"limey" > wrote in message
...
>
> "SPOONS" wrote in message
> >
> > The other day I had a friend over for dinner and as I was getting
the
> > boneless skinless chicken out of it's packaging she says to
me..."Aren't
> you
> > going to rinse that???" I said "No, I only do that if I see some
blood on
> > it." Then she went on to say that when she cooks with chicken she
always
> > rinses it and then sprinkles a lot of salt on it and leaves it on
for
> awhile
> > then when she's ready to cook it she rinses off all of the salt.
She
> says
> > she does this because it cleans the chicken. I think it's silly.
Am I
> > wrong?
> >
> > Does anyone else do this? Is she wasting her time or does it do
anything?
> >
> > Take care,
> > SPOONS
>
> Always rinse and dry, Spoons. Remember, even in the best of
circumstances
> there are juices which collect inside the bag. Cleanliness is
really
> important when it comes to chicken; as others have pointed out, you
don't
> know what else has happened along the way to chickens, or any other
food for
> that matter (and I'm no fanatic).
>
> Dora
>

I couldn't agree more. If I watch one more TV special about "what
really goes on in a chicken processing plant", I'd give it up for
good. Being a Southerner, that's tantamount to heresy. Rinse the
chicken well, and let dry before cooking.

If I'm grilling the chicken, or otherwise have the time, I'll brine
the bird. That's especially useful when cooking breasts as they have
a tendency to dry out. I'll use a quarter cup each of kosher salt and
sugar per quart of water. Throw in a few whole peppercorns and a few
bay leaves, and let the chicken soak in the brine for at least 2-3
hours. Take the chicken out of the brine, rinse well, and dry. If
you let it sit in the refrigerator and rest for a couple of hours
afterwards, so much the better. You can add pretty much anything you
like to the brine mixture (dry herbs, chiles, citrus peel, etc.) so
have fun with it.

--
"Life is hard. Life is harder when
you're stupid". - John Wayne

"Politics is war without bloodshed while
war is politics with bloodshed" - Mao Zedong

'99 FLHRCI

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