Quick Roast Chicken

Step 9 Finish and serve

Immediately after removing the chicken, baste the top with pan drippings. If you have fresh herbs to add (thyme, oregano, etc) add them to the pan drippings and let them steep for a moment before basting. Snip the twine around the chicken legs, and gently unwrap from the rest of the body. (it will come off easily.)

I generally start eating bits (wings, tail) now, but if you want to be formal:
Baste again, let the bird rest about 10 minutes, then baste once more before serving. It looks gorgeous, so make a big production of carving it at the table!

Comments

[JarrydGothix]

I suggest a carving instructable! I am kind of dumb when it cames to carving despite making roast chicken for years and just use kitchen shears.

[Peale]

I posted this on my blog a few years back. I went back to dig it up. Incredibly informative. And of course you can apply this to chicken as well as turkey. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/21carv.html?_r=1&em&ex=1195794000&en=70aa1e3aa59cbcae&ei=5087">www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/21carv.html</a><br />

[canida]

Great article!  I do it mostly like that - will post an Instructable on it one of these days.

[jcard21]

I read your Truss article first, then this Roast article. Both articles AND photos are very good! My only differences (NOT criticisms!): I roast my chickens (4.5 lbs each, 2 at a time) at 350°F for about 2:15 hrs:min. Judging just by your photos, my chickens' skins get very dark/crunchy (which I prefer); yours are just golden (you probably prefer!). Also, I found cooking at a lower temp (350°F) produces juicier white meat. PS: I also use a PYREX digital temp-probe/alarm ($20) full-time in the chicken thigh; an alarm goes off when it reaches my chosen internal temperature. *** Obviously, I enjoyed both your articles!!! I'm definitely going to check out your other articles.

[canida]

Sounds great! You should put up an Instructable for your method, since it clearly optimizes for different features. The skin on these birds turns out quite crunchy, especially if you don't do the post-oven basting, and the trussing/salting keeps the breast pretty juicy. When yours is up we'll run a comparison!