HOW TO ROAST A BIRD
Who doesn’t love roast chicken? Crackly, crisp, salty skin.
Moist, tender meat. Deep aromas filling the house. Little bits
of fat and meat to tear off with your fingers or teeth as you
linger over the last sips of your whiskey (whiskey goes with
chicken, right?). It’s about as classy and classic as food can
get, and my go-to meal for company or the rare quiet night
in with the wife and dog.
But, to be perfectly frank, most of the time, I don’t like
roast chicken, because most of the time, well, chicken, just
isn’t roasted very well. The problem is one I’m sure
everyone of you has experienced: dry breast meat and it
doesn’t just apply to chicken—we’ve all also experienced
dry turkey). I’m not talking about the kind that frays around
the edges as soon as a carving knife comes close to it or that
instantly turns to sawdust when it hits your tongue; I’m
talking the kind that is just good enough that you can still
smile and say nice things during dinner, but just bad enough
that you wonder why the Pilgrims couldn’t have eaten prime
rib during that first fall.
The problem, as we all know, is with overcooking. So
first, let’s take a quick look at what happens to chicken
breast meat as it cooks:
- Under 120°F: The meat is still considered raw. Muscle
cells are bundled up and aligned in long, straight cable-
like fibrils wrapped in sheaths of elastic connective
tissues, which are what gives meat its “grain.” - At 120°F: The protein myosin begins to coagulate,
forcing some liquid out of the muscle cells, which then