What went wrong?

I had no menu plans when I wandered through the store last night. Whole chickens were on sale, so the protein was determined. I debated on various preparations but decided to do a simple roast chicken. I used Mark Bittman's Simpliest Roast Chicken as my guide. Seemed easy enough: trim the excess fat, rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 500 for 15 minutes on a preheated cast iron skillet, then 350 until done.

Fortunately, it was mild enough outside to open the windows when the smoke detector went off. The biggest problem was that the chicken fat had splattered all over the oven. Didn't matter if I removed what had collected in the pan -- my oven was a smoking mess. The stovetop was used to finish cooking the meal.

Had I read the comments to the linked recipe, I might have realized there could be a problem. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts in what went wrong here.

P.S. I fully expect someone to suggest "chicken bread" as a solution. I didn't fully decide on my prep until I got home and there was no bread in the house. Next time though...

I roast a lot of chickens in a similar hot then cooler oven method. I usually put the chicken in a roasting pan on a rack and pour a little water into the roasting pan beneath the chicken. That allows the rendered fat to drip into the water and not smoke as much...or I make chicken bread.

Hi,

Nothing went wrong, it worked as expected. It's the nature of this cooking method.

Years ago Martha Stewart had a similar high heat roast chicken method, except it was 500 degrees for an hour. The drippings char to the pan making them unusable for gravy.

Cook's Illustrated turkey roasting method changes periodically. They now have it cooked at a low temperature ( I think it is 250 degrees) for an extended time, then raising the temperature to 450 degrees for 45 minutes. You could apply the same to your chicken, though it would take less time at the higher temperature.

Regards,

Maybe Bittman got a sponsorship from Easy-Off after he left NYT?

nr706 wrote:Maybe Bittman got a sponsorship from Easy-Off after he left NYT?

On the plus side, my oven is going to get cleaned this weekend!

stevez wrote:I roast a lot of chickens in a similar hot then cooler oven method. I usually put the chicken in a roasting pan on a rack and pour a little water into the roasting pan beneath the chicken. That allows the rendered fat to drip into the water and not smoke as much...or I make chicken bread.

Rullman (and his original source, Thomas Keller) would shudder at this: Keller's recipe emphasizes over and over that everything has to be dry, no liquid, use oil not butter... just to keep the skin dry and crispy. Putting water in the pan would create steam in the oven and counter all that.

JoelF wrote: Rullman (and his original source, Thomas Keller) would shudder at this: Keller's recipe emphasizes over and over that everything has to be dry, no liquid, use oil not butter... just to keep the skin dry and crispy. Putting water in the pan would create steam in the oven and counter all that.

Joel-

I looked at the Keller way but went with Bittman's for whatever reason. The biggest difference is Bittman's use of olive oil on the chicken. Keller's did not use oil.

JoelF wrote:

stevez wrote:I roast a lot of chickens in a similar hot then cooler oven method. I usually put the chicken in a roasting pan on a rack and pour a little water into the roasting pan beneath the chicken. That allows the rendered fat to drip into the water and not smoke as much...or I make chicken bread.

Rullman (and his original source, Thomas Keller) would shudder at this: Keller's recipe emphasizes over and over that everything has to be dry, no liquid, use oil not butter... just to keep the skin dry and crispy. Putting water in the pan would create steam in the oven and counter all that.

What do they know?

We do oven-roasted chicken (thighs or whole bird) at least once a week, and the fire alarm is just part of the experience. I open a nearby window, run the fan, and hope for the best...

mamagotcha wrote:We do oven-roasted chicken (thighs or whole bird) at least once a week, and the fire alarm is just part of the experience. I open a nearby window, run the fan, and hope for the best...

I've roasted chicken before without the fun of the smoke detectors going off. How do you roast your chicken?

mamagotcha wrote:We do oven-roasted chicken (thighs or whole bird) at least once a week, and the fire alarm is just part of the experience. I open a nearby window, run the fan, and hope for the best...

I crank up the gas grill and do it outside. No smoke issues out there.

Heh, we live in a rental with a crappy stove with a crappy fan and crappy circulation.

My thighs are this recipe. My whole bird is Keller's. If I roast a bit longer at 425, with window open and fan running, usually the alarms don't go off. But raising the oven over 450 seems to guarantee that they will.

I roast my chicken on a rack over carrots, potatoes, onions and parsnips. I also usually throw a cut up lemon and thyme in the cavity. Typically roast at 450F. I do not have issues with smoking, as all the fat falls onto lightly oiled (and chicken fat coated) vegetables. Chicken skin gets crispy, vegatables darkly browned.

Rullman (and his original source, Thomas Keller) would shudder at this

Who is "Rullman"? I don't see an identifying reference anywhere in the thread.

sundevilpeg wrote:

Rullman (and his original source, Thomas Keller) would shudder at this

Who is "Rullman"? I don't see an identifying reference anywhere in the thread.

Guessing Michael Ruhlman.

=R=

Try this for starters:

https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/30/reviews/000730.30bourdat.html

Geo

Try this for starters:

I know who Michael Ruhlman is; I have two of his books, and met him at a demo at the cooking school at the Mart a few of years ago. Nice guy. I was inquiring as to whom this "Rullman" person with no first name was.

Heh heh English phonetic spelling Sundevilpeg! Always pita...

Geo

Geo wrote:Heh heh English phonetic spelling Sundevilpeg! Always pita...

Geo

If it was really phonetic spelling shouldn't it have been ROOLmunn (and that's still assuming who was intended)?