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Basic Roast Chickenby Kimberley S in Rouxbe Certified Juicy and tender roast chicken could not be easier.
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Step 1: Preparing the Chicken
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To prepare the chicken for roasting, first preheat your oven to 400° F (205° C). Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Note: If you are short on roasting time, you can butterfly the chicken. This will cut the cooking time down by about 15 minutes or so. Lightly coat the entire surface of the chicken with oil or room-temperature butter. Next, liberally season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. You can truss the chicken, if desired. Place the chicken breast-side up into a suitable-sized, heavy-bottomed roasting pan or fry pan.
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Step 2: Roasting the Chicken
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Place the chicken onto the middle rack in the oven and roast for approximately 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check the chicken and turn, if necessary, to obtain even color. Baste the chicken with the rendered fat. Continue to roast the chicken for 15 to 30 minutes before testing for doneness. A thermometer, when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, should reach 165° F (or 74° C). If not, continue to cook until it reaches at least this temperature.
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Step 3: Resting, Carving and Serving the Chicken
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Once done, remove the chicken from the pan and place onto a rack. Cover with a vented piece of foil and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Skim off the excess fat from the pan. Once the chicken has rested, carve and return it to the pan to soak up the remaining juices. Serve family style.
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Comments
The recepie is great, but meanwhile the bird is resting at the end, the skin looses its crispyness no matter how loose i put the cover on it :/
Any ideals?
Thomas
This will happen as there is steam between the skin and the meat itself. It is still better to let the bird rest though and not worry so much about the crispy skin.
You want to know what I do...I eat the skin before I cover it...shhh...don't tell anyone :-)
"You want to know what I do...I eat the skin before I cover it...shhh...don't tell anyone :-)"
I like the way you roll. :)
I think it was partly the bird itself (from a small purveyor) and partly the recipe, but this was one of the best roast chickens my family has ever eaten. I rubbed the bird with truffle salt, some truffle oil and some kosher salt and pepper, inside and out, and then put a fresh lemon from our tree as well as a few garlic cloves on the inside of the bird.
The skin, as you all noted, was not crispy at the 1:15 time, but I put it back in the oven at 450 for the last 15 minutes and the skin crisped up and the bird was still super tender.
The soup I made with the carcass today was also one of the best I've ever made!
Thanks, Rouxbe.
There wasn't enough flavour for me. Maybe I should try brining it next time. Or I might do it again with some gravy or sauce to dip the pieces in (kind of like Swiss Chalet!)
You would be amazed at how much flavor brining can give a chicken. Also, the type and quality of the chicken generally quite a difference.
That being said, I am a big fan of sauce or gravy. Cheers!
I made this roast chicken for dinner last night. I cut up the chicken after resting it and put the pieces back in the pot to soak some juices like the video showed. Doing that definitely makes up for not brining the bird.
Before I started using this method I followed Joy of Cooking's advice to use cheese cloth and do other complex things. Now, that chicken was very good, but prep time was a drawn out ritual. Consequently, I roasted only one or two chicken a year.
Using this technique, we've had at least one a week for the past month. It's so simple! Today, my son used the recipe for his high school nutrition class. I'm pretty sure he'll get good scores for this dead-simple recipe.
I had read somewhere that it was best to grill a chicken low and slow at 225F for 2.5 hours. The chickens came out alright but there was a heavy chicken fat flavour that just hung over everything. Also there was some yellow fat that didn't disappear and was not appetizing.
Last night I decided to try cooking the chicken hotter and faster using this recipe as my guide. I rubbed the chicken with some salt and spice and mounted it on a tall beer can with half the beer deposited into my belly. I also added an aluminum foil pouch with hickory directly on the active burner to get some smoke. The bird roasted at 350F for exactly one hour and I have never had better results. The breast temperature was 175F and the drumsticks 190+ but the chicken was not dry at all. I made a pan sauce with the drippings and sauteed some veggies while the bird was resting.
I guess low and slow doesn't work for everything. Or maybe it takes a lot longer. I understand that the grocery store roasted chicken cooks for 4-6 hours? Anyway, this one hour method was as good or better than the best roasted chicken I have ever had.
You are right, low and slow isn't ideal for everything. When roasting at higher temperatures, meats are usually coated with a bit of oil to help keep it moist. Poultry comes with a natural, thick layer of tissue or skin that acts as insulation to the meat. A chicken’s skin with its melting fat underneath helps to baste the meat and keep the moisture in. It also insulates the bird’s flesh from the outside oven heat, which is why a chicken can be roasted at higher temperatures with great success. Plus, who doesn't like crispy skin on a bird? With low and slow cooking, you won't be able to achieve this. Hope this helps!