Brine, rub, spatchcock, beer can - there are a lot of ways to roast a chicken. Our favorite is the old standby of salting ahead and roasting very quickly at high heat. This method has perhaps been most widely popularized by Judy Rodgers and her excellent Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Among the methods we've tried, this salted, herbed chicken has the most succulent texture and best flavor.
Click through for photos of how to prep a roast chicken, Zuni-style.
1. Buy a small chicken: No more than 4 pounds. Anything bigger won't roast well at this high heat. A 3-4 pound chicken is plenty for two adults and leftovers. We strongly recommend organic, free-range chickens. Better for you and better for the bird.
2. Chicken prep: Take the chicken out of its packaging and reach into its body cavity to see if there are giblets. Most butchers and processors remove the organs - heart, liver, kidneys - and put them in a small bag in the cavity. It will probably look something like the picture above. You can discard these, or save them for your next batch of chicken stock. You can use them for pet food, too.
Pat the chicken dry, inside and out, with a paper towel, and put on a plate.
3. Salt, pepper, and herbs: Get your salt and seasonings ready. For each pound of chicken, put about 3/4 teaspoon of kosher or coarse salt in a bowl. We used about a tablespoon of coarse salt for a 4-pound chicken. Grind in some fresh pepper and mix.
Also set out a small handful of herbs. We like a mix of sage, rosemary and thyme. We used some basil in this chicken too.
4. Tuck in the herbs: There are loose areas of skin around the chicken's tail, and up on its shoulders. Slide your finger into these spots and insert a few herbs - four little herb packets in all.
5. Salt! Now take the peppery salt and rub it all over the chicken, putting a little more where the chicken is fattest. Pat some inside the cavity too. Cover loosely and refrigerate for 24-48 hours. During this time the salt is first drawing the moisture out of the chicken, then returning it to circulate. At least, that's what Rodgers says. We have a loose grasp of science sometimes - all we know is that it works spectacularly.
6. Now, to truly make this chicken Zuni-style you need a wood-burning oven, which we, alas, do not have. Your oven heated to 475F will have to do.
About an hour and a half before dinner, turn on the oven to 475F and put in a small pie pan to heat. Take the chicken out of the fridge and pat it dry again, wiping away any leaky juices.
When the oven is fully heated, place it breast-side up in the pie-pan. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until it is getting golden, then flip it over. This tricky bit of business is usually accomplished with a carving fork jammed into the cavity and a spatula to flip it. If the chicken was dry and the pan was hot it shouldn't stick too much. Roast for another 15 minutes on that side, then flip again to recrisp for about 10 minutes. When you flip it the second time put a meat thermometer in the meatiest part of the thigh and check the temperature. When it hits about 180F it is done. Remove immediately and tent with foil. Let rest at least half an hour before serving.
We attacked this and forgot to take a picture of the very pretty bird on a bed of couscous and greens. Here is the carcass instead; we are planning soup with it at this very moment.
Related Links
• How To Poach Chicken
• Roasting Peeled Garlic
• Chicken with Lemon, Cumin and Mint
• Mexican Chicken Soup
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I've always heard that giblets make stock bitter.
view prolix's profile
Can't get down with the skinny chicken. I think they're tough and not as flavorful as a heavier one, at least 6 pounds. At least.
view rose's profile
Tastes great, but take the batteries out of your smoke detector first. Every time I do it, it sets mine off, and mine are wired into the building so I can't disable them.
view AnnaO's profile
i hadn't seen this post but i used this method the other nite when i made jerk chicken (see my comment on the wrap seasoning above), using 1 tablespoon of salt for 5 lbs of chicken. it seemed like a lot but i went with it. then the next morning, the salt crystals had all disappeared. i poured on my marinade and that nite, roasted it all up at 400 for about 40 minutes. oh. my. god. a-mazing! my guests could not stop eating it. and, btw, not salty at all.
view abby's profile
Giblets do make stock better, but be careful to only use a slow simmer, if you boil the heck out of it, the giblets can give you a cloudy, bitter stock.
view foodiegirl's profile
1. In response to the recipe posted, 180 degrees internal temperature is probably too high. By that time, it's likely that the breast meat will have completely dried out. You're looking for an internal temperature of 165 or so (but make sure the breast and the thigh have gotten to at least that temperature).
2. Giblets are mostly good for stock, but many cooks don't include the liver, because they say it makes the stock bitter. Everything but the liver (the gizzard, neck, heart, etc.) are great for stock. In my experience, the liver is fine, too, but often the liver still has the gallbladder attached. It is the gallbladder that contains the bilious liquid that makes stock bitter. But if you want to be sure, just exclude the liver (and cook it separately--it's delicious on its own).
3. Giblets don't make stock cloudy any more than the rest of the chicken does. If you bring your stock to a rolling boil, it will be cloudy whether or not you include the giblets.
view Barzelay's profile
I do something similar, but instead of a pie pan, put onions, potatoes, and garlic in my cast iron, put the chicken on top and every 15 minutes rotate the chicken. I have the temp higher (425 for the first 15 minutes for the breast, then down to 400 for each side and the back. Then I get good roasted veggies and a flavorful chicken.
view nloewen1's profile