Every Way to Cook a Whole Chicken (24 Methods) | Bon Appétit

hi everyone I'm a meal Stanek editor-at-large at Bon Appetit and this is almost every way to cook a chicken there's a whole world of chicken out there folks we got big chickens and little chickens old chickens and young chicken's yellow chickens and even black chickens but today we're gonna be working with a good old fashioned oh hey hold still gotcha a good old-fashioned pasture-raised broiler chicken this guy weighs about three and a half to four pounds and it's nice and compact so it'll cook as evenly as possible the light meat and the dark meat cook very differently so making sure the whole bird is juicy and tender is no small feat which is why we're gonna cook it every way we can think of poached chicken we got our pot of room temp water we're gonna season that heavily with kosher salt lower the chicken in and then we're gonna bring that up to a boil then cover it lower the heat and let it poach for about 45 minutes get this guy out of the pot and poach chicken as you can see no browning at all on the exterior leg is separating easily which is how you can tell it's nicely cooked the breast feels extremely juicy mmm moist really gently cooked good seasoning dark meat super succulent it lost a bit of flavor to the water let's give that a try hmm yeah we have a very light tasty chicken stock not super strong let's see if we can fortify it a bit chicken stock here we have an already poached chicken as well as the light stock that it produced we're gonna get all of the meat off of the bird and set it aside throw all these leftover bones into the pot add a bit of celery carrot onion and we're gonna simmer that for a few hours so we can extract as much flavor as possible all right it's been about three hours we're gonna strain our stock then season it and that's our homemade chicken stock this smells amazing and that color is beautiful deep golden with little bits of fat floating on the top let's give it a taste ah oh damn that's good rich and clean and chickening so comforting I'd take that over the canned stuff any day roast chicken three ways all right we're gonna roast three chickens but we're gonna prepare each one slightly differently we're gonna dry this one off as best we can with paper towels drying is key to browning the skin and then simply season it all over with salt now this one we actually salted 24 hours ago and let it sit uncovered on a rack in the fridge which is a really drying environment this helps to get moisture out of the skin more effectively and also allows the salt more time to penetrate the meat and this one we're gonna dry off season and then dry the skin out with the help of this handy dandy hairdryer now we're gonna pop them each into a 450 degree oven for about an hour and take them out when they're ready roast chicken so this is the bird we salted right before we roasted it handsome color here a bit pale on the other side but that's just how the cookie crumbles let's break it down Wow look at all that juice very moist the breast looks great really tasty good salt on the skin but not so much on the interior and the dark meat so good loving the caramelized flavor of that skin which is the best part of any roast chicken in my opinion tender but with plenty of integrity the classics they don't disappoint 24-hour salted chicken this is the one we salted 24 hours in advance and left to dry in the fridge the colour is definitely a bit darker and a little bit more even and that's because the skin was drier what a looker breast looks really on point Wow super juicy great skin and the seasoning really penetrated the meat it's so much more flavorful than our other roast chicken and I think the extended salting helped to tenderize it a bit the dark meat out of the park I love this chicken I cannot recommend this method highly enough hair dryer chicken here's the chicken we tried to dry out with the hairdryer there's maybe a little bit more browning than on our salted alum a newt bird but definitely not as much as we saw in our 24-hour salted bird that's seeing a ton of payoff here breaking it down looks nicely cooked but nothing to write home about hmm no breasts is nice but tasteless shame is our first roast chicken same with the dark meat I'm gonna say that hair drying doesn't make a difference at all so I wouldn't bother with this spatchcocked roast chicken we're gonna roast another chicken but this time we're gonna spatchcock it first what that means is we're gonna take our chicken and remove its backbone which will allow us to open up the bird like a book and expose all the skin on one side we'll cut along both sides of the backbone set this aside for stuck flip the bird over breast side up and press down on it like we're doing CPR until we feel it crack dry it off season both sides with salt get that onto a sheet pan and then pop it into a 450 degree oven for about 30 to 40 minutes beautiful the benefits of this method are pretty obvious gorgeous carmelization all over you got these nice dark kind of bubbly bits and it cooked in nearly half the time breaking it down nice and easy uber juicy looking white meat mmm God it's so good this seasoning is deluxe because it got it from both sides and the whole thing cooked so much more quickly and evenly and the dark meat and it's perfect too this is one of my all-time favorite ways to cook a chicken brick chicken we're gonna spatchcock our chicken again season it with salt and then lay it into this ripping hot cast-iron pan press down on it with this spatula to get as much skin contact as possible and then lay these two bricks on top to weigh it down then we're gonna pop it into this 500 degree oven to finish cooking for about 20 minutes voila chicken under a brick the Browning is really nice it actually feels a little bit crispy which is pretty hard to achieve I'm gonna break it down coming apart really easily still has tons of juice in it mmm really delicious your really tender really nicely seasoned and the thigh mmm I love that dark meat firm just cooked and juicy tender I love cooking spatchcock chicken you're changing the geometry of the bird which does a lot to get the different types of meat to cook evenly that said this method is a lot more unwieldy than our spatchcocked and roasted and not that much all right for this next method we're gonna take things outside drilled spatchcocked chicken we got our third spatchcocked bird we're gonna put this on the grill skin side down and close the lid give it a quick flip so we can cook the other side and she's good to go beautiful color the whole surface was able to get direct medium to medium low heat it was done in about 25 minutes so it's a very efficient way to grill a chicken it's coming apart really nicely super moist and that breast looks spot-on we're eating outside I'm just gonna use my hands mmm incredible tender moist killer browning and the skin almost crackles and even though the grill is gas we got some good smoky char mmm same with the dark