Baking Chicken?

[chestertime]

After winding up with dry chicken breasts one too many times I started using a different approach but have no idea what the definition is for what I've been doing. Basically I'll take a small cake pan, toss in a chicken breast or two and the marinade I'll be using. I'll put the pan and marinade back in the refrigerator to allow the chicken to marinade. When it's time to cook I just foil over the top of the pan and put the whole thing in the oven. I usually turn it about once. I've never had the chicken come out dry this way. So.. any idea what I'm doing? Am I just baking the chicken or is there some other term for this method of cooking in the marinade and under the foil?

 

[Andy M.]

Assuming you are using a moderate oven (around 350 F), you are baking.

You didn't say how you were cooking the chicken before when it was coming out dry. However, if the chicken was dry it was because it was overcooked. Chicken must be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 161F. At that temperature, the meat is fully cooked and safe to eat. Cooking to a higher temperature will dry out the breasts.