Roasting Chicken

[jyl]

I'd like to get really good at roasting chickens. My goal is moist breast meat with some additional flavour, crisp browned skin, in 2 hours or less.

Anyone have a favorite technique?

Last week I tried:
- Separate breast skin from breast meat, place bacon in the "pocket" under the skin, completely covering the breast meat
- Peel two lemons and place in cavity, pin cavity closed w/ toothpicks
- Pat chicken dry w/ paper towels, then rub with salt
- Roast at 400F, first breast down then breast up, basting 2X with melted butter, until deepest path of thigh is 170F, then breast up under the broiler for 5 minutes
- Remove chicken to rest, pour and scrape out all the pan drippings, remove the fat, make sauce from drippings with some cream
- Result was good, particularly tasty sauce

Tonight I am trying:
- Cut fat from the inside of the cavity, chop it up, mix with softened butter, panchetta, and chopped rosemary
- Separate breast skin from breast meat, place mixture in the "pocket" under the skin, completely covering the breast meat
- Peel two limes and place in cavity, pin cavity closed w/ toothpicks
- Pat chicken dry w/ paper towels, then rub with salt and cornstarch
- Roast at 400F, first breast down then breast up, basting 2X with melted butter, until deepest path of thigh is 170F, then breast up under the broiler for 5 minutes
- Remove chicken, retrieve the pan drippings, de-fat, make sauce with some cream and maybe some Grand Marnier
- We'll see what the result is

I'm particularly looking for techniques involving glazing of the skin. I would also like an excuse to use my torch.

[vash]

wow,,you are commited!! i have put an herb butter under the skin. works great.

but i still think brining the bird first is the best bet. but i dont buy those supermarket "enhanced" birds..those are pre-brined right?

saw a show where instead of brining, they put a salt rub on the bird..the salt rub had a bit of baking soda in it to make the skin crispy. if i find it i will scan and send it to you.

[VincentVega]

I've only done this once, but it was excellent.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/312785

On a recent episode of ATK I watched their revised technique for high-temperature roasted chicken with pan-roasted potatoes. Don't leave the potatoes out, their purpose is to soak up the chicken fat so you don't smoke up the kitchen.

The link is here (requires registration):
http://americastestkitchen.com/recipe...

If you're not a member, here's my paraphrased version, with my variations below it.

Ingredients:
1 roasting chicken, 3.5-4 lbs
1 cup kosher salt or 1/2 cup table salt
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 Ts olive oil

2.5 pounds roasting potatoes, russets or Yukon Golds
3/4 ts salt
ground black pepper
1 Tb olive oil

Compound butter:
2 Tb butter
1 clove garlic, mashed
1 Tb dijon mustard
1 ts minced fresh thyme
ground black pepper

Brine chicken in solution of 1 cup kosher salt (or 1/2 cup table salt) and 1/2 cup sugar to 1/2 gallon water for 1 hour.

Pat chicken dry. Cut out backbone (their website has illustrations) to butterfly chicken. Flatten breastbone (just push down firmly).

Mix up compound butter - the website has some other compound butter recipes. With your fingers, loosen skin across breast and as far down drumsticks as you can, do not tear skin. Spoon butter under skin and work across as much of the chicken as possible. Rub 1.5 Ts olive oil over chicken.

Slice potatoes 1/8" to 1/4" inch thickness. Salt and pepper lightly, toss with 1 Tb oil.

Line bottom of grilling pan with heavy-duty aluminium foil. Spread potato slices across pan evenly.

Place grilling rack over potatoes. Arrange butterflied chicken on top, folding drumsticks inward so they cover part of the breast. Roast at 500 degrees for 20 minutes, turn pan around, roast for another 20 minutes or until internal temperature in breast is 160.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Take grilling rack off, pat potatoes which will have a fair amount of oil on them. Potatoes may stick to foil, peel as much off as possible. Cut chicken up and serve with potatoes. That's it.

I made this over the weekend and it is absolutely the best roast chicken I've ever tasted. It may be heresy on this board, but it beat the Zuni chicken by a mile. The skin is crispy, meat is juicy and loaded with flavor. The potatoes are simply fabulous, roasted in butter and chicken fat and juice how could they not be? Choosing between the potatoes and Zuni's bread salad is a toss-up. I'm thinking of ways to do this with bread as well.

My variations:
I brined for about 6 hours, after putting the butter under the chicken skin, I put the chicken in the fridge overnight.

I zested a lemon and used this instead of the garlic/thyme in the compound butter. In the TV episode they used 4 oz of butter so I did the same.

I took the chicken out at 150 degrees because I loathe dried-out meat. This reduced my roasting time to about 30 minutes, not 40. Because of this the potatoes weren't as crisp as they should have been - I think I'll let them cook a few minutes longer next time.

Last note: We had leftover chicken last night. It's so hot I didn't want to turn on the oven but I wanted the crispiness of the chicken skin. So we used our blowtorch to char the skin, it did an excellent job of recrisping it and improved the flavor by adding a bit of smokiness. Altogether this is a WINNAH!

[enzo1]

Crisp-Skinned Roast Chicken, via Baking Powder

[imcarthur]

Here is one that doesn't meet your time requirement but it is worth it:

Roast Sticky Chicken

This recipe is a great way to roast a large chicken. It is reminiscent of those rotisserie-style chickens that are so popular now, and it is very easy to make. The meat comes out very moist and flavorful, so it is as good leftover as freshly cooked. You need to start this the night before serving.