meat whether it's grilled or roasted you're gonna have to try pretty hard to convince me that spatchcocking doesn't produce a superior bird beer can chicken we got a beer we got a chicken we're gonna get this chicken on here and then prop it up right on our grill see on the other side drunk chicken looking good this is actually really impressive golden color all around let's get the can out ooh yeah that's a lot to look at anyways let's part it out wow the meat almost has a pinkish sort of ring around it which I normally associate with barbecue mmm YUM great browning breast is on point in the dark meat mmm spot-on but the one thing that it doesn't taste like is beer that can is still totally full but it was great for propping up the chicken so the dark meat got more heat than the breast did it's a little gimmicky and I don't think it's better than our spatchcock bird but still really tasty all right now I'm gonna head back inside and try something similar blunt pan chicken so now we're gonna use a bundt pan to kind of mimic the effect of a beer can chicken dry our chicken off salt it little oil now we're gonna take some foil and cover the hole in the bundt pan set our bird so it sits up straight and then get it into a 425-degree oven for about an hour that'll do it so here we have our B PC aka bundt pan chicken let's get it off of this stand wow that's kind of a lot so anyways yeah this looks pretty weird it's brown on top but the bottom half just kind of steamed and looks pretty obscene carve it up I'm not worried about the leg with the breast is in trouble hmm yeah way overcooked and kind of chalky you know this method is confusing because it feels like the part that needs the most protection got the most intense heat the dark meat is totally good but the skin is pale I don't know this method doesn't have much going for it at all RAK roasted chicken we got our hot oven we're gonna put this sheet pan on the bottom rack to catch any chicken drippings and then we're gonna take this generously seasoned chicken and slap it directly onto this oven rack alright let's try to get this out without dropping it gotcha well I'm impressed so far beautiful color up here on top really nicely burnished but its underside which I would expect to get a lot browner considering it's totally exposed it's kind of a letdown what's the point of all that mess at the bottom is gonna be so pale I'm gonna pop that leg off cut it in half take off a breast and slice it wow that breast looks kind of awesome mmm super succulent really nailed it and the dark meat also really tender I mean honestly this is just a really good roast chicken but the method didn't add all that much and made a hell of a mess I don't think I'd bother with this again Tagg roasted chicken okay I'm gonna season this with salt not gonna bother drying this off because it's kind of a wet cooking method anyways oil it up load our chicken into this oven safe bag and cinch it closed make a couple of slits for steam to escape get it onto our sheet pan and then cook it in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half good lord that looks crazy well it's definitely in a bag it looks kind of like a holiday gift basket from hell I can tell without even opening it that it's a bit on the pale side and yet open Wow a lot of juice collected in the bag barely any color just kind of steamed in there I mean it's not not tender and the breasts hmm not bad definitely nicely cooked I'm really missing the complexity of the caramelized skin lens hmm today with the dark meat and the more I eat it the more it has a weird plasticky taste to it I'm not feeling this when people salt-crusted chicken this is gonna get weird folks here we have a bunch of egg whites we're gonna dump all of this kosher salt in there and then mix it and knead it for a while with our hands until it's sort of paste forms it's actually kind of nice feeling like wet sand then we make a little bed on this sheet pan put our chicken right in the middle and kind of mound this salt crust all around evenly smile then we get this into a 400 degree oven for about an hour and 10 minutes well that is terrifying okay let's break this crust open really firmed up on there so the chicken didn't Brown at all it just kind of steamed inside that salt layer but it smells really nice breaking it down wow it feels very tender the breast feels very supple look at that mmm very moist really flavorful and well-seasoned without being over-the-top salty mmm and that dark meat too you know it isn't much to look at but if you plated the meat with some sauce and garnish it would more than make up for that flabby skin its gimmicky but delicious I'm here for it all right let's head back outside and make some smoked chicken all right smoke em if you gottem folks chicken goes in and smoked chicken comes out gorgeous exterior it almost looks fake the smell is out of control the skin almost has a bit of a tackiness to it oh wow that's very tender big low-and-slow vibes the leg just pops right off and the breast looks very juicy mmm wow it almost tastes like sausage the smoke is concentrated on the exterior there's just enough to perfume each bite hmm the dark meat is even better so rich and smoky I want to make chicken salad with this chicken on a string we're gonna bring it over here to this fire pit hook it onto this tripod and let that just kind of dangle here while it cook slowly by the fire okay this has been cooking for a couple of hours we've been adjusting the position from time to time but it looks about done alright so here we have our dangled chicken we got a little bit of singeing right here cooking over live fire is an art and I'm no artist but the carmelization all around is there let's get it out of its bondage gear and then part it out breast looks a hair dry hmm yeah why meat could be juicier with a smoke flavor is amazing and the dark meat hmm oh yeah that's good this method is tricky to nail but super fun if you're up to the challenge deep fried chicken okay our chicken is all rigged up we got some 350 degree vegetable oil right here and we're just gonna very gently ease it into the oil and let it go for about half an hour get that out without burning ourselves Fried Chicken alright let's take a look at this baby oh it's too cute to eat ah here we go this is the chicken I met how pretty is that it's incredibly crispy and brown looking definitely a bit oily but the color is so uniform because every bit was exposed to the oil the entire time break it down it seems like a lot of moisture got locked in there breast looks appealing hmm this tastes great and the skin is crackly and delicious but a hair overcooked for my taste dark meat is mmm super you know this is great but it's a lot of mass in a bit hard to control I'd happily sacrifice a bit of that browning for a perfectly juicy roasted bird let's get back inside and warm up braised chicken we got our chicken we got our Dutch oven we're gonna turn this on medium heat let it get nice and hot season