Loved our recent article on Poulterer’s Secrets to the Perfect Roast but still keen for a few more tips and tricks? Well, fire up those ovens because we’re here with the second instalment, and this time it’s not just all about your whole roast chook.
That’s right, we headed back to Bracher Arcade to see if we could uncover a few secrets to cooking duck, goose and chicken Marylands, direct to you from the teams at John Cester’s Poultry & Game and Arthur’s Quality Poultry.
Martin from Cester’s has some top tips for cooking a number of different birds.
“Before cooking a whole chicken, add seven tablespoons of salt to a pot of cold water and put your chicken in it for an hour before you cook it, ensuring the whole chicken is submersed. You can use sugar for a different flavour however you will need 12 tablespoons instead,” says Martin.
“Give your chicken a quick rinse before putting it in the oven. This will unlock the flavour of the bird and it will be lovely and moist.”
When roasting duck, Martin recommends pouring some boiling water over the skin of the bird. This will shrink the skin (you will see it shrink) and will ensure the meat retains moisture.
Martin thinks goose is a nice bird to have in winter and says it’s quite simple to cook. He recommends rubbing the outside of the bird down with Chinese five-spice and olive oil before putting it in the oven.
“Remember when roasting poultry birds, cook for 1 hour for the first kilo then 40 minutes for every kilo after that.”
Arthur from Arthur’s Quality Poultry suggests roasting Maryland pieces or bbq chops if you are less confident, as the leg meat is less likely to dry out. Whole birds are also more of a challenge to cook evenly, because the breast and leg meat are ready at different temperatures.
“I like to salt the skin the night before and let it dry out overnight in the fridge to make sure the skin gets nice and crispy in the oven,” says Arthur.
Arthur rubs butter mixed with dried herbs and garlic onto the skin before cooking, as he finds it gives the skin a nice golden colour and tasty flavour.
“Roast the legs at a low temperature, 150-160 degrees, for 1-2hrs depending on how many you’re cooking. Cook until the bone feels loose in the meat – you should be able to wiggle the drumstick bone pretty easily,” Arthur advises.
Cover the legs with foil and baste with the melted butter in the pan for the first half of the cooking time. Remove the foil to let the skin brown and crisp up for the remainder of the cooking, you can also turn the oven to a higher temp 180-200 degrees for this.
Arthur recommends letting the legs rest for 10-15 minutes before serving so they don’t lose all their juice when cutting.
Now you can shop online with John Cester’s Poultry and Game and Arthur’s Quality Poultry with Food Lovers’ Direct. Click here to start browsing their range.
