Monday, January 18, 2016

Moist Roast Chicken with Crispy Skin

You would think something like a simple Roast Chicken doesn't deserve a separate post.

But as someone who has made more than her share of rubbery skinned, pale chickens, I wanted to share this with you.

I made not only a beautiful golden chicken for dinner the other day, but one with crispy skin, which I promptly ate.

Just kidding, I only ate a little of it, the skin that is.



The breast meat was moist and tender and flavourful, the drums weren't too 'done', and then I got the carcass to make soup stock from at a later date.

To start with, I had a huge chicken, it weighed in at just over 6 pounds.  I'd bought it on special a few months ago, stuck it in the freezer and it migrated to the bottom and stayed there until I rescued it from its frozen bed.

I wax lyrical sometimes.

I thawed it in the fridge for a couple of days, but when I went to pull the neck out of the body cavity found it was still a teensy bit frozen.

I don't have room in my fridge to do the fancy thing of letting it sit overnight so that the skin can dry.    If you have room in your fridge, that's the way to go.
However...
I don't have extra room.   Whatever is in my fridge is always fighting for their very own space.
You wouldn't believe what goes on in there sometimes.
I'm just glad I can shut the door and walk away.

Awhile back I was watching an episode of some cooking show and the chef said something about stuffing butter under the skin, I was intrigued.   Then last week another chef mentioned rubbing butter all over the breast and thighs and drums, and said it would crisp up the skin.  

 It works.

And if my hands hadn't been so mucky with butter I would show the process using pictures, but let me draw you a picture with words.

  1.  Pick the bird.   As I said before I had a lovely big chicken.
  2. Thaw it if it's frozen, if not proceed with the next step.
  3.  Take 2-4 oz. of butter out of the fridge to soften, add any seasonings you like, I used 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning, I did not add any salt as the butter I was using was already salted.   Moosh it up a little with a fork.
  4. Put on a pair of gloves if you like, I use a lot of gloves. 
  5. Place the thawed chicken on a cutting board and wipe off with some paper towel, discard the towel.
  6. Then with the body cavity facing you, take the skin on the breast and loosen it a little with your fingers, sliding your fingers underneath the skin as far in as you can get.  
  7. Take a piece of butter, place it under the skin, as far in as you can, towards the neck.  Massage as much of the butter into the breast area as you can.  
  8. Then coat the remainder of the chicken, that is the drums, wings and thighs with a little butter as well.  Add a little more seasoning here if you wish, I did, so I sprinkled a little more poultry seasoning on top.  Well, actually I used some Pork and Poultry seasoning from Healthy Solutions
  9. Place half a cut onion, a carrot and a stalk of celery inside the body cavity if you wish as well. 
  10. Roast at 350 degrees until the internal temp reaches 165 deg. 
You should have a nice golden chicken with crispy skin and the butter will have basted the breast meat so that it is nice and tender as well.
And those pan drippings?  They make a fantastic gravy as well.
You weren't going to throw them away were you?
And if you have leftovers, well, stay tuned I'm going to share a few ideas.

Just wanted to let you know this post was also shared on Full Plate Thursday.

Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

4 comments:

  1. Never did that, but as you, I've seen quite a few sites and books that swear by the method... I think I got kind of put off by the messy butter and rubbing it all under the sink, but that's why mankind created gloves, right?

    I also like that you roasted at a lower temperature than 500F - I tried that once and the royal mess it made in my oven was enough to make me want to cry....

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  2. Totally messy and gooey but so worth it. And yes, I think that's exactly why they invented gloves. I've done this with turkey as well, and it works very well.
    I can imagine the smoke in the kitchen and the mess in my oven if I tried to roast it at 500 degrees. Not to mention the smoke alarm going off, the bird getting scared and the dog hiding from the alarm. Not that that's ever actually happened...

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  3. I just love a nice Roasted Chicken and your Chicken looks fantastic! Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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    Replies
    1. You're more than welcome, I'm so glad to be part of Full Plate Thursday. And hope you're have a wonderful day as well.

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