Johnny Miller
Rooster is a crowd-pleasing dinnertime staple and the most consumed meat in america. A lean and reasonably priced protein with a light taste, it cooks shortly and is endlessly versatile, starring in all types of dishes from curries to casseroles. And like different meat and poultry, it must be cooked to a secure temperature.
That is why we’re sharing how lengthy totally different cuts of hen needs to be baked within the oven—as a result of timing varies whether or not you are cooking it entire or in components (and breasts and legs require totally different therapy!). With this info, you may relaxation assured that you just’re hen might be cooked to perfection each time.
Related: Our Most Popular Chicken Recipes
White Meat vs. Darkish Meat
Chicken, which is discovered within the breasts and wings of the hen, is lean, delicate, and cooks shortly compared to the remainder of the fowl. Recognized for being much less caloric and fatty than darkish meat, it is usually extra vulnerable to drying out when overcooked. You possibly can bake chicken hen, but it surely lends itself effectively to faster strategies like broiling, sautéing, and grilling.
Drumsticks and thighs are the darkish meat components of a hen. They’ve a barely increased fats content material than chicken (about 3 further grams of fats per 100 grams of meat), which ends up in a juicier chunk with extra hen taste. With darkish meat, the muscular tissues are harder and might take a bit of longer to prepare dinner by and grow to be tender, so you might have extra choices within the kitchen, like braising, roasting, and frying.
How Lengthy to Bake Each Reduce of Rooster
Whether or not you are cooking white or darkish meat, the aim is identical: You need a juicy, moist piece of hen that’s cooked to a secure inside temperature—which, in accordance with the USDA, is 165°F for this poultry kind. For the sake of simplicity, we’re sharing optimum cooking occasions for baking at 350°F to realize this temperature. Word that sure recipes might take much less time if the oven is hotter.
When to Bake Longer
Whereas 165°F is the most secure minimal temperature, it doesn’t suggest it’s all the time the greatest temperature for each hen half. As an illustration, if you happen to aren’t a fan of that slippery texture {that a} hen thigh can have, take into account cooking the meat a bit of longer till it registers between 170°F or 175°F. Darkish meat hen cooked a bit of additional might be firmer, however ought to nonetheless be juicy and flavorful.
Checking the Temperature
For meals security, particularly with meat and poultry, a superb high quality digital thermometer like Thermoworks Thermopop 2 is without doubt one of the greatest instruments to have in your kitchen. To get an correct learn in your hen, the thermometer needs to be inserted rigorously in accordance with the precise hen half:
-
Complete hen: Insert thermometer into the innermost a part of the thigh and wing and the thickest a part of the breast.
-
Rooster breasts: Beginning on the aspect, insert the thermometer into the middle of the thickest a part of the breast.
-
Thighs and legs: Intention for the middle and thickest a part of the lower. Do not contact any bones with the probe, as that may lead to a false studying.
