Two Tips for the Best Roasted Chicken Ever
GZ says to save your money on this unnecessary practice.
By now, everyone rests their Thanksgiving turkey and, if you’re a serious steak eater, you know to rest that too. But, how many of you rest your roasted chicken? If every hand didn’t go up, you are missing out on a seriously juicy bird. Does it improve the chicken to rest it? GZ says emphatically, “Yes, it does!”
But, don't just take GZ's word for it. The Kitchen staff cooked chicken all day long and rested the final product for varying amounts of time to see how much juice was lost by cutting into the chicken at different intervals. They took four 5-1/2 pound chickens and cooked them all to 160 degrees. Here are the results:
Resting 5 minutes: 3 1/2 ounces of juices lost
Resting 10 minutes: 2 1/2 ounces of juices lost
Resting 20 minutes: 2 ounces of juices lost
Resting 30 minutes: Less than 2 ounces of juices lost
The sweet spot for resting your roasted chicken is 30 minutes. But doesn’t the chicken get cold? GZ says no, “People ask me this all the time. It does not get cold, as a matter of fact, that chicken will still be very warm to the touch and actually perfect.” Plus, he adds, stop tenting your meats! “The only time I’ve ever done anything with tenting is when we went camping, Jeff. Save your money, I have never tented in my life.” So next time, for the chicken that will win the weekend, rest your bird and skip the tenting.
For more easy weeknight recipes and tips watch a two hour episode of The Kitchen Saturday at 11a|10c.
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