This is another installment in our ongoing series Dear Chicken Farmer - real questions asked by Canadians and answered by the Chicken Farmers of Canada.

If you’ve got a question about chicken or chicken farming in Canada, send us a note to Dear Chicken Farmer and we’ll do our best to answer it.

Dear Chicken Farmer:

I have an ongoing problem with roasting free-range chickens. I brine them and roast them on a rack until the internal temperature reaches 170ºF. Despite reaching the doneness temperature, there is always red around the joints. I am reluctant to roast them to 190ºF or so as they would be so dry. What should I do?

Regardless of whether your chicken is free-range or traditionally raised, you should be roasting a whole chicken to 185ºF or 85ºC. It won’t dry out, especially with the brine. Our cooking temperature for whole chickens is the same as that recommended by Health Canada. We carried out a study about 10 years ago now that indicated that 185 was the appropriate temperature; however, Health Canada is doing some further testing and the temperature might be lowered just slightly. When I cook a whole chicken at home, I do cook it to that temperature. I use a leave-in thermometer while it is cooking and when it reaches 185ºF I take it out of the oven. It hasn’t been dry. You can also try putting lemon halves in the cavity, which helps keep it moist.

Check back next week for more questions and answers.