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Food magazines and food writers pretend that it’s a snap – “Just flavor it, truss it, cook it, and voila!  You’re done!”  Now that I’ve been in school for a few months, I’ve roasted my fair share of chickens and I must consent – yes, it is easy … for a culinary school student. But for the average home cook? The first time I tried to cook a whole chicken at home, I cut off the top of my finger, and the second time, I burned it and then hacked it up so poorly, even I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

The thing is, there are so many unanswered questions in roasted chicken recipes – how do I truss it?  With what?  What does it mean to “clean” the bird? At what temperature do I cook it to? In what pan? How do I cut it up? The French Culinary Institute’s curriculum requires we make about 8,928,173 chicken recipes, so I’m rather comfortable with handling them now.  But I haven’t forgotten the uncertainty.  

I talked yesterday about roasting a whole chicken, and that got me thinking about the affair.

In the case that you’re frustrated by a lack of information (or by information presented in a haughty, unhelpful way), here’s an FCI-based guide to roasting a chicken – from start to finish, in my words.

A word about the bird: the school has us practice on crappy chickens, but when I do this at home, I think it’s worthwhile to buy a better quality product.

1 whole chicken

Salt, pepper, any herbs of your choosing

1 lemon

1 large onion

2 carrots, 1 if it is very large

2 tbsp. neutral (Canola, vegetable, etc.) oil

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups chicken stock

Rinse the chicken under cold water, then pat dry with a lint-free towel.  Place on a cutting board.

It’s now time to ready the chicken – you will want to use a boning knife for this part.  First, if there is a bag of innards (liver, etc.), remove it and set it aside for another use.  

Hold the chicken in one hand and run the other over the cavity where its head used to be.  You should feel two firm yet thin bones at the neck.  That is the wishbone, and it needs to be removed.  Scrape at the bones with your knife until they’re better exposed, then pop them out using your fingers. Because they’re so thin, they should come out with ease; on bigger birds, like ducks, they will need to be cut out.

Now set the chicken on the board and inspect its rear.  Is there excess fat, covering its back cavity? If so, pull it off with your fingers and dispose of.  Some people prefer to stick it under the skin, but if you’re using a good quality chicken, the extra fat won’t be necessary.

You’ll want to remove the wings now. Set the chicken on its back and feel the bone of its bicep.  Slip the knife just above it and pull up, tearing the skin. Now, scrape at the bone until it is exposed.  You should be able to see the joint where the bicep meets the forearm, or wing.  Set down your knife and grip the chicken firmly with one hand. With the other hand – your dominant hand – hold the joint. Snap it back very hard – the goal is to remove not only the wing, but the cartilage that surrounds the joint. It is not good to eat, and should be removed. If you have not succeeded in removing the cartilage along with the wing, poke the tip of your knife in between the bone and the cartilage (the cartilage is a milky white) and work the knife downward, popping off the excess.  

Repeat this with the second wing.

It’s now time to ready the legs. Keeping the chicken on its back, hold one leg up in the air, between your index and middle fingers. Your thumb and last two fingers should hold the plumpest part of the thigh, steadying the bird. Using your knife, cut an incision all around the chicken’s ankle.  Set the ankle back on the board and, using great strength, scrape at the now-exposed bone.  (Move your fingers out of the way.) You should now see a bit of that milky white cartilage surrounding the ankle. Flip the bird over onto its tummy and scrape, in the same manner, at the back of its ankle. Slip the knife in between the bone and cartilage. Your scraping should make it quite easy to pop off the cartilage, leaving just bone on the chicken.

Repeat this with the second leg.

Hurrah, you’ve done the hardest bit!

Salt and pepper the cavity of the chicken. Halve a lemon and place it in the cavity, along with any fresh herbs you may have on hand – thyme is a good choice.

If you have any chicken bits on your board, wipe it down.

It’s now time to truss the chicken. You should do this with kitchen twine. Place the chicken on its back with its feet pointing toward you. Slide a length of twine underneath its rear and past its ankles. Make an “X” with the string, then flip the “X” upside-down, so it’s partially wrapped around the ankles. Bring the string up around the ankles on both sides, so they are completely encased in twine. Holding the bird at both its legs and shoulders, flip it over so that it is now on its belly.  Wrap the longer end of the twine (it should still be holding the ankles captive) around its neck and pull tightly. Make a knot on the back (right over the oyster) with the two lengths of twine, and trim the excess. Tuck the arms into the two lines of twine along the back. Season the entire chicken with salt and pepper.

