Conquering Whole Roasted Chicken

Some people may be surprised that the one animal that most cooks/chefs find the most difficult to really do well, is of all things, chicken. Steak and lamb, you can eat raw to well done. Pork you can sear, grill, cook for 48 hours in braising liquid, and it will still be tasty. Chicken is less flexible. There is a small window of time in the cooking process where chicken goes from edible to inedible. Seasoning is key. You can't order chicken rare or well done. Usually when someone puts chicken on the menu, you get a groan from the line cooks. "That's going to be at LEAST a 20 minute fire." "How many of these are gonna be sent back because they found the bloodline and thought it was undercooked." The list goes on and on.

Cooking methods like sous-vide have made it easier for chefs to streamline the chicken cooking process and create a more consistent product. Chicken is easy to cook. But to cook it WELL, that is a different story.

I found the most amazing article in the Cook's Illustrated: All Time Best Recipes issue on how to cook the perfect whole chicken at home. I tested it out, and I must say the chicken came out beautifully and the whole process was relatively easy! Here's what they suggested:

1. Brine your chicken. This is the most effective way of seasoning your chicken all the way through. This is the recipe I used today:

1 C kosher salt

1/2 C sugar- helps chicken brown in the oven.

3T black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

1 small bunch sage leaves- if you go to the grocery store and find the "poultry herb" packets in the fresh herb section, they are perfect for roasting a chicken.

3-4 garlic cloves

1 gallon of water

- Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. You can taste and see if you would like the liquid more salty than sweet or vice versa.

- Transfer brine to a bowl and set in the refrigerator to cool. 

Hint: If you are in a hurry, you can start with 3/4 of a gallon of water, then add a 3 cups of ice to the brine to cool it down faster. 

-When your brine is cooled, submerge your chicken in the brine, and let it sit in the fridge for 1 hour.

2. Season your chicken for roasting.

- This can be as simple as rubbing the chicken with oil and seasoning with salt and pepper, or making a compound butter. The great thing about butter is the water it contains creates steam and even cooking, and it also gives the skin flavor and color. I used the remaining herbs from the poultry packet (in this case rosemary and thyme), along with garlic, salt and pepper to make a compound butter. I stuffed the butter under the chicken skin, and rubbed it over the outside.

Buttered-up bird ready for the oven. If you dry the outside of the chicken with paper towel, the butter spreads easier.

3. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Place an oven-proof skillet or saute pan in the oven while it is preheating.

4. When the oven is ready, take out the hot skillet and place the chicken breast side up on the skillet. This will sear the legs and thigh and give them a "head start" to allow for overall even cooking.

5. Roast chicken in oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 120 degrees at the breast and 135 at the thigh.

6. Turn oven off. Leave chicken in oven until a thermometer reads 160 degrees at breast and 175 at thigh, another 20-25 min. Do not open oven too often during this process as you will lose oven heat quickly.

7. Take chicken out of the skillet and let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting. And there you have it, a perfectly roasted chicken!

Finished chicken! Could've done a better job rubbing the outside with butter for more even browning, but the inside was very juicy and the meat fell right off the bone!