Where to start? I made this today, and everything seemed to be usual- I followed all the steps correctly, it got really smoky as people say it doe...

...s, the skin was crackly. It was a supermarket chicken- about 5.5 pounds, so I put it in for 55 minutes accordingly. At 500- not convection. When I removed the giblets to stuff it, some of them had ice crystals on them, but the cavity did not feel frozen, and the outside of the bird certainly did not. When I removed it from the oven, the juices ran clear (from the thigh), as far as I could see against the skin. I let it sit for about a half hour because it was destined for a picnic and I was getting things together. When we carved and served it, the drumsticks were good, but the texture of the breast meat was beyond strange. It seemed to be completely white and cooked, but the texture was a combination of rubbery and raw- it had what I can only (inadequately) describe as "crunch", but not like something hard and crispy- like something watery, but rubbery at the same time. It reminded me of the texture of raw chicken, only rubbery. It was just SO, so weird. Since it wasn't pink (and since the only other thing was roasted broccoli), we ate a moderate amount of it and I took the rest home. About half of each breast is still intact, and when I poke it it feels slightly loose and jiggly, like it's still partially raw. What the heck happened?? My oven might need to be calibrated..... but does this ring a bell for anyone? It's so weird! (Also, did I just give my whole family salmonella?

• Posted by: Nikki Segall
• May 24, 2012

• 7310 views
• 4 Comments

• Recipe Questions
• roast chicken
• texture

Recipe question for: Barbara Kafka's Simplest Roast Chicken