the ingredients, ingredient amounts and steps for making oven-baked chicken breast. If you like this recipe, check out my recipe for Korean fried chicken. You can also follow me on WordPress or Pinterest to make sure you don’t miss my future posts.
My next post will be about how to make oven-roasted cabbage steaks. If that sounds good to you, be sure to follow 🙂
Ingredients
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, 454 grams
1 tsp kosher salt, 6 grams
1 Tbsp vegetable oil, 14 grams
Seasonings, as needed*
Preparation
Cover your chicken in salt and let sit** until ready to use, up to 24 hours in advance.
When your chicken is ready, preheat your oven to 450 F (232 C). Cover your chicken in oil and any seasonings you want. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 160 F*** (71.11 C).
Notes
* Seasonings are technically optional, but just salted chicken would get boring fast. Something like a barbecue dry rub or similar would be great here.
** You can leave the chicken in anything you want, as long as it’s in the fridge. I personally leave mine on a wire rack set in a sheet pan. It takes up a lot of room, so it’s not for everyone, but it works well for me.
I recommend baking on a sheet pan, even if you left the chicken on a plate, in a bag, etc.
*** Bringing the chicken to 160 should be enough, since carry-over cooking will take it to the coveted 165. If you’re worried, you can do 165 and get similar, but slightly worse results.
Also keep in mind that the time window assumes you’re not using especially large pieces of chicken. The larger your chicken is, the longer it will take to cook. You should also lower the oven temp if your chicken pieces are quite large.
Comments