To roast something is to surround it with hot, dry air. It is a great technique to cook any number of items including fish, poultry, meat and even vegetables.
Roasting and baking are basically the same thing, except roasting is usually used when referring to meat, poultry and vegetables, while baking is usually used to refer to fish, breads and pastries. This is nothing more then culinary semantics, and both techniques are really one in the same.
Proper Technique For Roasting
- Never cover your product when roasting. Covering will create steam, and instead of roasting your meat or vegetables, you will instead be steaming.
- When roasting meat or other forms of protein, try to always use a roasting rack. This will keep the product from simmering in its own juices, which will cause the underside to poach and not roast.
- If using a conventional oven to roast, anticipate hot spots and uneven cooking. The product which you are roasting will cook faster on the back side then the side closer to the front of the oven since most of your heat is lost through the door. To avoid uneven cooking, be prepared to rotate your product, especially when roasting for extended periods of time.
For more information on proper roasting technique, listen to The Free Culinary School Podcast Episode 6.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Could you clear up the best method to roast a chicken? I’ve been trying to perfect this go-to recipe and am awash in contradictory tips – roasting rack/no rack, rotate chicken 3 times/don’t rotate, oven temp anywhere from 350-500 degrees, internal temp amywhere fron 155-180, breast up/breast down, etc. My experience has been that when I pull the chicken when the breast is 160-165, thigh at 170 (so that the carryover breast temp is 165-170), the thighs and legs are undercooked. When I carve into the breast, I’m still seeing some pink hues near the bottom of the breast and the juices are pinkish and not fully clear, eventhough the breast temp is registering 165. Mark Bittman suggested roasting the chicken in a preheated cast iron skillet so that the bottom of the chicken cooks faster – sounded interesting to me. I’m cooking for young children so I need to make sure I’m within the safety zone in terms of food safety. FCS to the rescue!!
@ Mommycook,
So lets break it down real quick.
Roasting Rack: I prefer the roasting rack because it allows for more even cooking, and the chicken does not sit in it’s own juices. Sitting in the juice will make for soggy skin, and my favorite part of the chicken is the nice crispy skin.
Oven temp: I like to roast it at 500 degrees, (a technique that I learned from The French Laundry Cookbook), because it will actually roast your chicken a lot more evenly. The high heat will penetrate the chicken faster, instead of a slow heat method that will penetrate the breast faster than the legs and thigh.
Breast Up or Down: I’ll roast my chicken breast down so that the juices released from the chicken will drip down and “baste” the breast. I’ll then flip my chicken breast up for the last 20 minutes of cooking, so that the skin on the breast will become nice and crispy.
Temp: Always take your chicken temp in the leg and thigh portion, not the breast. When the leg reaches 155 degrees F, I’ll pull my chicken and let it rest for about 15 minutes to allow for carry over. At this time I’ll get the rest of the meal together (sauce, veggies, etc.). For young children, I would pull the chicken when the thigh reads 160, just to be on the safe side. Also, make sure that you’re not hitting the bone with your thermometer, because this will give you a false reading.
Trussing: Trussing your bird is also very important to the roasting process for good, even cooking. Unfortunately it’s a visual thing, and isn’t something that I can teach in this reply.
Basting: Even though you didn’t mention basting, I figure I’ll talk about it real quick. A lot of people think that basting their bird adds moisture, but really all it does is make the skin soggy. If you want to brush something on, I prefer oil or melted butter during the last half of the cooking process.
Brine Your Bird: Brining your bird will not only make it supper moist, but it will also add great flavor and ensure that you can cook your chicken even beyond the safety zone without it drying out. The only downside is that you should brine a chicken for no less than 24 hours, and 48 hours is what I recommend. So you’ll have to think ahead a little bit. Here’s a great brine recipe that I use at the restaurant:
Five Spice Brine:
1 Gal Water
6 oz Kosher Salt
3.5 oz Sugar
.6 oz Five Spice (about a tablespoon)
20 Cloves
15-20 Peppercorns
.2 oz Cinnamon (about a 2 teaspoons)
Bring everything to a boil and whisk well to make sure salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature and thin chill in fridge until cold. To speed up the chilling process you can cool it down in a ice bath. This brine can be made in bulk ahead of time, and keeps in the fridge almost indefinitely (the salt and sugar act as preservatives).
Fully submerge in brine for 24-48 hours in a tall container, and use a plate or two placed on top of the chicken to keep it from floating out of the brine.
Jacob – thank you for, as usual, an answer above and beyond! That fully clears it up for me. I like how you even thought of the stuff I didn’t even think to ask…lol. And thanks for the heads up on temp for kid safety! It’s good not to poison the family in my culinary journeys
@ Mommycook,
Yeah, giving the kids food poisoning is usually a deal breaker. I’m glad you found my response helpful.