Great read- Looking forward to your future postings. Thanks for setting the tone/style of the posts. Love the history bits too! I am a scientist at heart (but not in real life!), so always like gleaning such tidbits when available. With regards to roasting vs baking, my understanding is that some ovens have settings for both “ styles” , differentiated by the fact that the heat elements in “Bake” mode is distributed 50:50 (top:bottom), whereas those same elements are providing ~ 65:35 (top:bottom) in “Roast” mode, and by logical extension, 100:0 when “Broiling”. This would make sense that the top of the food will preferentially receive more dry heat (for crisping skin, for example) when roasting.
On another note, would it be possible to get Fahrenheit conversions (perhaps in brackets) when Celsius is quoted?
So glad you like it! Interesting, I’ve never owned an oven with settings like that but I follow your logic, makes sense. Yes I can absolutely add Fahrenheit, no problem
I am excited to try this because roasted chicken is something our whole family loves. We eat it a LOT in Spain. I think I make a whole one pretty well (sometimes I do it in the instant pot!) but you've convinced me to give this a try.
Have a go and see what you think! I actually love to rub chicken with a mix of oil and paprika before cooking, I’m sure you have great paprika there in Spain :)
Amazing thank you! Saving this. I Had a question - what are your thoughts on rubbing oil vs butter on the chicken. There are so many recipes that rub butter on, inside the skin etc - do you think it adds anything or is actually keeping it simple the best way to get crisper skin?
In terms of crisping the skin, I like oil. The real key is to dry the skin out as much as possible first, if you really want to nail that then leave the chicken uncovered in your fridge overnight, then still uncovered out of the fridge until it comes to room temp. Then oil and salt before cooking. Butter under the skin (especially the breast) is just to add a bit of fat and keep the chicken moist when cooking. It works well but if the chicken isn’t overcooked, it’s optional rather than necessary in my opinion
Absolutely loved reading this! Hanging out my arse this morning and was planning on going for a roast later, now motivated to get to Sainsbury’s and test out a spatchcock.
Haha, love the sudden burst of inspiration! Give it a go. If I was hungover I’d be tempted to give the chicken a good rub over with something spicy before cooking and stick it on rice with the sauce poured over 😎
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Particularly liked the brownie bake theory, never thought of it like that, but makes perfect sense. Looking forward to the next Foundations.
Very nice read! Thx for all the details, will try it soon. Was also concerned, Why discard the veggies? So they do not work well as a base for the sauce? Any other to work them in to the dish ?
This is great! Thank you, really enjoyed making it. This method really makes a mouth-watering chicken breast. Encountered one problem: after carving the chicken, the lower part of the breast was still undercooked.. so had to put it back in to the oven. Solution and tip: push the thermometer all the way down and not just in the top breast part as this warms up a bit faster. Will try the stock tomorrow!
Would steaming technically lie somewhere between dry and wet heat? If the food is cooked in water vapour at 100 C (i.e. steam) then it's not being cooked in a liquid. Apologies for being pedantic, I really liked this but read it too late after my unevenly roasted chicken yesterday. I am, however, trying the stock today. Thanks !
This recipe for roast chicken from Jordan King on Substack looks delicious! The tip about using kitchen twine to truss the chicken is particularly helpful for ensuring even cooking.
For beginner cooks, knowing how to tell when the chicken is done can be a challenge. Are there any visual cues or specific internal temperatures you would recommend to ensure the chicken is cooked through safely? <a href="https://www.vegasfoundations.com">Las Vegas Foundations</a>
Great read- Looking forward to your future postings. Thanks for setting the tone/style of the posts. Love the history bits too! I am a scientist at heart (but not in real life!), so always like gleaning such tidbits when available. With regards to roasting vs baking, my understanding is that some ovens have settings for both “ styles” , differentiated by the fact that the heat elements in “Bake” mode is distributed 50:50 (top:bottom), whereas those same elements are providing ~ 65:35 (top:bottom) in “Roast” mode, and by logical extension, 100:0 when “Broiling”. This would make sense that the top of the food will preferentially receive more dry heat (for crisping skin, for example) when roasting.
On another note, would it be possible to get Fahrenheit conversions (perhaps in brackets) when Celsius is quoted?
So glad you like it! Interesting, I’ve never owned an oven with settings like that but I follow your logic, makes sense. Yes I can absolutely add Fahrenheit, no problem
I am excited to try this because roasted chicken is something our whole family loves. We eat it a LOT in Spain. I think I make a whole one pretty well (sometimes I do it in the instant pot!) but you've convinced me to give this a try.
Have a go and see what you think! I actually love to rub chicken with a mix of oil and paprika before cooking, I’m sure you have great paprika there in Spain :)
Love the first edition! Setting the tone for what’s to come. I always hated dry chicken breast so this sounds appealing to try. Thank you!
Amazing thank you! Saving this. I Had a question - what are your thoughts on rubbing oil vs butter on the chicken. There are so many recipes that rub butter on, inside the skin etc - do you think it adds anything or is actually keeping it simple the best way to get crisper skin?
In terms of crisping the skin, I like oil. The real key is to dry the skin out as much as possible first, if you really want to nail that then leave the chicken uncovered in your fridge overnight, then still uncovered out of the fridge until it comes to room temp. Then oil and salt before cooking. Butter under the skin (especially the breast) is just to add a bit of fat and keep the chicken moist when cooking. It works well but if the chicken isn’t overcooked, it’s optional rather than necessary in my opinion
Full agree with the max heat half hour method. There are people out there who roast a chicken for and hour and a half!!!
Barbarians!!
Absolutely loved reading this! Hanging out my arse this morning and was planning on going for a roast later, now motivated to get to Sainsbury’s and test out a spatchcock.
Haha, love the sudden burst of inspiration! Give it a go. If I was hungover I’d be tempted to give the chicken a good rub over with something spicy before cooking and stick it on rice with the sauce poured over 😎
Very nice! I always wondered about the difference between baking and roasting.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Particularly liked the brownie bake theory, never thought of it like that, but makes perfect sense. Looking forward to the next Foundations.
Bonjour!
Bravo! So excited for this series.
Very nice read! Thx for all the details, will try it soon. Was also concerned, Why discard the veggies? So they do not work well as a base for the sauce? Any other to work them in to the dish ?
This is great! Thank you, really enjoyed making it. This method really makes a mouth-watering chicken breast. Encountered one problem: after carving the chicken, the lower part of the breast was still undercooked.. so had to put it back in to the oven. Solution and tip: push the thermometer all the way down and not just in the top breast part as this warms up a bit faster. Will try the stock tomorrow!
Would steaming technically lie somewhere between dry and wet heat? If the food is cooked in water vapour at 100 C (i.e. steam) then it's not being cooked in a liquid. Apologies for being pedantic, I really liked this but read it too late after my unevenly roasted chicken yesterday. I am, however, trying the stock today. Thanks !
You simply 'discard' the veggies cooked in deliciousness? Weird.
Loved the read!
This recipe for roast chicken from Jordan King on Substack looks delicious! The tip about using kitchen twine to truss the chicken is particularly helpful for ensuring even cooking.
For beginner cooks, knowing how to tell when the chicken is done can be a challenge. Are there any visual cues or specific internal temperatures you would recommend to ensure the chicken is cooked through safely? <a href="https://www.vegasfoundations.com">Las Vegas Foundations</a>