Recipe for the perfect whole chicken in the oven
The ultimate way to roast a whole chicken. I can safely say that I won’t be making it any other way in the future.
However, there are 2 disadvantages to making chicken this way: 1) There are no set times for this recipe, as the core temperature (use a meat thermometer) determines when your chicken is ready. 2) The fantastic chicken gravy is compromised, as all the juices remain in the meat. My recommendation is to make this roasted chicken stock, so you can still have that delicious gravy.
I love chicken. When I was a child, half a grilled chicken with fries was my favorite dish. The problem with making chicken, however, is that the breasts and thighs do not require the same cooking time. Therefore, I also remember often getting my dad’s thigh while he got my breast, so we both got the meat we liked best.
Here we get help from resting time to ensure that everything turns out as it should.
I used a large 2500-gram chicken for the recipe, but you can definitely use a 1800-gram or 1400-gram chicken without any problem. That’s the good thing about using a meat thermometer, as it tells you when the chicken is done.
The perfect whole chicken in the oven
Equipment
- Bowl
- Oven
- Meat Thermometer
- Cutting Board
- Pre-Slicing Knife
Ingredients
Brine
- 4 l Water dependent on the size of your container and chicken
- 240 gram Salt 60 grams per liter of water
Chicken
- 1 pcs. Whole Chicken
- 2 pcs. Lemon
- 1 bunch Fresh thyme or rosemary
- 150 gram Butter
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Start by soaking the chicken in a brine.
- Place the chicken in a bowl/tray/pot and add water. Measure how much water you add; I usually do this by using a measuring jug, pouring in 1 liter of water at a time. Now add 60 grams of salt per liter of water.
- My chicken was large, so I could only fit it in an IKEA container with a lid. For this, I needed 4 liters of water to cover it. Previously, I tried with a 1400-gram chicken, and 2 liters of water were enough. Stir the salt a bit into the water.
- The brine helps to tenderize the meat and make it juicier. Let it sit for at least 8 hours, but you can leave it for up to a day. I started mine in the evening (around 8 PM) and began cooking the meat at 2 PM the next day.
- Take the chicken out of the brine and pat it dry, preferably with a clean dish towel or paper towel.
- Take a lemon and poke a bunch of holes in it; I used a meat needle to do this. Cut it in half and place it inside the chicken along with plenty of thyme. Season with salt and pepper and rub the skin with butter, preferably a thick layer.
- Place the chicken on a rack and make sure there is a dish underneath to collect the melted butter. Put it in the oven at 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit) conventional oven. Yes, you read that right, only 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit). The whole essence of this recipe is to retain all the delicious juices and flavors inside the chicken. Insert a meat thermometer into the breast, and if you have one built into your oven, set it to a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) - that's the target temperature.
- When the temperature in the breast meat reaches 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit), take the chicken out of the oven. It took about 2 hours and 20 minutes with my chicken. It now needs to rest on the kitchen counter uncovered for 45 minutes.
- Turn the oven up to a high temperature (I had it at 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit) convection).
- Rub the chicken well with the butter from the collecting dish. Now it just needs to be reheated, and the skin should become crispy. This takes about 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven). Let it sit on a cutting board uncovered while you turn the oven down to 220 degrees Celsius (428 degrees Fahrenheit) convection.
- Cut off the thighs and place them in the oven. They need about 10 minutes to finish cooking.
- In the meantime, you can carve the rest of the bird and start serving it. Then divide the thighs and serve immediately.
- Feel free to season with salt and pepper on top before serving.
- Enjoy your meal.