help with Chicken on the bone............cooked sous vide in a water bath

Hi Aaron : ) <br /> <br />I have had great success using either of the following methods. <br /> <br />Do what you are going to do to the chickens in terms of spices and fat and vacumn the bag. I generally do 2 legs and thighs per bag. I use onion and garlic powder, sea salt and cracked pepper, red pepper flakes and cajun spice rub. I add 1 tsp of unsalted butter and a sprig of thyme and majoram typically to the bag. <br /> <br />If I need them for this evening's dinner I will use Douglas Baldwin's recipe of 176 degrees F (80 degrees C) for 4 to 6 hours. <br /> <br />If I am cooking them for a future use, then I place them in a 160 degree F (70 degree C)overnight. I have generally used the sous vide for that night's dinner so I have to wait until that is out before I place them in the bath. So for me, that would probably be around 9:00 PM before the dishes are cleaned and I am ready to proceed. I generally get up around 8:00 or 8:30 AM and remove them from the bath at that time. I follow Mr. Baldwin's recommendations of letting them rest for about 15 minutes and then I put them in an ice bath before putting them in the freezer. <br /> <br />The meat in both methods is wonderfully moist and tender. I do not remove the skin before sous vide bath. I do broil the skin side up on the legs and thighs before serving. My best results are using a jelly roll pan with a rack on it and keep it about 1 inch away from the broiler element for 3 to 5 minutes for the best crispy skin results. <br /> <br />Hope this helps. <br /> <br />Sara Peterson <br />Naples, FL

White meat chicken and dark meat chicken require different cooking temperatures-- white meat will have superb flavor and moistness after 2 to 4 hours at 140 degrees, but becomes increasingly mushy and chalky at higher temperatures. Dark meat chicken is better at higher temperatures, certainly over 150 and probably better above 156 degrees F. <br /> <br />For bone-in chicken, and for skin-on chicken the cooking times need to be longer. My frequent experience has been with a lot of boneless/skinless chicken breast meat that is added into recipes as they cool below 140 degrees just prior to being served. Skin-on sous vide chicken is a technique I would usually use when barbecuing for parties. The cooking times are short--just long enough to add the brown color and coat with sauce. The resulting chicken is perfectly cooked and moist, and the sous vide tenderness is obvious.