The chicken’s in the oven right now. It was about 6 pounds. I just took its temperature, and the thigh and leg meat is well over 170, but the breast near (not touching) the breast bone registers 140 or so.
I suspect I ought to have trussed it, but I can’t go back in time. So, suggestions?
(Right now, it’s back in the oven at 375, with foil covering the legs and the breast facing the back of the oven.)
Thanks Dopers!
We’ve been eating our chicken and pork at lower temps for a while now, and it has made a huge difference in our enjoyment of the meat (pork in particular). I would have no problem bringing the breast up to 145 and then taking it out of the oven and letting it rest for about 10 minutes.
You can always cut off the part(s) that are done and put the rest back in for longer.
Don’t forget, too, that the recommended temperatures are based on killing (and possibly denaturing, not positive) things. So it’s as safe to cook a protein to X temperature for Y minutes as it is to bring it up to the recommended Z temperature for a few seconds. If that makes sense.
I appreciate the help! I wound up leaving it in until the breast was 160ish, then letting it rest for a while. It came out quite well, with the legs perhaps slightly overdone, but still moist. My five year old ate all the meat off both legs, so they must have been tasty!
Next time I’m definitely trussing - having the legs all spread eagle surely caused the vast differential in this case.
This is actually good! Breast meat has less fat and collagen and from a tenderness standpoint you want to keep it around 145 degrees. Dark meat (like the thighs/legs) should be cooked at a higher temperature to break down and soften the collagen. I normally target 180 for duck legs.
Here’s a table listing the times you should cook poultry to make it safely pasteurized : A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking