Rocket Hot Ovens, Roast Chicken and Why I Brine (Part I)

Have you ever roasted a chicken? I’m talking about a whole roasted chicken, like the kind you can get at the hundreds of rotisserie places in NYC?

As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up around this town, and one of the big takeout trends of the late 80s/90s was barbecued chicken, so I ate a lot of the stuff during my childhood. Strangely enough, I realized that with as many turkeys I’ve made over the years, and various types of chicken parts (breasts, wings, etc.) I’ve prepared, I’d never really roasted a whole chicken. It just never came up, and it was inconvenient. I mean, why do up the whole chicken when you can prepare parts with less mess and carving? I saw the only benefit to cooking a whole chicken to be the pageantry of carving (which is dramatic and cool with a turkey, if you’ve got moves), and that wasn’t worth it to me.

That said, I have heard/read that there are a few “marques” of being a great chef. It’s said that the way he/she roasts a simple chicken (or makes an omelet) is indicative of talent, taking the everyday into the sublime. Sounded like a challenge.

To be continued... Stay tuned.