View Full Version : Chicken Again?
Unlke chickens purchased in supermarkets, I never get bored by these range chickens from the Amish, they all taste a little bit different I can cook them everyday.
Please notice how I cook them, you would do well to follow the same technique.
WholeManin2010
11-02-2011, 15:01
Unlke chickens purchased in supermarkets, I never get bored by these range chickens from the Amish, they all taste a little bit different I can cook them everyday.
Please notice how I cook them, you would do well to follow the same technique.
Looks great! Ya know, I always roasted chickens at lower temps like that in the past, and while it was pretty good, I found that blasting one at 450 for about 45-50 minutes gives me a nice crisp skin and juicy flesh (not to mention plenty of rendered fat to use later). Any reason one technique (temp) might be superior to the other?
Snaquebite
11-02-2011, 15:07
I use a similar technique at 325 but usually upright on one of those beer can stands sometimes filled with different liquids sometimes empty.... Curious why 330?
mark46th
11-02-2011, 15:26
:munchin
Roguish Lawyer
11-02-2011, 15:50
Ah, it's actually a drip pan rather than a soak-in-fat pan . . .
I don 't cook the chicken in a pan I cook it right on the rack for total air circulation. The pan is there to catch the dipping.
I start the chicken at 400 and decrease the temp as the chicken cooks, with meat cookery everyone thinks max temps, but that dehydrates the protein longer and slower cooking is always better. The chicken Estella cooked this evening I cut with a fork.
Snaquebite
11-02-2011, 19:33
Ok...got that... I do the same for the first 30 minutes or more, depending on the size of the chicken. Then reduce the heat to 325.... I was struck by the temp pic of 330.. Is that your finishing temp? And if so, does 330 have any significance?
Trying to learn here...
My intention was 325^F , home oven are never calbrated so it was close enough for me. I probaly got tired of push the button?
mark46th
11-03-2011, 00:23
Nice result, Penn. Being from the Midwest originally(I thought gravy was a drink until I was 12), I'm thinking the drippings with some butter, cream, flour and a couple of basic seasonings would be great with some mashed potatoes. Or, maybe stuff the bird with wild rice, mushrooms and sausage?
Mark, and everyone for that matter, please cut back onthe dairy it will cause you serious health issues. Think evo, stocks, herbs and natural jucies. I'm waiting for some pitures I'm having digitize of Water Cusisine, a cooking techinque I developed in the early 1990's. In response to a clients request for full flavor dishes, sauces, and not fat.
The pictures, which I recently discover are awesome. It will be nice to revisit the process here, may be of some benefit to those with heart issues, or who just want too improve an already healthy diet.
mark46th
11-03-2011, 10:41
Acutally, Penn, I have cut way back.. I lost 80 pounds a couple of years ago and have learned to eat/cook healthier. I miss the dairy, the bread, the pasta, potatos and the rest of the carbohydrate family. But my diabetes is gone. I can live with it.
I lost 16lbs sticking to carbs and dairy in the morning only; proteins, vegetables and fruit only after 10AM. Penn, I would definitely be interested in the Water Cuisine technique.
mark46th
11-03-2011, 15:38
For sauces and gravy, now, unless otherwise requested, I use beef, chicken and ham bases. I don't use boullion cubes because of the high sodium. For instance one of my favorites is a basic one I use on steak and pork.
I cup of H20
1 tsp beef base
1 garlic clove minced
1 cup of wine
8oz of sliced mushrooms. I like Cremini or Portabellos
1/2 tsp cornstarch. Optional to thicken sauce if desired
Put water, beef base and garlic into a sauce pan. Heat and stir, dissolving beef base. Bring to a boil. Add mushrooms and wine. Simmer, reduce volume to about 1/1/2 cups of liquid. Spoon over steak, pork loin, etc.
For sauces and gravy, now, unless otherwise requested, I use beef, chicken and ham bases. I don't use boullion cubes because of the high sodium. For instance one of my favorites is a basic one I use on steak and pork.
I cup of H20
1 tsp beef base
1 garlic clove minced
1 cup of wine
8oz of sliced mushrooms. I like Cremini or Portabellos
1/2 tsp cornstarch. Optional to thicken sauce if desired
Put water, beef base and garlic into a sauce pan. Heat and stir, dissolving beef base. Bring to a boil. Add mushrooms and wine. Simmer, reduce volume to about 1/1/2 cups of liquid. Spoon over steak, pork loin, etc.
My wife uses a similar base for beef roast with the addition of rosemary and a pinch of thyme...
Roguish Lawyer
01-06-2012, 16:39
I'm trying this technique tonight with 12 cornish hens. :munchin
Team Sergeant
01-06-2012, 23:43
I'm trying this technique tonight with 12 cornish hens. :munchin
Twelve? Changing professions or making some extra money?;)
Twelve? Changing professions or making some extra money?;)
Gut'em, Pluck'em, and Burn'em isn't a law firm? ;)
Buffalobob
01-07-2012, 08:34
My daughter is reading Omnivore's Dilemma by Pollan and I was sleepless one night this week being as I am still wrestling with OPM over the Health Insurance open season, so I thought the book would be so boring I would zonk right out. Wrong. Interesting writing style about industrialization of food production. The author is a journalist and does not have a detailed knowledge of science nor facts but he is a clever writer and has the broad picture correct. Interesting point is the industrialization of even organic food production such as free range chickens.
One concept he mentions is how we vote with our money when we go to the grocery store, or don't go.
An example of his lack of knowledge is when he claims corn (maize) is totally dependent on humans for reproduction being as the kernels are attached to the cob and enclosed in a protective husk. He obviously has never seen a deer, raccoon, muskrat, squirrel or crow go after an ear of corn. Nonetheless, it is a readable book about food production.
I suspect you have already read it or better books but thought I would mention it being as it has gotten almost impossible to buy actual cornish game hens anymore at the grocery store. What you get nowadays is the size of what we used to call a "fryer".
I suspect you have already read it or better books but thought I would mention it being as it has gotten almost impossible to buy actual cornish game hens anymore at the grocery store. What you get nowadays is the size of what we used to call a "fryer".
Some folks may laugh or turn up their noses, but I buy mine (small game hen size) at Aldi's (in the frozen food section) for a VERY reasonable price (last time I bought them they were $2-3.00 each) They are very good, because I make them good. :D
Good luck RL, let's see some pics!