worked out. Turns out that you can overmarinate
chicken, particularly if using an acidic marinade
(such as Italian dressing). The acid in the marinade
will cause the proteins to denature, the same way
that cooking them does. Given enough time, the
denatured proteins will squeeze out moisture, and
the chicken will take on a dry, chalky texture.
Just as with steak (see here), there’s no need to
marinate poultry for any more than half a day or so.
Actually, far more effective use of a marinade for
chicken and other poultry is to apply some of it to
the roasting bird 10 minutes or so before you take it
out of the oven and save most of it to apply after
resting and carving, when it can really coat every
surface and deliver flavor with each bite.

HOW TO REMOVE THE

WISHBONE FROM A CHICKEN

OR A TURKEY

Removing the wishbone before roasting the bird

makes carving it much easier. It’s optional for a
roast chicken but highly recommended when
roasting a turkey.