It’s now time to start cooking!

I suggest using a sautoir, or a combination sauce/roasting pan. Click here for an example.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Place your sautoir on top of the stove with the butter and oil (oil has a higher smoke point than butter but butter tastes better, which is why we use both). Once the oil is hot, add the chicken, breast-side down first. Once the breast has a bit of color – but not too much, because it will brown more in the oven – flip it on its side, using a meat fork to hold it steady. Color the other side in the same manner, then finally flip it onto its back and brown that as well.  

Place the chicken in the oven (the breast should be facing up), and set your timer for 10 minutes. If you have any trimmings – the neck, the wings, etc. – you can place them in the pan at this point, too.  They will only enhance flavor.

You have enough time to ready your vegetables. Before you do this, you should either get a new cutting board, or clean and sanitize your chicken board. Peel and cut the onions and carrots into relatively small, uniform pieces.

After ten minutes, add the mirepoix into the pan and cover the chicken with tin foil.

The chicken will take another 30 minutes or so to cook, but I recommend checking it after 15 to gauge how you’re doing. Stick a meat thermometer in both the breast and the leg.  It must be cooked to 145-150 degrees to ensure food safety, but do remember that overcooking a chicken renders it impossibly dry and unappetizing. Certain government agencies recommend chicken be cooked to 165 degrees, but again, reputable provider = better raw product = safer cooked product. If you do not have a meat thermometer, prick the skin with the tip of a knife and watch the juices run out: if they are clear, then the chicken is done. If they are bloody, it is not. Bear in mind that the breast cooks faster than the legs, so that may be a bit overdone by the time the legs are ready.  Try not to take it too far.

Remove the chicken from the oven and the pan, and place on a rack over a sheet pan. Cover with the tin foil, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. If you cut into it right now, the juices will run all over your board, and you’ll be quite sad you don’t have a moist chicken.

While the chicken is resting, put the sautoir back on the stove. Cook the drippings over relatively high heat so they brown and stick to the pan (these are called “sucs”). Do not let them burn – your sauce will be bitter. If they brown and form before all of the fat has cooked off, pour off the excess. Add the white wine to the pan, and scrape at the sucs with a wooden spoon until they lift from the pan. Cook the wine until it thickens and is almost all evaporated.  Add the stock and stir. Cook for 10 minutes, then strain the sauce into another, smaller saucepan. Skim the grease from the top with a ladle and cook it down until it reaches a syrupy consistency.  This is called a jus. Once it is ready, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

It’s now time to carve the chicken with your boning knife. 

Remove the twine, herbs and lemon, and place the chicken on its back. Run your hand over the space between the stomach and the leg, and then snap it back. Now flip the bird onto its tummy and feel its upper back. There is a meaty little round bit called the “oyster.” It tastes good, and you want to include that on the leg. Starting at the top of the oyster (there are two, on either side of the spine), cut the leg from the body.   

Repeat with the other leg.

Now, place both legs on the board.  See the thigh bone? You want to remove that. Gently scrape at the flesh surrounding the bone until it is exposed. Lightly pull it upwards from the meat and cut at the joint. It’s difficult to do this without sacrificing some of the flesh, and if your thigh ends up less-than-presentable, do not worry. It’s not you. Cut the leg into two pieces, so that one piece (the “drumstick”) has a bone, and one piece (the thigh) does not.

Repeat with the other leg.

Now, return your attention back to the carcass. Place it on its back so that the breast is facing up. Run your knife down the breast bone, as close to the bone as possible. Separate the breast from the bone, along with the arm. 

Repeat with the other breast.

Cut the breast in half at its plumpest point, so that one piece has a bone (the arm bone), and the other pieces is just meat. 

Repeat with the other breast.

You’ve now carved your chicken into 8 pieces. It’s traditional to serve a piece of both breast and leg, but only one bone. So, you may choose to serve the thigh (no bone) with the arm (bone), or the drumstick (bone) with the breast (no bone).

Reheat the jus briefly, and pour over the meat on a plate.