Sweet Tea-Brined Roast Chicken

Fantastic. I went heavy on seasoning and left the lemon rinds a couple of black tea bags in the brine. Came out perfect, moist and the tea flavor stood out. Going to try this on my smoker next fast and hot…

Absolutely delicious. I cut back a bit on the sugar, but it was a perfect brine. Lovely color on the skin.

I will definitely make this again and felt the need to post a review because the other comments almost talked me out of it. This is not a spicy Cajun chicken recipe. It had a delicious subtle spice that I really enjoyed. I followed both the NY Times sweet tea recipe and Cajun spice recipe in making this, which may have been key to the successful outcome.

Read the previous comments on this recipe, so I doubled the salt in the brine, and let the chicken soak for 28 hours. Meat came out of the oven tender, but flavorless. The chicken tasted like it was not brined at all. I'm happy I tried this, but won't be making this again.

First time commenting bc this was dynamite! So easy and flavorful. I ended up smoking a whole chicken after brining it this way and it was the best chicken I’ve ever made! The recipe may sound weird but the science works! Also I was a teeny bit worried about the caffeine from the tea being in the chicken for my toddler but this wasn’t an issue. He loved it!

The seasoning sank to a sludge in the bottom of the pot. Very little flavor went to the chicken although the marinade was thoroughly mixed. Perhaps a poor choice of Cajun spice mix? All in all, definitely not worth the trouble.

What is "cajun seasoning"?

This was not particularly flavorful. Disappointed, because the brine itself was very tasty and appropriately salty. We ended up with good roast chicken thighs, but really couldn't find any meaningful sweet tea or Cajun flavor. I will not be making this again.

Dark chicken, in my experience, is much better when cooked to 175-180 degrees. The additional heat helps to break down connective tissue and makes for a less rubbery chicken. It does not dry it out. The recipe was pretty good. I used bottled sweet tea. Next time I'll make my own using Constant Comment brewed a bit stronger.

This was a fun recipe that worked our pretty well for us! I added some salt to the brine, and then brushed the chicken pieces with vegetable oil before sprinkling the pieces with salt and pepper as the recipe directs. I also sprinkled some more cajun seasoning over the pieces before throwing into the oven. I needed to bake them a little longer than 35 minutes, but the skin turned out crispy and the meat was tender and flavorful. I like the unique flavor — very savory.

I used Tony Cachere's creole seasoning and it was very salty and flavorful.

I think more clarity re: cajun seasoning is needed. In my spice cabinet, I have two potential options. - Tony Chachere's, which is a commercially available creole seasoning that's 1) salty 2) very tasty 3) like $4 for a large bottle. - Penzey's cajun seasoning which also very tasty, but is way less salty, and costs $5 for the 1/4 cup required. The seasoning seems to be the only salt in the brine, which has me favoring the Tony Chachere's?

Excellent, browned beautifully on grill. Meat was very moist and tender. Next time will use more spice in marinade, and sprinkle some on when it goes on the grill.

Prep for marinade was quick, left in fridge for 18 hours, and baked late afternoon for an early dinner outside with friends. Checked temp at 35 minutes; temp was good but skin not quite brown enough to look tasty. Continued baking per Zane's suggestion to 195! Oh boy that makes a difference. Beautiful color and very tender. Served with light sides, big green salad, and crusty bread with butter - satisfied everyone's appetite. This is an easy meal for a casual patio dinner.

Echoing the comments on rubbery skin & the need to salt the chicken pieces (or the marinade). Wish I'd read the comments before embarking on this project. I made sweet tea using Lady Grey (what I had on hand). Did not put salt in the mixture. Before baking, I added salt, pepper & olive oil to the skin-on, bone-in thighs I used. They turned out OK, but even though we each only ate 1, my husband and I couldn't fall asleep that night because of the caffeine in the tea. Too complicated, not worth it