Thermoblog by Martin Earl
Every time of year is the right time to roast a chicken. Winter feasts, January cleanses, and Sunday dinners in summer are all well punctuated by a tender, savory roast bird.
Today we’re bringing you a recipe for roast chicken that is slightly different. We’re not going for ultra-crisp skin or fast cook time of a spatchcocked bird, but are instead opting for a slow-roasted chicken with a savory, mildly spicy coating and a side of tender-cooked potatoes. It’s easy to make and comes out super tender if you use a leave-in probe thermometer to keep track of the doneness. Take a look at the process and give it a try!
Slow-roasted chickenOur standard recommendation for roasting chicken is to preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C) and turning the heat down to 350°F (177°C) as soon as you put the chicken in. This high-temp approach guarantees crispy skin and a relatively speedy cook time. In this case, we abandon that method in favor of a lower, slower approach. Cooking the chicken at 300°F (149°C) lets the whole bird, especially the breasts, cook gently to maximize tenderness. At that temperature, it’s easy to not accidentally blow past the recommended pull temp for the breasts of 157°F (69°C).
Now, if you think that 157°F (69°C) sounds like undercooked chicken, it’s likely because you’ve heard the USDA recommend 165°F (74°C) as a final temp for food-safe chicken. But even the USDA preaches that food safety is a function of both time and temperature, not just temperature alone, and they give their blessing that chicken cooked to 157°F (69°C) is perfectly safe after staying at that temp for only 34 seconds! For more on this topic, see our post
all about chicken temperatures.
But what about the thighs? If you’ve spent much time on our blog, you know that poultry dark meat should be cooked to a higher temperature, not for the sake of safety but for the sake of enjoyment. 175°F (79°C) or higher is best. To achieve that temperature without overcooking the breasts, we’ll employ a smart thermal strategy and preheat our cast-iron skillet with the oven. By heating the skillet, we introduce a radiant heat source underneath the bird, close to where the thigh meat sits! This will give the dark meat a thermal jump-start and land us closer to the higher finish temp we want.
Spicy glaze for chickenThe glaze for this chicken is made with a healthy portion of gochujang, the spicy, funky, sweet fermented Korean chili paste. The deep flavor and rich red color make for a dish that is utterly enjoyable. Gochujang can be bought at almost any Asian market and is even becoming available in the Asian food aisles of many regular grocery stores. It is a thick paste that will add depth and heat to any sauce or dish and would be an amazing addition to a homemade barbecue sauce.
Slow-roasted, chili-glazed gochujang chickenThis recipe is based on Bon Appétit’s
Slow-Roast Gochujang ChickenIngredients
1 4–5 lb whole chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 Tbsp gochujang (Korean fermented pepper paste)
¼ C plus 2 Tbsp olive oil
2 heads of fresh garlic
1½-inch piece fresh ginger
1½ lb small Yukon Gold potatoes (roughly 1½†in diameter)
5 scallions
2 limes
2 tsp honey
More:
https://blog.thermoworks.com/chicken/gochujang-chicken/
