Sous Vide - Whole Chicken - Oven Finish question

[uncle eddie]

The wife and I went out to eat the other night and got to talk to the staff about their delicious "whole chicken" that was cooked to perfection. While they did not divulge all details, it was obviously brined and they did confess to doing "most of the cook" using a sous vide. I am guessing they brought it to 150 (or so) in the Sous Vide and then finished it in a broiler? or hot oven (425F?).

Anyone else ever do this? We are going to give it a try. Would appreciate some pointers.

We plan to brine using poultry seasoning (Sage, Rosemary, Thyme) and vegetable broth, plus the brine salt.
We will give that a good rinse and then season the yard bird - probably just with pepper - and pop it in the Sous Vide.
Just curious about the oven finish.

 

[mr_whipple]

I'm interested to see how this works out.

 

[civilsmoker]

UE, a 395 to 425 convection oven on a rack would crisp up the skin in short order, then you could use a micro torch to get the small spots that don’t crisp up. A broiler will leave large soft skin in areas. This isn’t much different than smoking a bird low and finish in the oven. 145 ish in the SV is when I would pull it…..all the bacteria will be dead by then so it will be just getting the skin to the level that you want and bring the INT up a bit in the process.

 

[clifish]

This is interesting...following. But it will be hard to beat a chix on the rotisserie in the kettle.

 

[chopsaw]

I am guessing they brought it to 150 (or so) in the Sous Vide and then finished it in a broiler? or hot oven (425F?).

Yeah ,,, don't guess . I thought there was an issue with the cavity doing whole chickens in the SV . That's why most of the cooks you see fill the bag with chicken stock , or seal it up spatchcocked .
I did see one where they didn't use liquid in the bag , but I have no idea of the persons claim to fame .
Maybe try doing halves . Then finish in a hot oven , no broiler .
A whole bird injected with Pop's brine , soaked overnight , then cooked in a cast iron Dutch oven comes pretty close to a store bought rotisserie chicken .

 

[uncle eddie]

This is interesting...following. But it will be hard to beat a chix on the rotisserie in the kettle.

The wife is picky when it comes to chicken. When she actually liked something other than skinless breast, I have to give it a try.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Following for the process with a Sous Vide, as I still have not got onto this tool yet,

David

 

[dr k]

Add the water weight to the meat weight and do the digging dog farms calculator for wet cure EQ brining. 5 days whole chxn and turkey, Then SV for a treat.

 

[cptnding]

Add the water weight to the meat weight and do the digging dog farms calculator for wet cure EQ brining. 5 days whole chxn and turkey, Then SV for a treat.

I've used that calculator for many years for dry curing and consider it foolproof.
Does the curing process happen faster in a wet brine?

 

[dr k]

I've used that calculator for many years for dry curing and consider it foolproof.
Does the curing process happen faster in a wet brine?

I do the dry cure brine but wet cure brine is easier with poultry since it's all liquid inside and out of the cavity and the delicate poultry meat cures quickly plus all ingredients are dissolved first for such a big internal space to evenly cure.

 

[bill1]

I suspect the biggest "secret" is the brine. Put your most important spice (salt!) in advance throughout the meat, not just on the surface.
Use the EQ (equilibrium) method and it's perfect every time. You just need to judge if your customer-base prefers closer to .3 percent by weight or .6. 0.5% is not a bad go-to point.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I would stuff the cavity full of vegetables and lemon wedges that way you don’t have an air filled cavity.

 

[culpepersmoke]

Watching. Interested in how this turns out as well