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In the past two months Chicagoist has roasted three chickens. For us that's a record. We have managed to combine all our past roast chicken experiences with a bit of research and now, we believe, we have perfected our own favorite recipe and method for an absolutely succulent main course. In the past Chicagoist has cooked our chickens in the same way we cook our Thanksgiving turkeys: breast side up with constant basting and liberal amounts of cheese cloth draped over the white meat. Our turkeys have always turned out fine and, for that matter, so have our chickens. That being said, we'll admit that our white meat has always been a bit dryer than we would truly desire. Here comes the research. We consulted our favorite cookbook as well as The Joy of Cooking and spent a bit more time reading the small print. All meats have a minimum or optimal temperature at which they are cooked/all the possible bacteria is killed off. For a roasted chicken you have two temperatures to consider. In the case of white meat the temperature is 160 degrees while the dark meat has to get up to 170 degrees (and it doesn't hurt to let it get even a little above that). These differing temperatures leads one to a dilemma if they cook their chicken breast side up for the entire time … mainly that the you will be overcooking the white meat while waiting for the dark meat to come up to speed. As we mentioned earlier one way to combat this is to drape cheese cloth (or aluminum foil) over the breast meat in an attempt to slow down its cooking and preserve its moistness. But, inevitably, the breast meat suffers. So, in our last three preparations we have started to rotate the chicken as it cooks. Though a bit awkward and not without the risk of light finger-singeing, this new (to us anyway) method provides the entirely moist and cooked bird. Our addition of cilantro butter makes this a dish that can do no wrong.
What You Need:
1 4-6 pound young chicken (also sometimes referred to as a fryer)
½ - 1 stick butter (the amount of butter you use depends on how big your bird is and how you feel about butter...with a six pound bird we definitely use a whole stick...but then we feel pretty good about butter)
1 bunch cilantro (approximately 1-2 cups without stems)
2 cloves garlic
1 white or yellow onion
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken stock
1 roasting pan
1 food processor/blender
1 baster
Small amount of butcher's string
1 rubber cake spatula
2 wooden spoons
1 oven
1 meat thermometer
What You Do:
1. First pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Make sure that your oven racks are low enough that the chicken won't be pushed up against the ceiling (sometimes we forget to do this and then have to move the now extremely hot racks around at considerable risk to our persons). The size of your bird determines the length of time in must cook. The general rule of thumb is twenty five minutes per pound.
2. Wash your chicken, inside and out, with cold water then pat dry with paper towels. Put it on the rack and push aside for a moment.
3. Get your half stick to stick of butter and microwave it just enough that it's soft to touch but hasn't actually melted. Put that butter, the cilantro, the garlic cloves and a bit of salt into your food processor and blend until the butter and cilantro live as one.
4. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with salt and pepper.
5. WARNING: this step is messy…if you can figure out a way to make it less so we'd love to hear it. In this step you are sliding the cilantro butter underneath the chicken skin in as many places as possible. Doing the breast meat is relatively easy but the drumsticks not as much. We find using our hands is the best way to separate the skin from the meat without breaking it. Using your cake spatula as a delivery tool, gently slide the cilantro butter as far back and around as you can. Try to get into as many chicken nooks and crannies as possible. Sometimes the spatula can help you only so much before you must use your hands. It's a greasy affair. If you have any additional butter spread it on the outside of the chicken.
6. Cut an onion into four pieces and stick it in the chicken's body cavity…making sure you have removed the neck, giblets etc. Then firmly tie up its legs with the butcher string. The tying is important because it is much easier to rotate a chicken if its legs aren't flopping all over the place.
7. Pour the chicken stock into the bottom of the pan. You are welcome to add onions, carrots or anything else to this mixture.
8. Place the chicken wing side up on the rack. You may have to prop it up with balled aluminum foil. Now put it in the oven.
9. From here on out it's relatively simple. The exact timing does vary depending on how big your bird is. Let's say that you're cooking a four pound bird. With a bird of that size the cooking time is approximately an hour and forty minutes. Cook wing side up for twenty five minutes then using your two wooden spoons (or paper towel covered hands) turn the bird so it is back side up and cook for twenty five minutes. At the end of that twenty five minutes rotate the bird again so the other wing is facing up, cook for twenty five minutes. Lastly turn the chicken breast side up and cook for the remaining twenty five minutes. Baste throughout this entire process.