our bird all over get a little bit of oil into our pot and then sear it so it's brown on both sides add a bit of chicken broth let that come up cover it and simmer not too shabby so we got some color but the skin has gone kind of slimy in the steam definitely tender Lakes just kind of falling apart you love to see that the breasts off nice and tidy mmm white meat is a bit over but still fairly moist I'm could have probably pulled it a little bit sooner because that dark meat is really shreddy hmm yeah nice I bet the liquid in the pot will make up for any dryness hmm oh yeah a little chicken juice solves a lot of problems delish rotisserie chicken this part ain't pretty we're gonna season our bird lube it up and then use this torture contraption to rig it up as tightly as possible okay tighten that on there okay hook it into this rotisserie get it spinning and come back when it's done wow that is something all right all right so first we got to get it off this thing yeah there it goes so the bird kind of compacted a little bit due to gravity but it has that signature rotisserie tenderness to it nice even coloring all around looks pretty nice hmm that breast is so much better than what you get on a grocery store rotisserie chicken that's been sitting under a heat lamp all day not as juicy as a roasted chicken breast hmm the dark meat is shreddy and juicy and delicious all right let's check the same idea outside wood-fired rotisserie chicken okay so we've got another oiled and salted chicken threaded onto this skewer we started this fire and placed cinder blocks on either side to help direct the heat towards our chicken while it's on this medieval tanning bed of doom now let's get it spinning all right looks done to me all right let's get it off this skewer there's some browning but the color is pretty uneven that might just have to do with how cold it is outside feels pretty tender though hmm definitely got some good smoked flavor I love that you know with the rotisserie you've got the low heat and you're constantly taking the heat away and re exposing the chicken which does some cool things but I don't think this outdoor rotisserie necessarily produces much more of a delicious bird than a regular roasted chicken but let's head back inside and try one more take on this same idea photo suri chicken so now we're gonna try to mimic the effect of a rotisserie by cooking our birdie low and slow in the oven season it Jenner with salt inside and out a little bit of oil to help things along get it onto a sheet pan and cook it in a 300 degree oven for two and a half hours there she is folks I mean it looks like a rotisserie chicken on top but the underside is pretty pale and flabby because it couldn't get any direct heat that dark meat is just falling apart though and it's really easy to cut through the bone the breasts I can tell the breast is a little bit over hmm a little bit dry still good flavor that the leg is just incredibly tender really appealing YUM I mean look this definitely works and yields a pretty tender bird but also isn't better than a real rotisserie or a straight-up roast chicken for that matter microwave chicken okay gonna season our chicken all over with salt rub it down with oil get it onto a plate and slide it into this microwave for about 20 minutes here goes nothing okay pop it open and Wow Oh God yeah that looks done microwaved chicken everybody I'm actually kind of surprised by how much color we got here there are definitely some crispy looking bits the other side not so much it's definitely cooked though and the breast mmm you know I got to say no white meat is juicier than I thought it would be but weirdly kind of tough and the dark meat hmm very tender pretty nice honestly I mean not the most elegant of preparations and leaves much to be desired including the skin but that said I'm pretty impressed by the microwave this time around instant pot chicken so we got our instant pot on the sautee function we're gonna season our tied-up chicken all over with salt get some oil into the pot and we're gonna sear the bird on all sides then add a bit of water close the lid and let it pressure cook oh wow okay yeah we kind of lost control this one she's gone to pieces once again we got a bit of color from the saute function but then it totally sogged out it's really just falling apart which isn't a bad thing for this dark meat hmm yeah that's insanely tender shred a bowl delicious but the yeah that's not looking too hot hmm yeah parched you know the instant pot would be great for making a big batch of pulled dark meat chicken but not a whole bird we sacrifice the white meat for the dark here so the whole package isn't all that impressive air fried chicken we meet again counter droid we're gonna tie the legs so it fits salt it little oil open this tray and get our bird into our preheated air fryer and set it for 40 minutes well it dinged looking good loving the way the skin looks here gorgeous browning burnished mahogany almost crackly the underside pretty pale though which is disappointing cut that string the meat is coming apart really easily looking at the breasts white meat is way over very dry but the skin has incredible flavor the dark meat much more forgiving very supple you know the airfryer would be a great way to cook some chicken thighs but a whole bird not so much sous-vide chicken science time all right a little salt get it into this bag and then suck out all the air with this vacuum sealer and seal it great now we're gonna get it into this pot fitted with an immersion circulator set to 150 degrees okay now the whole chicken is up to temp we're gonna get it out of the bag Pat it dry and use this searzall which is a modified blowtorch to get some color on that skin jeez this is taking forever getting kinda bored all right good enough so this chicken has got a great compact shape because of the way it cooked under pressure and this searzall was able to give us some decent somewhat spotty browning all around looks like a cheese pizza kind of let's break it down this meat feels really nice Wow look at how juicy that piece of breast meat looks YUM that breast is insanely moist the meat is dense and really tender and flavorful I mean you basically can't overcook me this way the dark meat not shreddy or brazii but amazingly tender i only wish the searzall hadn't been so hard to work with in this context better browning would be nice but otherwise this is a perfectly cooked chicken okay today we cooked a whole lot of chickens a whole lot of different ways what did we learn well for one thing it's pretty tough to mess up the dark meat on a whole chicken it's really rich and super forgiving but getting that white meat just right is what really set our methods apart to that end some of our best and simplest methods ended up involving high or direct heat and spatchcocking the bird to expose all of its skin was a total GameChanger have a favorite way to cook a chicken that you didn't see here today leave it in the comments

