Is It Worth The Extra Time To Make A Restaurant Quality Chicken?

Learn the difference between a Restaurant chicken and a homemade one. the results may surprise you, I know they did surprise me.
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Restaurant Chicken Brine Recipe:
4 quarts water (2 quarts to boil the aromatics and 2 quarts of ice so you can use it right away
1 cup kosher salt
2 lemons halved
1garlic bulb halved
1/2 bunch Italian parsley
12 sprigs thyme
40 peppercorns
1/4 cup honey
2 bay leaves (optional)

Kitchen Products I own and love:

My Camera Equipment:

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[thatdudecancook]

Just reading your comments here and I’m thinking a wet brine vs dry brine chicken video needs to be done 👍

[nevzatbozdemir]

Dude, you should definitely keep going with this style. It just helps so much with the understanding of the mechanics which we cant test it out by ourselves.. wanna see more of em 👍🏼

[echo]

I have used a brine before. I did not know to air dry the chicken afterward. I knew that Chinese cooks always hang up their duck in a refrigerator before cooking so that the skin can dry out it makes it crisper. I never thought of doing it to chicken. I’m learning so much from this channel. You explain step by step. And on top of all that you have a great sense of humor.

[mynameisnotimportant]

You could also spatchcock the chicken and it will cook evenly. A lot of people don't even know it's a thing. Spatchcock a Turkey and it will save you like 2 hours of cooking on Thanksgiving

[robinxxrt]

I mainly use youtube for cooking channels and this is by far the best channel out there, great content and humor! :)

[bradrugby]

Please do more videos like this! I love to see home cook vs restaurant style cooking. That being said I always brine my whole chickens and turkeys because I like to control what goes in my brine. Thanks for all the content!

[fisch]

Great video. I think Kenji’s method gives you the best of both worlds. 1. Dry brine. 2. Brine = salt+baking powder which changes the pH of the skin making it crisp more easily (and shorter air drying time 3. Spatchcocking the bird roasts more evenly (and faster).

[Lampshade]

I have always been so skeptical of this channel from watching a lot of your shorts, but after watching some of your longer-form videos, I can say that this is one of the best cooking channels out there right now. Very thorough explanations, super informative, no judgement, I just love this style. Keep it up!

[BoomerTex]

For the home cooked chicken, try brining for only 30 minutes to an hour on the counter so the meat warms up some (from the fridge), then pat dry and apply a thick dry rub (like Texas BarBQ) as opposed to just a sprinkle. This works really well for me - better than no brining at all. But I haven't tried the Restaurant technique before so maybe I just don't know better. I will try it and find out.

[jessicaazzola]

This is such a fantastic amount of helpful information about technique, vs flavor, vs texture, vs time and effort. I really enjoy these kind of videos and Sonny, you explain things so well. I really appreciate all the valuable information you share in your videos and your creativity and authenticity keep me coming back.

[Apathymiller]

As someone who's raised chickens several xs over the years, the worst thing that American chicken producers do that affects the flavor of our store bought chickens is they harvest them WAY TOO EARLY! Generally chickens in the u.s. are processed between 40 and 85days old. Way too young, they don't have enough time to develope meat/weight. They try to fatten them up as quickly as possible, and the chickens live in the worst conditions. They almost never get out of the building, never going outside. To be labeled "free range" all the farmer has to do is actually have a small door to the outside. No chickens have to actually go outside, there just has to be a door/opening that they can go out side. But they don't actually let them outside to forage and to eat natural food. They just feed them grain and chicken feed. The chickens will eat an occasional bug that makes its way into the barn, but it's just grain and chicken Feed that they eat

[finfen]

I've found the best style to cook chicken, for me personally, is spatchcocked- dry brining from the night before. I've also tried prepping it mid afternoon for that night's dinner and if the bird is smaller, like rotisserie birds, 4-6 hours doesn't seem to make a noticeable difference from 12 or more dry brined hours.

Make a lemon zest & herb compound butter and fit under the skin in prep while oven is heating up. Season liberally on the outside (I cheat and use rotisserie mix I find at the store but your favorite seasonings for chicken are always the way to go), splash with a touch of olive oil and rub into the seasoning and skin.

Roast at 500 for 5-10 minutes or until skin gets all crackly and blackened spots start popping up. Bring down to 450 and finish cooking as normal. The bird shouldn't be burning because of the liberal seasoning and the butter and olive oil protecting it.

The spatchcocking makes it so you don't have to tie up the bird to force even cooking and this method cooks the bird in half the time. Less time, higher heat = juicier bird. I've made hundreds of whole chicken dinners, but this style of cooking changed the game for me.

[kachina]

Great video! I am not a fan of wet brining, I've done it with chicken and pork and the change in the meat's texture is offputting to me. I prefer a dry brine with rosemary salt - and yes, I know! - anytime. Now I'm gonna go smack my Fridge!

[mrsmartypants_]

Awesome comparison. I’m a bird hunter and harvest a lot of pheasant thanks to my pointers (bird dogs). Wild pheasant tends to be quite dry. The brining, trussing “restaurant style” of prepping and cooking is almost mandatory for roasting wild roosters.

[ursirius]

I always brine my chicken and pork. But I switch it up depending on the flavor I'm looking for. Also green tea instead of plain water adds a nice flavor to the brine. Gotta go now I'm hungry.

[bcubed]

Best advice for crispy skin (at least for fried chicken) was to pour boiling water on it before frying. That will cause the skin to pull away from the meat and fry up crispy. No idea if it would work for baking, but I may try.

[peterdoe]

I loved this one. Never had heard about this brining technique: "the endless learning"!
my sister in law once said I should write a cooking book just about chicken wings. I said: "If, I'd make it 3 books and title 'em "Lord of the wings". " :-)
I'm in for even more chicken recipes.

[Everheart]

I prefer this long form video, really shows your expertise. I actually learned technique, not just a recipe. Keep it up, thanks.

[BintyMcFrazzles]

I did this the other day and it is TOTALLY worth the extra effort. The flavour and tenderness was amazing, the best roast chicken I have ever had. The skin wasn't crispy, but I didn't air-dry it as long as in the video, as I wanted it the same day. I also pressure cooked it and then air-fried it in the Ninja, which is a method I love using.
I used a free-range chicken, which helped, and we don't rinse our chickens in chlorine in the UK.

[woodywoodpecker]

Love chicken- my go to recipe. Brine 12hrs. Pat dry. Let air dry/temper for 1 hour.
Stuff with aromatics- onion, lemons, thyme, rosemary, garlic, plus a pat of butter. Truss and put on rotisserie. Baste with butter and rosemary salt- if ya know ya know.