Choosing a brand or farmer for a chicken to roast

There was a lot of discussion in the City Provisions thread about Miller, Gunthorp and other chicken brands. Since then, I've roasted 2 Gunthorp chickens from City Provisions, and I must concede that they have significantly more tasty fat and a generally superior chickenny flavor than the Miller chickens I've purchased at Whole Foods. However, for whatever reason I cannot for the life of me get a crisp skin on these Gunthorp chickens. Using the exact method I've used to roast countless Miller and other chicken brands which have turned out golden and crisp, I end up with chewy, plastic-textured chicken skins with Gunthorp. I am not sure why this is, and thought I'd throw it out there to see if anyone has an explanation, or would like to just use this post as a jumping off point for a discussion about chicken brands in general.

Are the Gunthorp birds water-processed and the Miller ones air-chilled? Water processing will definitely make for flabby, moist skin that never quite crisps up. Overnight salting (not brining) can definitely help.

I remember that an old Cooks Illustrated issue showed that adding a bit of baking powder to the salt mixture can really dry out the skin (not sure how) and produce super-crispy skin. I'll see if I can dig that up and find their instructions, salt:baking powder ratio, etc.

-Dan

Good question - the WF Miller chix are definitely air chilled, and I guess I took for granted that Gunthorp 's birds were too since they're so widely touted by pro chefs in the area. As I mentioned in the City Provisions thead, I think water chilled chickens are significantly inferior. There's some info on the Gunthorp site that implies that their birds are indeed water chilled (without the chlorine, at least), so perhaps that's my problem.

I'm under the impression that the air chilling equipment is quite expensive (large dedicated walk-in with high-capacity compressors, fans, etc.) vs. just having large tubs filled with ice water. I'd bet that most small-scale producers water-chill and it's only once you get to large processors that you'd find air-chilling gear.

-Dan

Kennyz wrote:There was a lot of discussion in the City Provisions thread about Miller, Gunthorp and other chicken brands. Since then, I've roasted 2 Gunthorp chickens from City Provisions, and I must concede that they have significantly more tasty fat and a generally superior chickenny flavor than the Miller chickens I've purchased at Whole Foods. However, for whatever reason I cannot for the life of me get a crisp skin on these Gunthorp chickens. Using the exact method I've used to roast countless Miller and other chicken brands which have turned out golden and crisp, I end up with chewy, plastic-textured chicken skins with Gunthorp. I am not sure why this is, and thought I'd throw it out there to see if anyone has an explanation, or would like to just use this post as a jumping off point for a discussion about chicken brands in general.

Kenny,

Have you tried leaving the chicken unwrapped in the refrigerator for a few hours before cooking it? That drys out the skin and helps makes it more crispy when you finally roast it.

stevez wrote:

Kennyz wrote:There was a lot of discussion in the City Provisions thread about Miller, Gunthorp and other chicken brands. Since then, I've roasted 2 Gunthorp chickens from City Provisions, and I must concede that they have significantly more tasty fat and a generally superior chickenny flavor than the Miller chickens I've purchased at Whole Foods. However, for whatever reason I cannot for the life of me get a crisp skin on these Gunthorp chickens. Using the exact method I've used to roast countless Miller and other chicken brands which have turned out golden and crisp, I end up with chewy, plastic-textured chicken skins with Gunthorp. I am not sure why this is, and thought I'd throw it out there to see if anyone has an explanation, or would like to just use this post as a jumping off point for a discussion about chicken brands in general.

Kenny,

Have you tried leaving the chicken unwrapped in the refrigerator for a few hours before cooking it? That drys out the skin and helps makes it more crispy when you finally roast it.

Not exactly, but both times I bought the Gunthorp birds, that's exactly how they were displayed in the City Provisions case - unwrapped. I bought them, took them home and roasted them pretty much right away.