Channel: Bon Appétit

Views: 2,800,134

Rating: 4.7699981 out of 5

Keywords: every way, amiel stanek, amiel bon appetit, amiel makes, almost every, amiel, every way to make chicken, every way to cook chicken, whole chicken, almost every chicken, almost every way to cook whole chicken, whole chicken recipe, amiel whole chicken, amiel makes whole chicken, every way to cook whole chicken, how to cook whole chicken, how to make whole chicken, make whole chicken, making whole chicken, how to whole chicken, easy whole chicken, food, bon appetit

Id: XwqO3-gggqU

Length: 22min 31sec (1351 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 20 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Tibbox]

Damn, no laser? No hot tub? Between this episode and the chicken breast episode, BA seems to really take their chicken seriously

[u/Cheeky6892]

I'm happy these are all methods people would actually want to try. Was really worried we were going to get something like a blender on this video. Surprised at how well the air frying method worked out

[u/masterofyourpussy]

I want to scream every time Amiel acts like he's eating

[u/jamiethemime]

My idol Amiel sticking it to the haters with the exaggerated drinking of the chicken stock

[u/moncoeurquibat]

Whose baby was that?!

[u/Font-street]

Dear Mr. Stanek and Bon Appetit's Entire Production Team.

First of all, thanks for your hard work, you're doing hood sweetie, love you, etc etc.

Now, unlike many, many, many others here. I have no problem about the recorded voiceover. Neither do I have a problem about the fake eating, or the uniform-like costume of Mr. Stanek. In fact, I have always seen all of them as an entertaining quirk of the series.

But.

I can absolutely live with less goatse lingering shot of a chicken's gaping hole after being stretched fully with a beer can can.

Thank you for the understanding.

(i don't even know if I'm serious or not.)

[u/milleribsen]

I'm going to need a super cut of Amiel saying vaguely sexual things about chicken breasts

[u/vesteele]

I'm loving that they have fully leaned into the non-live production now.

[u/damn-croissants]

these videos are anti asmr