Okay Joe...so how did I screw up KC's hooded bodyguard golfing postman chicken?

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Organic 2.5 pound chicken, thawed, split in half down the breast, but we kept the back on. Did that throw off the thermal dynamics of the entire process???

Marinated it overnight in the frig. Put it cold (in its cold glass dish) into a hot 350 oven for 45 minutes, then probe-tested it under the leg near the thigh where it was 170-ish.

Baked it 15 more minutes and then put it under the broiler for 5 minutes.

Breast was tasty good...but just barely done; the dark meat still had residual pinkness.

After dinner (pasta, salad and the cooked part of the breast) Larry cut it up and I baked it at 350 for another 15 minutes, waited for it to cool and put it in the frig. Larry tried a leg the next day and it was STILL pinkish.

I baked it ANOTHER 15 minutes and then let it sit in the shut-off oven for ANOTHER 10 minutes.

It was finally done, but surely this isn't normal?

(PS: Had a vicarious thrill using fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley from mine own tabletop garden. Used powdered sage.)

 
I would say leaving the back intact was the issue. I would cut out the backbone,

or in the case of a small chicken, cut through it. Then you could leave it whole or cut it in half through the breastbone.

The backbone adds an extra layer to those leg joints, increasing the cooking time.

That's all I can think of--certainly such a small chicken should have been thoroughly defrosted after an overnight marinade

I never keep track of the time. I know it's about done when juices collect in the pan. If you try it again, and I hope you will, maybe let it sit out while the oven heats. Also, I invariably let it sit after baking until it's time to broil or grill. That would give it time to finish cooking.

 
I would like to also suggest that the chicken was very young and short of incerating it. . .

the meat will be pink near the thighbone, due to the marrow (If I remember correctly) in the bone and the thinness of the bone. If your temp is 170º AND the meat is still pink near the thigh, look at that pink meat: Is is *somewhat translucent*? If is is pink and translucent, the chicken is probably undercooked. If pink and good and opaque, the chicken is cooked, especially if your thermometer is telling you 170º. I see this regularly with smaller chickens I buy now.

Other things to check:
Have you calibrated your thermometer in boiling water recently?
Is your oven temp accurate?

 
--and did I mention that I cannot seem to find a 2-1/2 pound chicken around here. . .

Almost all of the ones I see are 4 pounds and up and I can regularly buy "fryers" in the 5-6 pound range. And I call them roasters!

I think Popeye's and KFC and El Pollo Loco get all the little chickens 'round here.

 
True, the chains get the smaller chickens, and the growers have bread them to get bigger faster

I don't believe I've ever cooked such a small chicken so your comments are more helpful than mine.

 
No, it is not small because it is organic, it is small because. . .

all those chicken frying companies are not buying organic chickens, so they are getting to the markets rather than the frying companies! smileys/wink.gif

I swear, Popeye's has THE smallest chicken pieces I have ever et!

 
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