Roast Chicken

Name: Roast Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 7 h 45 min
Yield: For a 1.5–2 kg (3 lb 5 oz–4 lb 8 oz) chicken
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons acacia or other light honey or maple syrup (optional); 60 g (2¼ oz/¼ cup) butter or olive oil; 3.6 litres (126 fl oz) water; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) non-iodised salt; 300 g (10½ oz) sugar; 3 pinches ground black pepper; 2 lemons, quartered; 2 teaspoons salt; 2 teaspoons black or yellow mustard seeds; 1–2 teaspoons ground cumin; 1–2 teaspoons cayenne pepper; 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Preparation info

For a
1.5–2 kg
chicken

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
8 hr

Appears in

New York Cult Recipes

By Marc Grossman

Published 2013

About

To achieve a roast chicken at home with skin as crispy and meat as flavourful as the ones from the rotisseries on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, I employ two techniques: I marinate the chicken in a salt-water brine; and I cook it slowly on a rack.

Ingredients

Brine

3.6 litres (126 fl oz) water
500 g (1

Method

Brining and Drying

Combine all of the brining ingredients together, except for the quartered lemons, in a large pot and stir over high heat until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Allow to cool at room temperature. As it takes a while for the brine to cool down, do this the day before or replace 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) water with ice, which you can add on