Shaheen Peerbhai & Jennie Levitt's Cold-Oven Roast Chicken

Sharing an additional comment, in case it is helpful: When the chicken reaches the second part of the cooking time, where the lid comes off the pan, I use tongs to flip the pieces over into the pan sauce, then flip them right side up again, so they are throughly coated, especially on top. Then back in the oven for the final 15 minutes. I've found this helps with browning and crisping.

Penzey's makes a liar of me every order. "Never use spice mixes! Who knows what's in there?" Then they send us a little envelope of French Vinaigrette mix or whatever, and we're like "How did we live without this?"

Huh. If only the recipe said something like "Choose a large pot with enough room that the chicken won't be too packed in—it should have a bit of room to breathe around each piece."

I've never tried it, but I'd be concerned that the fat wouldn't have a chance to render and crisp up. It might be better to stick with a recipe designed for duck, but if you decide to try it, please let us know how it goes!

I've got a cold oven technique for duck that's pretty excellent. You only do this with legs and wings--season with salt and pepper, both sides, arrange them in a roasting pan that's just large enough to comfortably hold them, skin side up, put in the oven, set to 350 F, and come back in two hours. You get something that's almost like confit--incredible flavor--and crisp, almost parchment-like skin.

Nope, as soon as you turn it up!

So sorry for the delay—I saw someone answered your question over on the Hotline, too, so hopefully that was helpful. The most important thing is keeping an eye on the internal temperature and adding water if the good stuff in the bottom looks like it might burn. How did it go?

For anyone following the recipe at elevation, I found that 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine at the beginning and 1/2 of water at the end when you uncover makes for the most (and wonderfully flavorful!) drippings.

Thank you for altitude adjustments. Wish more recipes had notes concerning cooking in the clouds.

The last time I made it.

I would follow the timing and cues for breasts and thighs listed, taking the breasts out when they're done and continuing on with the thighs.

Yes, I do—wild, huh? ;) See more about it in this article, under "Rest at Room Temperature Before Cooking? Don't Bother": https://www.seriouseats.com/2012/12/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-pan-seared-steaks.html

Go right ahead! That's what I always do, ever since I learned from Kenji at Serious Eats how long it takes to truly bring meats down to room temp (and how little difference it makes). So freeing!

Great thinking—that's what I would do, too.

Interesting, and luckily easily fixed by introducing more liquids.

I wonder if your bird was on the leaner side or the juices dried up before the chicken was done, which can happen if there's a lot of exposed surface area in the pan (due to a relatively large pan or small bird). Was everything looking okay when you first took the lid off? Next time, you might want to check a bit sooner and pour in some water, wine, or stock to keep the bottom from burning if it's looking dry. I'm glad the chicken was tasty!

Hi Maureen—I hate when that happens, and glad you want to try again. I'm hesitant to give too much of a guideline, since the amount will vary so much based on the type/coarseness of the salt, the size of the chicken, and your personal tastes (I use what seems like a heck of a lot of Maldon salt, because it's in very large flakes and I love salt, for example). But I'd say that, altogether, you shouldn't use more than you'd typically use to season chicken when simply sprinkling on the surface (or than your favorite recipes call for), and that you can err on the side of under-salting next time since you can add more later (and the pan juices will have so much flavor)—say a couple small pinches for each individual piece of chicken. One more tip if you decide to add this into your repertoire: Make a note of how much you use, so you can reference it the next time—I have a similar issue with scrambled eggs, because they're impossible to season internally to taste, so I've experimented and learned that for every 2 large eggs, 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt is perfect for me.

Hi willbfrank—another commenter on the article page did this last night and said the following (though timing will vary with the size of your chicken, etc. so be sure to look for the doneness cues in the recipe): "It was delicious and perfectly cooked at 45 minutes with the 15 minute browning time without the pan lid."

Excellent!

So glad to hear it!

Love a dependable rosemary bush. Good luck!

Diet friendly is not without the skin. Fat from good sources, like organic free range chicken (and olive oil, avocados, nuts, salmon some full fat grass-fed dairy) is your friend. The idea that fat is bad and will make us gain weight is outdated and dangerously erroneous, in fact responsible for the obesity epidemic. The study that ostensibly proved it was deeply flawed, Ancel Keyes left out the data from countries that contradicted his theory. Saturated fat does not cause heart disease or weight gain. It is the many forms of added sugar and processed foods/processed carbs that you want to avoid to make it diet friendly.

I apologize for the long answer but your comment stood out to me and I wanted to say something in response.

