The secret to perfect roast chicken | Kitchen aide

2 hours ago 1

What’s the best way to roast a chicken?
Nicola, by email
“Fundamentally, people overcomplicate it,” says Ed Smith, who has, rather conveniently, written a new book all about chicken, Peckish. “Yes, you can cook it at a variety of temperatures, use different fats, wet brine or dry brine, etc etc, but, ultimately, if you put a good chicken in the oven and roast it, you will have a good meal.”

To elaborate on Smith’s nonchalance, he has three key rules: “One, start with a good chicken: free-range, ideally slow-reared and under the 2kg mark – small birds just roast better, I think.” Second, it doesn’t need as long in the oven as you might think. “Whatever it says on the packet will be too long,” says Smith, who roasts his chicken for about 50 minutes in a 210C (190C fan) oven. And, last, give it a rest: “Your chicken will be better for sitting for 15-20 minutes, and will still be steaming hot when you cut into it.”

The expansion on those rules is to salt the bird really well both inside and out, Smith adds: “And if you can leave it in the fridge for an hour to a day ahead, fantastic!” For Mike Davies, chef director of The Camberwell Arms in south London, submerging the bird overnight in a solution of water, salt, sugar and aromatics (lemon, bay, peppercorns being natural bedfellows) is essential: “Brining feels cheffy, but in reality it’s quite straightforward. You just need a big enough container.”

Fat-wise, Anna Tobias, of Cafe Deco in London, covers her chicken in neutral vegetable oil (rapeseed or sunflower, say), seasons, then pops half a lemon and a sprig of rosemary in the cavity, before turning the bird upside down to roast. “That’s maybe a bit random, but Margot [Henderson] always did that when I worked for her, so that’s what I do.” The reason being it crisps the underside of the thighs. “For a 1.75-2kg chicken, roast it upside down for half an hour at 200C (180C fan), then flip it the right way up and give it another half-hour.” Tobias never rests it, mind – “the skin goes flabby.” Davies, meanwhile, was taught by his mum to put butter under the skin, which he does to this day. “It bastes the chicken through the cook, and if you rub the fat on the skin, it helps moisten it. The main thing that’s going to give you crisp skin, though, is the skin being dry in the first place.”

A slight tweak would be to spatchcock the chicken. “It then cooks slightly faster, so there’s less likelihood of overcooking the breast, and a high likelihood of lovely crisp skin and succulent legs,” Smith says. It’s a simple thing to do, too: “If you’re dubious, scissors take it to a lower level of effort; you’re just cutting down both sides of the backbone and that’s it.”

You could also mix up your marinade or rub. “Anything that you might think to put on a chicken thigh or leg would be delicious on a roast chicken,” Smith says, whether you head to the deep south, India or Thailand. He also repeatedly returns to the OG, but varies how it’s eaten: “On a Monday with salad, then more leftovers with pasta or potato wedges.” Essentially, roast chicken performs well with a whole bunch of things, although for Tobias roast potatoes are tops. “Anything else is negotiable.”