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  • About Me
  • Recipe Box
    • Appetizers >
      • Buffalo Chicken Dip
      • Cream Cheese Appetizer
      • Sweet and Salty Nuts
      • Thai Peanut Sauce
    • Beverages >
      • Blueberry Lemonade
      • Cosmopolitan
    • Breakfast >
      • Apple Pancake
      • Homemade Granola
      • Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie
      • Stick-to-your-ribs smoothie
      • Veggie Omelet
      • Yeasted Waffles
    • Main Dishes >
      • Beef Stew
      • Chicken Fajitas
      • Choley
      • Grilled Chicken
      • Low and Slow Chicken Breasts
      • Roast Turkey
      • Rub for Pulled Pork (and other meats too!)
      • Salmon Burgers
      • Simple Homemade Mac & Cheese
      • Simple Red Sauce
      • Steak and Potato Salad
    • Sides >
      • Bacon-Roasted Brussel Sprouts
      • Creamy Polenta
      • Homemade Potato Chips
      • "Magic" Salad Recipe
    • Soup >
      • Apple Cheddar Soup
      • Butternut Squash Soup
      • Chicken Noodle Soup
      • Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
      • Smokey Beef Chili
    • Sweets and Treats >
      • Almond Cake
      • Apple Crisp
      • Bruna Kakor
      • Butterscotch Pecan Sandies
      • Chocolate Fudge Brownies
      • Chocolate Mousse
      • Compost Cookies
      • New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
      • Pumpkin Pie
      • Salted Caramel Sauce
  • Classes
  • Contact Me
you can cook

Low and slow chicken breasts

Great on their own or as a starting point for chicken salad, chicken enchiladas or chicken pot pie

Picture

Ingredients

Two split chicken breasts, bone in and skin on, about 3 pounds total
Salt and pepper OR barbecue rub such as Rub With Love (link here)

Special equipment: a digital meat thermometer such as the Rosle roasting thermometer shown above (link here) OR an instant read or leave-in thermometer.


Directions

1. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1-2 hours before cooking to bring to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
3. Remove the chicken from its packaging and pat dry with paper towels.
4. Place chicken skin side up in cooking pan. A 10" cast iron skillet holds two chicken breasts nicely.
5. Sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper (right side of photo above) or a barbecue rub (left side).
6. If using a leave-in thermometer or probe, place thermometer/probe into the thickest part of the largest chicken breast.
7. Cook until chicken reaches 165 degrees. This will be between 1 - 2 hours.
​8. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving or cutting up for another dish.
Picture

Good to know

For health reasons, I do not eat the chicken skin, however I recommend skin-on chicken because the skin keeps the breast meat moist during cooking. Since I remove the skin, I usually just use salt and pepper before cooking, but Rub with Love (I use the rub made for salmon) is also delicious. There is one breast of each in the photos above.

Allowing the chicken to come to room temperature before cooking leads to more even cooking. It is safe as long as the meat sits out for no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if your kitchen is above 80 degrees.

If the chicken rests for 10 minutes before serving, cooking juices are reabsorbed into the meat. I didn't believe it, but scientific minds have measured this and it really matters!

Any leftovers can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week or tightly sealed in plastic in the freezer for no more than a month. If you de-bone the chicken for another dish, you can simmer the bones and skin (if lightly salted) in water for 90 minutes to make chicken stock which itself can be frozen for up to 3 months or used immediately in the many soup recipes on this blog and elsewhere. You can also put the cooled homemade stock on your dog's dry food at dinner and he will love you forever.