Surely this isn't the forum for your opinionated diet rant. Clearly, the cause of the obesity epidemic you site was the result of the proliferation of fat-free junk foods made with harmful ingredients which the public was encouraged to consume. My reason for eliminating the skin/fat has nothing to do with your assumptive reprimand. I know that meat like chicken breast has 4.5 calories per gram while fat has 9 calories per gram. Hence, elimination of some skin lowers the calories count making it diet friendly. Did you know that?

JLH’s “opinionated diet rant” is a timeless PSA and invaluable to undo the damage Ancel Keyes’ study has done to people’s eating habits. I eat animal as well as healthy fats, don’t count calories, practice intermittent fasting, have lost weight and my labwork ups have never been better. Because of people like JLH who take the time to educate us, I will never be fat or unhealthy again.

It wasn't an opinionated diet rant. You seem very hostile and I'm sorry that you feel that way. I was offering information that I thought would be helpful to somebody who was talking about eliminating fat to make something diet friendly. I used to think that way also, it was a remnant of the teachings of my grandparents.

There is so much more I could say, and so much more that I want to say, that I think would be really helpful information but you're right, this is not the forum for it. Unfortunately, if you're not looking for that information you probably won't find it and for me, I often find useful information in unlikely places.

Of course I'm aware that protein and carbs have lower calories per gram than fat does. But our bodies process calories differently, a calorie is not a calorie and how your body responds to carbs, and to a lesser degree protein will not be the way it responds to fat. I'm not going to proselytize about a high-fat diet, but it is a truth that fat does not spike our insulin and insulin is what causes us to be unable to access the fat on our bodies in order to burn it. Keeping insulin low, by eating a lower carb diet, causes us to burn the extra fat on our bodies while at the same time not being hungry.

Fat is satiating, and causes you to eat less in the long run. All of the products that are low fat are unhealthy. The idea that fat is unhealthy is wrong and has been thoroughly debunked. Unfortunately because there is so much money to be made there is a vested interest in continuing to disseminate inaccurate information.

When we don't eat fat, we look for other ways to feel full, or we exist in a continuous state of hunger expending willpower to keep us there. In the end that is not sustainable. The extremes of keto are also questionable, but it's become very clear that fat is not the enemy, sugar and processed carbs are, and we can eat healthily, feel full and lose weight if we eat the right things - like fat - cut down on the number of times we eat, and practice some degree of intermittent fasting which coincidentally is not difficult at all when we aren't eating sugar and processed carbs.

And, your reply wasn't to be considered an opinionated rant? The forum surely has room for opposing views about foods?

Hi Mara, it's the exact same as the recipe above, but the (bone-in, skin-on) breasts take roughly 35 minutes overall (20 minutes covered, 15 uncovered), though you should keep a close eye on them so they don't overcook and what little juice there is doesn't evaporate too much. Boneless, skinless breasts would be faster and I would keep the lid on for the entire time the breasts are cooking, because they don't have the skin to protect them from drying out (so it would be more like the moist heat of steaming or poaching). You can then reduce the sauce after the chicken is out, in the oven with the lid off or on the stovetop, if you like.

It's more about resting the meat—I just clarified in the recipe. Thanks!

Sure! As long as that doesn't leave a whole lot of extra room in the pan, which could lead to the juices evaporating too quickly and goodies in the bottom of the pan burning. You might also want to add a little more olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan to get it started.

Yes, fixed now—thank you!

It's from when you turn on the oven—quick and extra handy since you don't have to remember to watch the oven and reset the timer.

No, but note the 15-minute rest time after salting (which can go longer if you have the time, to good effect).

Yes, whole whole, not cut up :)

Yes, that's my fault—I'd reversed the cook and prep times. Fixed now, thanks!

Yes but you have to adjust the recipe. First chicken breast will cook fast and with produce the desire juices for the sauce. Follow the recipe but check the internal temp of the chicken once you get to 155 take it of the oven and let it rest temp will rise to 165 you don’t want over cook it. Take the pan to the stove and add 1/4 cup of chicken stock and simmer until juices are reduce to 1/3 bring back the chicken to the pan and braise the chicken with the sauce enjoy

Thanks Cesar!

Yes—you just have to be more careful to take them out right when they get to 165F so they don't overcook, which gives you less flexibility in browning the skin and will produce less sauce. But it's a great method for keeping them moist and flavorful if you aren't worried about the skin.

Yes!

I've used a range of them, but usually around the 4-pound mark. It's pretty flexible—the timing will just vary a bit so be sure to check for doneness as described in the recipe.