Don’t slave over your chicken
I’ve always thought that the western roast chicken is way too much work. When the Chinese cook a chicken, we marinade it in soy sauce, throw it in a wok with a rack, put a bit of ginger and green onions at the botton with a bit of water, and just cover it until it’s cooked. The result is always tender, juicy, yum. The whole idea that I have to rub down the bird with butter and baste it every hour is just so much trouble.
Of course, every mother I’ve met does turkey and chicken the same way: they slave over a broiling hot oven or wake up at 7 am to start prepping and nursing the bird. They rub, they spice, they baste every hour. So the first time I roasted a chicken I figured that if my grannie can do it in a wok with zero work, I can do it in an oven. So I just stuffed, tied, and left the bird in the oven for hours. No basting, no fussing, no rubbing all over with grease. (I did rub it with spices and salted it) I didn’t even flip or turn it - it’s on a roasting rack, so I figured it’d be alright. The result was the same - it’s juicy. It’s good. It’s…well…it tastes the same as the other birds that other people slaved over, except with less work.
This is, however the time when I would actually recommend a meat thermometer. Take the chicken out 10 degrees early, cover, and let the internal temperature rise. Beef can be eaten rare, chicken, never.
There is a plus side to this method as well - opening and closing the oven cools the bird down and lowers the temperature so that it takes longer and more energy to cook your bird if you baste.
Another thing - pick a "roaster." An 8lb - 10lb bird is perfect. Smaller ones tend to come out dry.
May 10th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Hi Sally, I’m in your extended network .. Just caught your ‘Kitchen’ blog on the featured list .. Great tips! I’ll remember it next time I roast a chicken.
I like mine marinated in sweet soy sauce and spiced with coriander, lemongrass plus a few red chilis.
And I’m all for giblets.
May 11th, 2006 at 5:35 am
Hey Sally,
I love your tips!
I have a question about this one… when you say to take the chicken out 10 degrees early and cover–do you put the chicken back in the oven? Or just let it cook itself with its own heat?
I’m guessing put it back in, yes?
thanks for the blog,
rahul
May 11th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
hey Sally, i just wanted to add some suggestions. i hope you don’t mind. you should sear the bird before the prolonged cooking. it cuts the cooking time a good deal. it gives the bird a nice light brown color and very juicy. to Rahul, what Sally meant was let the bird cook itself with it’s own heat. it’s called “carryover cooking.”
oh and you should never stuff poultry. EVER. if you stuff the bird you have to cook the stuffing to 165 degrees and ruin your bird. if you don’t you will be playing russian roulette with salmonella. its best to cook the stuffing seperately and then stuff a cooked bird.
May 12th, 2006 at 8:39 am
Well, I’ve always been in the habit of pre-cooking my stuffing if I’m doing it with eggs. (but then again, I’m totally a raw-egg fan - salmonella be damned) It’s completely NOT kosher, but what the heck.
Rahul - when I say “pull the chicken out early,” I mean to tent it with foil afterwards, just like how you’d do with a roast beef. The internal temerature would keep rising on its own. If you’re really scared about bateria and such, make it 5 degrees early.
August 2nd, 2006 at 5:46 am
Oh! So… that’s how it is to be simple. Let me try that tip of yours and I know its far more convenient than mine. My girl friends from ———– were looking for some cooking innovations too and your’s was quite easy to follow.