UKC

Morning all,
we very rarely have a roast in fact the only time we do is chrimbo and the wife's dad does that so I have only ever done a roast myself about 10 years ago!

So today we've decided to have a small chicken. It is about 1.5 kilos so I'm guessing about an hour and a half in the oven at about 220? (fan oven)

Anyway, anyone have any cooking tips, what to baste it in etc? Having roast spuds and some veg which I can manage but never really cooked roast chicken so any advice welcome.

Have a good un, Den

In reply to Denni: I think that oven would be too hot and it would burn . Guide lines are 45 mins/kilo plus up to an extra half hour at 190. What I usualy do is give it 20 mins at 220 then turn it down to the rest of the time to 190. I find the extra 30 mins a bit of overkill and an extra 10 is usualy plenty.
sjm

In reply to sjminfife:

Cheers for that. Burning it would be a good start to my roast dinner cooking!

In reply to Denni: Pervert!

In reply to Denni: Like I said I usually do 20 minutes at 220 to start with and when I open the oven to check if the skin has crisped nicely I usually set the smoke alarm off.
sjm

In reply to Denni:

If you are brave and want do something really special with it then read this.

http://bigspud.co.uk/2009/10/24/heston-blumenthals-perfect-roast-chicken/

6-7 hours at 70degrees C, to bring the internal temperature up to 62degrees. It looks almost raw when it comes out but tastes bloody amazing. You need a thermometer though and you don't get any gravy.

In reply to Denni: If you're not bothered about stuffing the bird (fnarr, gwumph, etc) then quartering a lemon and onion and firing those into the body cavity with some thyme makes for yum gravy. I usually tuck a bruised garlic clove under the bird it seems to add a nice savoury background to the gravy without being obviously garlicky.

In reply to Denni:

We have a chicken frequently using the leftovers for paellas and soups and getting a great stock from the bones. You really can get a lot of meals out of a chicken. We cook ours for a 25 min sizzle at 220 then 35 mins at 180. I doubt it would need much longer, but each oven is different. The way to check that it's cooked is to cut the skin between the leg and the body and look at the juices which should be clear with no evidence of pink or bloody fluid . Just put it back in if it needs longer. We place lemon and lots of garlic inside the bird. After the sizzle we pour in some white wine into the roasting tray this makes an automatic gravy! The skin of the bird we smear with butter and plenty of salt which helps crisp the skin and pepper too. You could also put some herbs on of your choice. I quite like thyme. Once cooked leave it to rest for 15 mins and use this time to do the veg. We take the rough approach to carving. We remove the crispy skin, then remove the legs at the joint underneath the body and we tear the breast into bits rather than slicing. Enjoy! After your meal get every last bit of flesh off the bird and then fold the bones, leftover skin and juices into a pan and simmer gently with some salt and anything else you like in your stock for an hour+. I should say, with the white wine added to the gravy, the gravy is quite thin, which we don't mind. You can thicken it by adding some cornflour while heating on the job or make a roux and add the juices to that don't use too much flour. I hope that helps. As I say we have it often (3 of us) as we can get so many meals out if it, and its treat to look forward to on the weekend! Enjoy.

In reply to Denni:

Take one can of beer, open it, drink a few inches off the top, then top up with chilli paste, lemon and mixed herbs, insert can up chickens ringpiece then sit upright in the oven on a tray, wrap a sheet of foil around it, cook for 90 mins at 190.

In reply to Denni:

Roast potatoes we make by par boiling peeled potatoes until the outside becomes friable. Drain and shake to fluff up the outside of the potato. The potatoes shouldn't fall apart. Place in a separate roasting tray. Season with plenty of olive oil turning the potatoes until they are covered and add plenty of salt which is important to crisp them up. Add the tray of potatoes 10 mins after the chicken. Floury, not waxy potatoes are better: rooster, king Edward. Maris pipers can be good too, but vary in their consistency.

In reply to Cú Chullain: That's pretty much what I would have suggested, in Canada they call it Drunk Chicken and they sell little holders specifically for the purpose in the dollar stores, chicken just falls off the bone.

