What can I say? I was wrong. I'm not too proud to admit it. It's happened eight times before (but who's counting?) so this is the ninth. What stings the most, though, is that the thing I was wrong about is the best way to roast a chicken.
How to roast a chicken.
Photo © Gaetan Lee
To be sure, I was only a little bit wrong. The technique I'd previously suggested will work just fine. What I see now, though, is that procedures like starting the bird at a high temperature and then finishing at a lower one — or roasting it breast-side-down for a while and then flipping it over — are all unnecessary. All you really need to do is roast it at 425°F for an hour or so. No temperature changes, no flipping the poor chicken onto its back halfway through — no!
So I've revised my tutorial on how to roast a chicken. Now it's so simple, it's probably harder to not try it. And as for the whole "being wrong" thing, I still think nine times isn't bad. At least I'm still in the single digits. (And I aim to keep it that way.)
How to roast a chicken.
Photo © Gaetan Lee
To be sure, I was only a little bit wrong. The technique I'd previously suggested will work just fine. What I see now, though, is that procedures like starting the bird at a high temperature and then finishing at a lower one — or roasting it breast-side-down for a while and then flipping it over — are all unnecessary. All you really need to do is roast it at 425°F for an hour or so. No temperature changes, no flipping the poor chicken onto its back halfway through — no!
So I've revised my tutorial on how to roast a chicken. Now it's so simple, it's probably harder to not try it. And as for the whole "being wrong" thing, I still think nine times isn't bad. At least I'm still in the single digits. (And I aim to keep it that way.)
Comments
Is there any benefit to slow-roasting? I always roast chickens at 325°F.
The idea behind slow roasting is that the breast is supposed to stay juicier, but I think the shorter cooking time of a high-temperature “quick roast” does as much to keep the breast juicy in any case. Plus, at 325°F I find that the skin doesn’t get as crispy or as brown as I like it. I worry that a pale little slow-roasted chicken won’t look done — even if it is.
I’ve always slow roasted chicken until I tried this and I’ve been doing it this way ever since (even have it saved to my favorites tab). Danilo is 100% right that it is juicy and the skin has a crispier texture so the overall quality is better than slow-roasting. I also love this recipe because i can eat before 8 o’clock on weeknights after work. thanks for your insight.