How to Roast a Chicken
Serve perfectly golden roasted chicken—with crisp skin and moist meat that has family clamoring to the table. Plan for leftovers—in dishes just as satisfying—during the week.
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Holiday 2019
How to Truss: Trussing compacts a chicken for even cooking. Place chicken on cutting board, breast side up, then tuck wings under. Slide a 3-foot length of kitchen string under chicken, over drumsticks and under their joints. Tighten string to bring drumsticks together, wrap one end of string around tail end and tie securely.
How to Test Temperature: Insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of the thigh and breast, away from bone. Check for an internal reading of 175°F for thigh and 165°F for breast doneness.
A whole chicken contains two types of meat: Dark and white. Dark thigh and drumstick meat is dense, has more fat and cooks more slowly than white breast meat. To offset the difference, place chicken thigh-side-down on a preheated pan to roast.
1. Place chicken on a cutting surface and use a chef’s knife to cut through leg joints to completely remove legs from body. Cut wing pieces away from body as well.
2. Slice along each side of center of breastbone while pulling meat away from bone. Cut or thinly slice into serving-size pieces.
3. Cut through the joint between drumstick and thigh to separate the two.
Tip: How to Get Crisp Skin
Pat chicken dry with paper towels, then chill, uncovered, overnight in the refrigerator. This step eliminates excess moisture and helps ensure crisp skin.
Add pizzazz to pizza with basil pesto, shredded chicken, tomato wedges, red onion slices, basil and goat cheese crumbles. Pizza without tomato sauce never tasted so good!
Shred roasted chicken, combine with barbecue sauce and pile on pretzel buns. Top with coleslaw and jalapeño peppers.
Combine frozen vegetables, cream of chicken condensed soup and 2% reduced-fat milk with shredded roasted chicken for a traditional family favorite topped with buttermilk biscuits.
Cooked chicken stays fresh for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer. Store in a covered airtight container or freezer bag or use heavy-duty aluminum foil or freezer wrap. Discard any cooked chicken with a sour smell or slimy appearance.
