IMO, just goes to show that there's a lot of cr@p advice out there - like all those 'hack' listicles and videos that seem to be everywhere.

IMPE, the longer chicken is cooked, the drier and stringier it gets - the only parts that stand up to long cooking are drumsticks.

I have a recipe and I think it's called sticky chicken, that calls for very long slow and it's tasty but it's not good reheated.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/45954/roast-sticky-chicken-rotisserie-style/

5-hour cooking time!

When I cooked chicken at a barbecue contest, I started out trying to cook it low and slow. The results were rubbery chicken but lots of smokey flavor. Over the years, I've gotten away from that method for chicken and only cook it hot and fast, but only over real charcoal with plenty of wood chunks.

I use a Mexican chicken and rice recipe from Elise, that is very good. It only simmers about 25 minutes or so.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/arroz_con_pollo/

I think the lowest/slowest for me with chicken is probably coq au vin. Can’t remember for sure but am thinking 250-300 for maybe an hour-ish for the (seared) chicken pieces (thighs) to be cooked the way I like.

My awesome chicken, which I've describe several times, is dead easy, uses steam to keep the chicken moist and help the skin crisp, and cooks at a normal time and temperature. I braise turkeys and ducks, but the tender little chicken I prefer would never survive. That said, I adore coq au vin (never made it myself, though). Braising is great for a big, tough, old coq.

When I roast a chicken, I cook it at 350-375°, as a rule, but I've also roasted them at higher temperatures, and I found that high heat kept more moisture inside while making the skin crispier.

I never brine chicken in salt and water, but I do try to salt the chicken the day before, or at least several hours before.

“…but I do try to salt the chicken the day before, or at least several hours before.”

Lars, I started doing the same thing some years ago after reading an article from Judy Rodgers (Zuni Cafe). It really does make a difference.

artemis, my DD mentioned the same thing. I didn't even think about the definite difference in the flavor of the chickens.

That sticky chicken really is worth trying at least once and I used to make it a lot. Typically I high heat roast though because of time and I think overall I ended up preferring the texture but I still like this sticky chicken. There's an awful lot of high reviews.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Chinatown with a few friends for a Chinese New Year dinner.

Many courses dinner, including:

Live fish from the tank.

Live king crab from the tank

and Roasted chicken. As per tradition of Chinese New Year, all fish, crab, chicken must have head and tail on.

I have had Trader Joe's organic free-range chicken before, which I thought was a waste of money.

That roasted chicken was magical. I am not sure what kind of chicken and how they roasted it. crispy paper thin fatless skin on very perfectly tender meat. Absolutely naturally tasty.

I know when they say free range chickens, they are not talking about "cage Free" chickens.

A wonderful meal, not cheap ( big live king crab), not outrageous.

dcarch

My roommate in San Francisco bought a chicken in Chinatown and kept it as a pet. He named her Debby, and she was a pretty stupid chicken. She used to roost under our dining table on the stretchers. Eventually she escaped when someone left the back door open.

We did buy other chickens in Chinatown and had them butchered and plucked. It's a good way to get chicken feet, if you want to use that when making stock.

Lars, chickens aren't all that smart anyway. I keep telling the kids that's where "bird brain" came from, LOL.

Like Artemis, how I cook chicken depends on the chicken. If I'm culling old laying hens they will either become stock or I'll grind them and make sausage. Younger (like a year or two) can do a couple of hours in the oven and become edible. If I raise birds specifically for meat, they are young and tender enough to withstand frying, less than a year old If I'm going to roast one, I'll either brine it overnight or I'll pre-salt it, but it's usually one of the "under a year" birds. My family prefers the brined chickens, but they aren't already treated to a saline solution like commercial chickens, that's their first bath in brine. I think an already treated commercial bird would be far too salty.

All my chickens are raised outdoors, with access to fresh air, bugs, garden vegetables, seeds, etc. They are not technically "free range" because when I let them wander about they become dinner for the resident Bald Eagles, hawks, coyotes, raccoons, bobcats, feral cats and the neighbors' dogs. That's if they don't get hit by cars when wandering across the road. Now they have their very own fenced enclosure, with netting on the top to deter the barn owls. We made it big enough that they can all scratch, have their dust baths, and find both sun in the morning and shade from the hot afternoon sun. In return they give me a couple dozen eggs a day which I sell to the B&B and some really good chicken dinners.

I do not find that "low and slow" benefits the young chickens, or the really old ones, only those "middle aged" chickens that are over a year old, but not old enough to be good only for stock or sausage. Nothing will make an old stewing hen anything except tough and stringy, and that includes the InstaPot and the CrockPot. The young chickens become overcooked and rubbery if cooked for lengthy periods of time.

I can't tell you about grilling or smoking them because I don't do either of those things and Elery has decided that he's tired of doing it. (shrug) I like grilled chicken, but not enough to mess with a grill to prepare it.

So, my answer is, it depends on the chicken. In my world, low and slow is only good for middle aged birds.

Annie

Thank you ! for the tutorial on how to cook different birds of varying ages.

Q. You didn’t mention a capon. I remember those from livng in the Plains States, but haven’t seen one in years.

I suspect that the long and slow cooking is best for meats such as pork and beef. I dont see any advantage to cooking chicken like that.

I have cooked older tougher hens and found them to be great for stock but not so much for the meat.

I buy all of my chickens from a halal market, or an Amish farmer or on rare ocassion from a friend who has a few of their own flock to share.

@Lars I'm curious about this statement:

"When I roast a chicken, I cook it at 350-375°, as a rule, but I've also roasted them at higher temperatures, and I found that high heat kept more moisture inside while making the skin crispier."

Is juicier meat and crispier skin not preferred? Given your results, I'm wondering why higher heat is not your standard.

The main reason higher heat is not my standard is that we generally roast chicken in the Big Green Egg, and it is a bit more difficult to control the temperature, and if we aim for a higher heat, there is a chance that it will get too hot, cook too fast, and parts might get burned. Roasting it more slowly also allows it to get more smoke flavor.

If I am roasting it in the oven, then I will use a higher temperature and keep a closer watch on it. I have two different standards for indoor and outdoor roasting.