A New Roast Chicken; Low and Slow

Roast chicken is probably one of my favorite things, but I wanted to try something new, branch out, hit some new pavement, get a little crazy, so I decided to turn down the heat, and made my roast chicken low and slow. I like the concept of cooking things slowly; it really gives the flavors a chance to develop, it’s much harder to overcook something, and the smells permeate the house for hours.

I started by doing a dry brine, which is really just a salty dry rub like one you’d use on ribs. I covered the chicken with my brine/rub, and left it uncovered in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours.  By then the salt was pretty much invisible, and the chicken skin taut and dry looking.  I rubbed it with oil, and re-seasoned (no more salt) and put it in the oven at 275 for three hours.  During that time I didn’t pay much attention to it.  I checked once to add some stock to the pan, and basted it, but only that one time. You could certainly baste more than once, in fact I encourage it, but I will not judge you if you don’t bother.

The chicken that emerged was not as pretty as I had hoped it would be, I like the skin to be a dark golden color.  I’m sure either of us could achieve that by cranking up the heat to 375F for the last fifteen minutes, but I was pretty hungry, so I skipped it.  Most of the skin was crispy, just not a pretty color.  I made a simple pan gravy, and using a great tip that I’ve stolen from someone, I used my potato ricer to squeeze any liquid from the roasted veggies in the pan.

(Let me digress for a moment, and say if you don’t have a potato ricer, you should seriously think about getting one!  If you like mashed potatoes (if, that’s pretty funny huh?) a ricer will make the fluffiest mashed potatoes you’ve ever had, and if you want skinless potatoes, but don’t want to peel them, a ricer will remove the skins too.  As I mentioned it will also press the liquids from soft things; like roasted veggies.  If I’ve convinced you that you must get one right away, here is a link, and if you buy your ricer through this link I will get a few rubles cents from that purchase, so thanks!!)

And now back to our chicken.   Sauce/gravy made, I sliced up this wondrous chicken, and it was quite delicious, I ate some naked (the bird, not me) just to make sure the chicken itself was good, without the sauce.  The meat was moist and even silky, the flavor rich but not salty, just very chicken-y.  The sauce was excellent too, and I think this is my new best way to roast a chicken.  I will modify my technique next time to do some skin browning, and report back, but in the meantime, here is the recipe as I made it.  

As an aside, my brother was visiting, and I used leftover chicken to make him some chicken salad, which he proclaimed the best chicken salad he had ever eaten.

Low and Slow Roast Chicken

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Ingredients

• 1 Roasting Chicken (3-4 Lbs)
• 2-3 tablespoons Kosher Salt
• 1 Lemon (Pierced all over)
• Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Fine Herbs
• 2 Large Carrots (Peeled and cut into thirds horizontally)
• 1 stalk Celery (Cut into thirds horizontally)
• 1/2 Large Onion (Cut into quarters)
• 4 cups Chicken Stock

Directions

Step 1

Dry chicken well, and cover with layer of salt, patting so it will stick, leave chicken on plate, or dish, uncovered in refrigerator for 12-24 hours

Step 2

Preheat oven to 275F Remove chicken from refrigerator and brush off any visible salt (there won't be much), dry the bottom of the chicken, which will be wet

Step 3

Rub skin of chicken all over with olive oil, and place on rack in roasting pan, sprinkle with herbs, and push lemon into cavity of bird

Step 4

Put all vegetables into pan, along with 2 cups of stock, and roast for three hours. After one hour baste chicken, and add the remaining 2 cups of stock to pan, and continue to roast If you are feeling highly motivated you can baste another one or two times

Step 5

There is no need to check the temperature of the chicken, but if you really want to it should be at least 165F to be fully cooked.

Step 6

Once chicken is done, remove from the oven and let rest for about ten minutes while you make the pan gravy/sauce

Step 7

Remove the vegetables and press out any juices from them- I used my potato ricer to do this, but you can use a sieve, or you can just puree the veggies You can deglaze the pan with whatever you fancy; white or red wine, more chicken stock, sherry, or water, use about 1/4 cup of your choice of liquid, add back veggie liquid, and stir over high heat to reduce to a syrup-y consistency. If you want a thicker sauce melt 1 TBL butter in low heat, and add 1 TBL flour, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add some of the pan liquid to the roux, and then return the roux mixture to the pan, stirring well