Spicy-glazed Roasted Chicken: Slower Cooking for Tender Results

SLOW-ROASTED CHICKEN

This standard recommendation for roasting chicken is to preheat your oven to 500°F and turning the heat down to 350°F as soon as you put the chicken in. This high-temp approach guarantees crispy skin and a relatively speedy cook time. In this case, we abandon that method in favor of a lower, slower approach. Cooking the chicken at 300°F lets the whole bird, especially the breasts, cook gently to maximize tenderness. At that temperature, it’s easy to not accidentally blow past the recommended pull temp for the breasts of 157°F .

ROASTED POTATO SIDE

The perfect accompaniment for this chicken is cooked with the chicken. Small Yukon Gold potatoes are tossed with the remaining gochujang glaze (diluted with a little more oil) and cooked along with the chicken in the cast iron pan. By the time the chicken is done cooking, they have achieved a creamy, soft texture from cooking slowly in the oil and chicken fat that will drain into the pan. They are, in essence, potatoes confit.

After the chicken comes out of the oven, give the potatoes a slight smashing, just enough for them to split open so that they can absorb the delicious pan juices.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 4–5 lb whole chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 5 Tbsp gochujang (Korean fermented pepper paste)
• ¼ C plus 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 heads of fresh garlic
• 1½-inch piece fresh ginger
• 1½ lb small Yukon Gold potatoes (roughly 1½” in diameter)
• 5 scallions
• 2 limes
• 2 tsp honey

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place a cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat it to 300°F.
• Pat the chicken dry and season it liberally with salt and pepper.
• In a bowl, whisk together the gochujang and 1/4 C of olive oil. (For a little more Asian flavor, sub out 1 tsp of the olive oil with toasted sesame oil.)
• Into the paste/oil mixture, grate 3-4 cloves of the garlic from one of the heads. Peel the ginger and grate it into the paste. Mix this all together.
• Cut the heads of garlic in half equatorially. Stuff two of the halves into the cavity.
• Use a silicone basting brush to coat the chicken all over with the gochujang oil. You will have quite a bit left over.

• In a large bowl, coat the potatoes and the remaining two half garlic heads with the remaining oil and season them with salt and pepper. Add the rest of the gochujang/oil/spice mixture to the bowl and toss the potatoes and garlic to coat them in it.

• Remove the (now hot) skillet from the oven. Pour the seasoned garlic and potatoes into the pan. Move the potatoes to the edges of the pan. and arrange the garlic-head halves in the center of the pan, cut-face down.
• Arrange the chicken on top of the garlic. Don’t truss the legs. They will cook better untrussed and the seasoning will cook better between the leg and the body.

• Insert a probe from a leave-in probe thermometer into the deepest part of the breast. If you have a Smoke, even better. Put a probe into the breast and another into the deepest part of the thigh, too. Set the high alarm on the breast probe for 157°F]. The high temp alarm for the thighs is less relevant because we don’t mind if the thighs get much hotter. I set it for 200°F ).
• Place the pan in the oven and roast the chicken and potatoes slowly. Stir the potatoes once or twice during cooking.
• While the chicken cooks, cut the limes in half, and one of the halves into wedges. Slice the scallions.
• Mix the honey with the juice of half of one of the limes.
• When the alarm sounds (after about 2–2½ hours), verify the temperature with a Thermapen® Mk4. Remove the pan from the oven. Remember you can use a normal thermometer. I did. I do own a digitial like this one. I love it. But it was easy for me
• Move the chicken to a cutting board to rest.
• Pour the lime juice/honey mixture over the potatoes and smash them all lightly with a spoon, just enough to split them.

• Carve the chicken.
• Toss the sliced scallions with the potatoes and arrange the chicken on top for serving. Scatter with remaining lime halves and wedges.

• Serve. Maybe with some sourdough bread or sprouted for mopping up those sauces…

Recipe by: Bon Appétit’s Slow-Roast Gochujang Chicken