10. Check the internal temperature of one of the drumsticks. Go for the thickest and deepest part of the meat. If it reads 170-180 degrees you're golden. We always check our breast meat as well…just to be sure everything has gone according to plan. If your temperatures aren't quite there just give the bird an extra 15 to 20 minutes.
11. Remove chicken from roasting pan and place on serving dish. You can, if you wish, make gravy from the chicken stock and drippings.
Notes:
1. This recipe will serve four with leftovers or six without.
2. This method tends to give you a bird that doesn't have quite as crispy breast skin. To us, it's worth it because the meat is so unbelievably moist. The cilantro butter adds a bit of flavor to the meat that turns the chicken into something a bit more special. You could easily substitute any other herb (basil for example) if cilantro isn't your thing.
3. If you are cooking a bird larger than four pounds you may need to increase the cooking time per pound from 25 to 28. Also you will have to rotate the bird more than once as the cooking time will be longer.
4. There are other recipes that suggest simply putting the chicken backside up for the majority of cooking then turning breast side up for the last half hour. We have yet to try this so we can't tell you if it's better or worse that the four side rotation.
5. We usually serve with garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes as opposed to the more standard mashed. But of course you can serve it with whatever you damn well please.
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I love this series. My copied recipes always turn out great! Thanks!!!
I have "rediscovered" the joy of roast chicken but through the rotisserie attachement on my grill.
At first I thought this feature was one of those “throw-away” items to entice you to buy the grill in the first place but once I tried it, I am hooked. I’d offer two additional tips and share my cooking method.
1) I brine my whole chicken overnight. I’ve tried several solutions of salt and sugar including soy sauce and honey, salt and orange juice but have determined that the best is simple salt and basic sugar. Completely submerge chicken in container filled with water and a cup of salt and cup of sugar over night.
2) After the chicken is done cooking, about 1hr. 15 min on my rotisserie, when the internal temp is about 165, I wrap the entire chicken tightly in tin foil and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.
Both these tips could be used for regular roasting as well, I am sure. For rotiisserie I simply rub olive oil liberally all over the chicken and then rub with it any combination of fresh herbs, spices or pre-packaged rubs - which are available from all sorts of stores now. Omaha steak sells a nice poultry rub, the spice house in Old Town does as well. I put a drip pan under the chicken when cooking and baste about every 15 minutes.
Hmm hmm good!
I've found that Bittman has one of the best roast chicken recipes.
Preheat oven to 450-475 and throw a cast iron skillet in there for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile rinse and pat dry the bird. Apply butter, garlic, etc. underneath the skin, salt and pepper to taste. Place the bird in the hot skillet and check temp 45-50 minutes later.
Moist and delicious. I didn't believe it until I tried it but it is fantastic. You can also make gravy from the dripping if you so desire.
That looks fantastic. Great picture too.
If you have less time, don't want to spend a lot for ingredients, tools, etc, this works great. & It's delicious. Even my mom, who is totally country and insists on cooking a chicken for 4 hours, loves it.
Heat the oven to 450, rub chicken w olive oil, then adobo seasoning (I think the Goya brand is best)
Cook at 450 for 30 minutes, then turn the heat down to 425. Cook between 45 minutes to an hour.
Has anyone else noticed that the whole chickens at most chain grocery stores suck? It's like the pump them up w/ chemicals or something. & at Whole Foods they charge you a small fortune. The best ones I've found are at Costco or the Morse Ave. Fruit and Meat Market.
I like purdue whole chickens. The 2.00 ones at my bodega are called white chickens and taste awful.
Barefoot Contessa has a fabulous recipe as well. Mmm... chicken. Time for lunch!
I noticed the bottle of Coppola wine in the picture ... damn fine choice! I love all the Coppola wines (the Claret is my fave).
The Barefoot Contessa eats half the ingredients during the prepping. And if she could make something under 300 calories, I'd consider it. But a marshmellow and chocolate pie with regular cool whip on top on a regular basis would push my dentist into early retirement. She should go back to her job at the White House.
pskosey,
I brined my turkey the first time I made a thanksgiving day dinner, and thus far, the last time I made one as well. It turned out really juicy, and I also did the cheesecloth around the turkey and I may have also used foil - I don't remember exactly.
I am going to have to try this recipe. My mouth is watering just reading everyone's comments.
While you've got your hand under the skin stuffing in that butter, you might want to also slide in some very thin slices of lemon or orange.
Also, I like to lay strips of thick bacon across the breast before putting in the oven, remove them after 30 minutes or so. Cook's treat!
What, no threats to boycott whatever country the chicken came from?
Oh, that's right, chickens aren't cute.