Roasting a chicken - how do you roast yours?
Daisy Bennyboots
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The reason I'm asking is that I'm a bit baffled.
We had to buy a new oven recently - and ever since then, some of our favourite foods have been tasting strange/horrible. It's just a standard Zanussi fan oven.
For example, our pizza are almost burned on top and soggy in the middle.
But the biggest annoyance of all is that our roast chicken tastes downright weird. We always use finest/organic chicken and even buy from the butcher sometimes - but it tastes completely tasteless/dry and even 'off' and oily.
So I'm going to forget everything I know and roast a chicken from scratch - so can I be nosey and ask how you roast yours?
Ta
We had to buy a new oven recently - and ever since then, some of our favourite foods have been tasting strange/horrible. It's just a standard Zanussi fan oven.
For example, our pizza are almost burned on top and soggy in the middle.
But the biggest annoyance of all is that our roast chicken tastes downright weird. We always use finest/organic chicken and even buy from the butcher sometimes - but it tastes completely tasteless/dry and even 'off' and oily.
So I'm going to forget everything I know and roast a chicken from scratch - so can I be nosey and ask how you roast yours?
Ta
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I then roast it for the usual 20 minutes per 500g, plus an extra 20 minutes.
It always takes I while to get to grips with a new oven, I've found. They tend to vary in terms of temperature and cooking times. Do you have an oven thermometer, so you can check if your oven's running hot (sounds like it is, with the burnt pizza and dry chicken)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWLt6G85zC4
Obviously check the settings on your oven. Mine has settings for no fan, fan, pizza - which puts more heat to the bottom of the oven to help the base, and grill - which would explain why your pizzas are being burnt on top.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=roasting+tins+with+lid&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=dZrzU9a5OaSB7Qb0g4HADg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1185&bih=643#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=2lFayYfobWtrGM%253A%3B7L1GQ7kxm8SJCM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F1.bp.blogspot.com%252F-wBjgsKF5Ijk%252FUnqKZAp2gEI%252FAAAAAAAAAUI%252FnucwDAzKE-E%252Fs1600%252FROASTING%252BTIN.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fnotjustaprettyplate.blogspot.com%252F2013%252F11%252Fslow-roast-pork-with-seasonal-apple.html%3B886%3B563
I will usually add water, garlic, onion, celery, lemon and salt and pepper to it.
How can you turn the fan off? I cook mine in a covered roaster and season it with salt, pepper and herbs like that video.
Overcooked chicken is stringy and dry, especially if one only eats the breast meat.
I always:
- cook it upside down in the tin so the breast is permanently basted
- 20 minutes to the pound + 20 more at the end
- stuff the neck and cavity. They say you mustn't stuff the cavity now but for me it's essential as the butter/herbs/onions infuse the chicken with flavour, and the stuffing itself tastes heavenly afterwards.
Also, allow the chicken to rest for a good 15 minutes after withdrawing it from the oven; the meat will suck up any juices the heat has forced into the cavity, and it will be juicy and succulent.
I have different settings some of them turn the fan off, I thought you had something similar... But if you cannot do that, you might need to use lower? temperatures, I reckon the hot circulating air makes the outside go crispy quicker without going through, but that's my theory.
Unfortunately, we can't seem to turn the fan element off - it's fan or nothing! My Dad's oven gives you a choice, but not mine. I am wondering if my old oven ran cooler. The dial transfers wore off years ago and we were just guessing temperatures based on memory!
I have often wondered what roasting bags and chicken bricks/roasters are like - and if that might be the answer to bypass the problem of the oven drying the chicken out?
It just seems like the fan makes the oven very 'dry' - and I just don't know how to compensate for that? When you open the oven door - the woosh of hot air is so harsh that you have to open the oven door at arms length and tuck metal jewellery under your clothes!
Even when I started from scratch and followed a plain Jamie Oliver roast chicken recipe - it was grotty - tasteless dry and hard despite using the recommended temperature.
This is almost exactly how I do mine - but I just can't get that lovely moist roasty taste I used to!
I wonder if your oven is running hot? A seperate oven thermometer could be a good investment.
If your chicken is coming out tough it's simply because you are cooking it at too high a temperature and for too long. It's got nothing to do with the the oven being dry or the ingredients you're using, or how you are cooking it and so on. The fan won't be causing your oven to be 'dry'. It's just circulating the air around, so you get more even cooking, and it's more efficient, so you need to compensate for that by cooking at a lower temperature and for less time than you would in a normal oven. I'd recommend an oven thermometer, so you can check whether your oven's running hot and adjust your timings accordingly. You were probably running your old oven too cold, as you were guessing at temperatures, and you've got used to that. It's just a question of getting used to the new one now!
I guess I always overcook it........
you get lovely moist meat & crispy skin
I cook chicken on mark 5