Using my dutch oven tonight (HUGE chicken quarters)

[ceile]

I swear these quarters are from mutant, steroid taking, 10 foot tall buggers!
Any ideas on how to cook them with out it becoming a "stew"? Last time I made a chicken in the dutch oven they become so tender, they fell apart and I ended up with a bit of a mess. Tasted great- not so pretty on the eyes.
Thanks!

[Denninmi]

1. Use a rack, and drain off part of the liquid as it forms.

If you want them more roasted than boiled/stewed, you need to keep them a bit more dry (but of course, you don't want the meat to dry out). If you can keep them from sitting in a big puddle of their own juices, that should help. Just a little bit of juice for moisture plus a little of the fat for browning should be about right.

I'd check them about every 30 minutes and drain almost all of the liquid off, plus use a rack of some kind in the bottom if possible, and turn them a couple of times so both surfaces brown.

You could skim the fat off of the broth you remove, and cook that down separately on the stove top to use as the base of a sauce or gravy if you wanted to.

[ceile]

2. Shoot.

I don't have a rack, but that's ok. I'm patient- I'll just drain like you suggested every 30 mins.
Thanks!

[Denninmi]

3. You can fake it pretty well with a few little balls of aluminum foil.

Just make little wads of foil about the size of ping pong balls and put them in the bottom of the pan -- that works.