In reply to Denni: roughly chop a large carrot, onion, a few mushrooms and a couple of garlic gloves. Place beg in roasting dish POP chicken on top, add a hand ful of puy lentils to dish. Add a good glug of cidar, beer or wine and top up to an inch with hot water. Cover with foil, into preheat oven @ 200 for 30 mins then 20 mins 40 mins per kg. When ready leave chicken to rest covered in foil and make gravy with contents of dish on top of stove, found a potato mashed is good tool for this!

Cheers Davey

In reply to Mountain Llama:

Cheers for all the replies folks. Am going to amalgamate all your suggestions, go shopping and see what comes out!

In reply to Jimbo W: your method is the same for roasters as my mopther in law, they're alright but beef dripping or goose fat makes the superior roast spud imo, i know its not as good for you but its just to nice to worry about that

In reply to Denni:

Sainsburys do a nice line in corn fed chicken - bit more pricey but they do taste of chicken and the label tells you exactly how long to cook it for.

In reply to Denni:

Mum's just stuffed rosemary and a halved clementine in the one we're having for lunch, and ground pepper and salt on the skin, before putting it in a lidded tin to roast.

In reply to Ann S:


Our chicken is from our garden...Was one of your pets but the farm said there was something wrong with its neck and wouldn't last too long with our other chickens so I did the good deed.

Sneakily got another chicken from the farm yesterday as I didn't want to upset our 3 year old (when she is older, I'll have no problems telling her or indeed showing her but at the mo, she is too young) then when she went to bed last night, replaced new and dispatched old.

In reply to Denni:

It helps to take the legs off and put them in first. That way you don't end up with dry breast meat. Otherwise, I always use Hugh Fearnley-Whatsisface's timings for meat - always spot on.

In reply to Denni: chop up some onions/apples/carrots and stuff them inside - the steam they release will keep the meat really moist. Cover it with butter, some salt, plenty of pepper, herbs, then wrap in fatty bacon. Take the bacon off and baste with more butter with twenty minutes or so left of cooking time, and scoop out the veg from the middle. Chop up the bacon and roast it with your potatoes, along with the veg from inside the chicken. Guaranteed perfect meat. Works really well with just apples and onions too, and they add a lot to the roast potatoes!

In reply to ablackett:

I do an adaptation of this.

Breast side down, 110°c for 90 min.
Turn it over, another 75 min at 110°c.
Then blast it at 250°c for 15min.

Baste occasionally throughout.

Did one yesterday, absolutely delicious & nice & moist.

In reply to Chris Harris:

Forgot to mention, if it's trussed up with a bit of string, remove it so the legs can be pulled out to allow even cooking around the thigh area.

In reply to ollieollie:

Yes, I agree! The olive oil is a concession to health, and that's if we gave roast spuds at all. Boiled spuds are great with gravy. After Xmas dinner, which is always a goose from a friend who farms them, we keep the fat for roasters, but in my opinion, beef dripping is the absolute best.

In reply to Denni: Do you have a cast iron casserole dish big enough for a chicken? If so, it is very easy to cook moist and extremely tender chicken (breast, legs, thighs) every time with no faff, basting or turning required.

Stuff the bird with a lemon cut in half, two bay leaves and a sprig of rosemary, rub the skin with olive oil, bit more in the bottom of the pan, season well, lid on and in the oven at 180 c or gas mark 4 for an hour to an hour and half (keep checking after an 1 hour so it doesn't dry out). Delicious lemony and very moist chicken every time, no need to turn, change temps, baste or much else.

Alternatively a teaspoon of tarragon over both breasts is lovely then you can add double cream to the gravy (French style), or cut three or four deep cuts into each leg for a nice roasted texture.

I've cooked chicken many, many different ways, and a cast iron casserole dish (le Crueset etc) is by far the best! Almost worth forking out for a pan just for this purpose.

In reply to Escher:

Right, just taken it out!
1 hour 20 at 190 fan oven. Stuffed with thyme, lemon and some lime.
Roasted on top of carrots, swede, onion and a wee bit of olive oil.
Covered in butter, a tiny squeeze of lime, coriander and salt and pepper.
It smell fantastic, looks beautifully crisp and the Kelly bronzer tester thing says it is about 72 degrees inside.
Just resting now before the carving test!

In reply to Denni:

But will you sleep tonight....

In reply to Ann S:


Very well after a lovely roast :0)

In reply to Denni: Thanks Denni for keeping us entertained all day. Glad things turned out ok.

Cheers Davey

Ps beats my pie, chips n beans!