Help me troubleshoot this recipe

[buckytom]

coulda just been the cheeken.....
if you can repeat your mistake, you can troubleshoot it better... :D

[subfuscpersona]

Originally Posted by GB

The last thing I did differently was that the recipe says to put a casserole in the oven while preheating, then brown the chicken in a skillet and then move it to the casserole. Well I just got a dutch oven so I figured I would just brown the chicken in that and then move the whole thing to the oven.

You're an experienced cook, you've made the rercipe before - the only thing really different is the utensil.

Here's a guess (maybe someone already said this) - using the dutch oven to brown might have heated it up to > 300degree (the oven temp). When it went from stove top to preheated oven and was covered, it may actually have had an internal temp > 300 and maintained this higher temp during baking time. The tight fitting heavy lid would contribute to this. Cast iron retains heat a lot and is slower than other materials to respond to temperature changes.

Did you bake it the usual amount of time (I think you said 30min)?

What do you normally use as your casserole (eg - what's the material?) and how tight-fitting is the lid? (or maybe you just cover it with foil???)

[GB]

Originally Posted by subfuscpersona

You're an experienced cook, you've made the rercipe before - the only thing really different is the utensil.

Here's a guess (maybe someone already said this) - using the dutch oven to brown might have heated it up to > 300degree (the oven temp). When it went from stove top to preheated oven and was covered, it may actually have had an internal temp > 300 and maintained this higher temp during baking time. The tight fitting heavy lid would contribute to this. Cast iron retains heat a lot and is slower than other materials to respond to temperature changes.

Did you bake it the usual amount of time (I think you said 30min)?

What do you normally use as your casserole (eg - what's the material?) and how tight-fitting is the lid? (or maybe you just cover it with foil???)

The more I think about this and the more I read everyones responses, the more I am convinced that the dutch oven is the culprit.

Yes I did bake it the usual amount of time (30 min). I usually brown the chicken in a skillet and then transfer to a clay casserole (here is a link to the casserole I usually use http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com/cat/p...&cmsrc=sch)with a heavy lid although less tight fitting than the dutch oven.

The recipe calls for you to stir it once halfway through the cooking. Because I made a double batch this time, when I went to give it a stir it was more liquidy than usual at the half way point.

Oh to answer someone elses question from before, the rice in the dish was the same as it normally is, moist.

Thank you all for your input and thoughts on this. I was concerned at first that it was the addition of sugar to my brine, but knew logically that that could not be the case. I am not convinced that what happened is exactly what subfuscpersona mentioned above (and others have mentioned as well) about the pot getting hotter than 300 and retaining that extra heat.

Thank you everyone. This has really been a great learning experience!