4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
I tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 large roasting chicken, as big as you can find
1 cup chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours (yes, 250 degrees for 5 hours). After the first hour, baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

You can make a spicy gravy from the drippings.

(Found on the net somewhere)

Ian

[Bill Douglas]

Wow. That sounds REALLY good. I haven't eaten yet so my taste buds are going wild.

Me? I've only just recently learnt they taste better if you pull the feathers off before roasting.

[jyl]

Well, it was pretty good. I ended up brushing some honey on the breast for more browning, and finishing at 450F. The skin was medium-dark brown and crisp, the breast meat was moist, in fact it was literally dripping with juice. The sauce was not as tasty as the bacon-larded version but the breast was juicier.

The problem: the breast meat tasted like chicken white meat, meaning a bit bland. I need to figure out how to infuse more flavour into it.

[RWebb]

buy better chickens

can't you get free range birds where you are?

barring that, inject it with Go Juice (big syringe; big needle)

[Bill Douglas]

Cook them in an oven bag to keep the moisture in then remove them and cook on a high temp for the last 15 minutes to brown them (adding flavor by doing this).

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by jyl

- Separate breast skin from breast meat, place bacon in the "pocket" under the skin, completely covering the breast meat.

Bacon

Heh heh... who'd a thunk it? Next time, stuff that sumb!tch full of ground sausage, too.
____________
Some pix I saw on another mb tonight on the way here... no written directions, but maybe they're not necessary if you can read between the lines:

[J1NX3D]

beercan chicken is the best conversation starter. i do it for dinner with friends quite often.

[enzo1]

I need to try that, looks good

[aigel]

The problem really is the chicken. It is too fast grown to have any flavor.

That said, I have had good luck BBQ-ing whole chickens. Put a bowl of water underneath the bird for the fat to drip in and the steam will keep it very moist. A ring of coal will indirectly roast it. The chicken will end up very juicy and the bbq flavor will help with that fast grown greasy antibiotic laden meat.

George

[Marcusmarch]

rather good favorite technique, i will try it.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by jyl

The problem: the breast meat tasted like chicken white meat, meaning a bit bland. I need to figure out how to infuse more flavour into it.

Use a compound butter, which is butter with fresh herbs mixed in it. Look up any decent French recipe for roasting a chicken. Some herbs work well, some don't. Don't use bacon, or chicken fat. Add an onion to the cavity with the lemon, or place the chicken on sliced onions in the pan. Don't forget to properly season the bird, inside and out. Most people under-season meat.

While you're at it, try some european butter. It's got a higher fat content and some of them taste a great deal different from the regular crap we make in the US.

JR

[stogie25]

Flowerpot chicken

Chicken Prep
Coat with olive oil lightly.
Salt, pepper, garlic. Add any other seasoning you might want.

Obtain a large flowerpot and base.
Preheat oven and flowerpot turned upside-down on the base to 500.
Remove flowerpot from the oven. Place chicken on base, put the flowerpot over the chicken. Return flowerpot with chicken to the oven.
Cook at 500 for 30 minutes, then simply turn off the oven and walk away for 25 minutes (4.5lb chicken).
Remove the flowerpot from the oven, and the chicken from the flowerpot. Let cool for 5 minutes.
4.5lb 30min hot 25min sit
3.5lb 20min hot 20min sit

[jcommin]

Lots of good ideas.

I like separating the skin under the breast and put a mix of chopped flat parsley and butter in the cavity that is created. Save some for the inside of the chicken, I cut up an onion and orange and stuff it in the inside. I use plenty of salt and pepper and finally place several strips of bacon on top of the bird, breast side up. roast at 350 and I use a thermometer checking the temp. I don't trust just the timer. You can remove the bacon with 15 minutes left to let the skin completely brown.

Take it out, let it rest for about 15 minutes, cut and serve.

Something about bacon that makes it taste better.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by jcommin

Something about bacon that makes it taste better.

Hmmm, wonder if it could be the flavor of pork fat and salt....

All chefs worship pork, and its fat...

Try throwing a sprig of thyme and one of rosemary in the cavity, along with the lemon and onion. Basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme and honey are used in the compound butter.

JR

[Dottore]

If you're serious about moisture and flavour, (a) buy only the freshest organic chicken, and (b) get into brining.

[jyl]

I know brining is the answer to some of my issues, and have had good results brining overnight in salt, pepper and orange juice. I'm trying to develop a technique for everyday meals, when I haven't planned 24 hours ahead, but rather am in a "honey, pick up a chicken on your way home" situation. For that reason I'm avoiding long-and-low-cooking methods, although I like reading about those anyway, always good to get ideas.

Of course, you can buy a rotisserie chicken cheaper than a raw bird. I find them tasty enough, but the taste never changes so it gets monotonous, the breast meat is dry, and I've heard stories of how they are prepared, that make me interested in an alternative. Their skin is awful - pasty, mushy, at best rubbery. In Paris we used to get fantastic rotisserie chicken from a cheerful man in a small shop, but here we just have Costco . . .

The not-so-funny thing is, on a cooking forum that I frequent, people occasionally post "how can I make a chicken as good as a supermarket rotisserie chicken". Sad.