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Discover the secrets to a perfect roast chicken with Knorr's expert tips, covering everything from selecting the best free-range birds to achieving moist, succulent meat and crispy golden skin. Learn essential preparation techniques, cooking times based on weight, and how to carve like a pro, all while incorporating Knorr products for enhanced flavour.
Achieving a truly fantastic roast chicken every time is simpler than you think, especially with a little help from Knorr. This guide is packed with tips to elevate your Sunday roast, ensuring your chicken is bursting with flavour, perfectly moist, and wonderfully succulent.
Knorr's Flavour-Boosting Hack: For an incredible depth of taste, create a flavourful paste by mixing a little olive oil with a crumbled Knorr Chicken Stock Cube. Gently rub this paste all over the chicken, massaging it into the skin with your fingertips. This simple step, combined with classic additions like thyme sprigs and lemon halves placed inside the cavity, guarantees a moist and tender result.
Moisture-Maximising Technique: Try cooking your chicken upside down for the initial 30 minutes. This clever trick helps to keep the breast meat beautifully moist and tender throughout the cooking process.
Resting and Gravy: Once your chicken is thoroughly cooked, it's crucial to let it rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. This allows the juices to redistribute, ensuring maximum succulence. Don't forget to reserve the pan juices for your gravy! For an award-winning finish, use Knorr Roast Chicken Gravy. Simply mix with water, pour into the roasting pan, add some extra water from your cooked vegetables, and finish with the rich meat juices for an unforgettable flavour.
Roast Chicken: Your Family's Favourite, Made Easy
Roast chicken is a beloved family favourite – light, crispy, and utterly indulgent. This guide will take you from selecting your bird at the supermarket to carving it perfectly at the dinner table.
Beyond its deliciousness, roast chicken is a healthy choice, boasting a lower total fat content than red meats, with a good proportion of that being monounsaturated fat. It's versatile too; enjoy it hot as a comforting roast dinner or serve it cold in the summer months as part of a salad or main meal.
The key to a perfect roast chicken lies in careful cooking: ensuring it's cooked through while maintaining a moist interior and achieving that desirable crisp, golden skin.
Choosing the Best Chicken for Your Roast
Selecting the right chicken is the first step towards a spectacular roast. For the best flavour and texture, opt for free-range birds. While they might be a bit more expensive, corn-fed and organic chickens offer a superior taste experience compared to those raised in confined conditions.
How Much Chicken to Buy? A good guideline is to choose a 1.6kg chicken, which should comfortably feed 4 people and leave you with delicious leftovers for another meal.
Prepping Your Chicken for Roasting Perfection
Proper preparation is key to a succulent and flavourful roast chicken. Follow these steps before you even think about turning on the oven:
Safe Storage: Store your chicken wrapped in foil (never plastic) in a deep roasting tray on a lower shelf in the fridge. This prevents any juices from leaking and avoids cross-contamination.
Bringing to Room Temperature: About 30 minutes before roasting, remove the chicken from the fridge. Leave it covered in a cool place to allow it to come up to room temperature. This ensures more even cooking.
Preheat Your Oven: Always ensure your oven is fully preheated before placing the chicken inside. This is crucial for achieving that perfect golden-brown, crispy skin.
Flavourful Skin: For a delicious, crispy skin, rub the breast and legs with Flora Buttery. For an extra flavour boost, mix a crumbled Knorr Chicken Stock Cube with olive oil and rub it all over the skin.
Stuffing and Aromatics:
- Begin by loosening the flap of skin at the neck end.
- Pack about two-thirds of your chosen stuffing inside this cavity.
- Tuck the neck flap securely under the bird's back using a cocktail stick.
- Place vegetables and garlic around the chicken in the roasting tray.
- Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season with ground black pepper.
- For added moisture and flavour, prick a lemon all over with a sharp knife and place it inside the main cavity along with the remaining stuffing. Microwaving the lemon for 40 seconds beforehand can help release its aromatic oils even faster.
Roasting Your Chicken: Timing, Temperature, and Perfect Gravy
Achieving the perfect roast chicken involves precise cooking and a little Knorr magic for your gravy.
Roasting Time & Temperature: A general rule for roasting is 20 minutes per 450g, plus an additional 20 minutes. For example, a 1.5kg chicken should be perfectly roasted after approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes at 200°C (180°C fan/Gas Mark 6).
Checking for Doneness:
- Thermometer Method: Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the leg. The optimal internal temperature should reach 75°C.
- Skewer Method: If you don't have a thermometer, pierce the chicken between the leg and the body with a skewer. The juices should run clear, not pink, when it's fully cooked.
Basting and Veggies: Baste your chicken halfway through the cooking process. Remember to remove the chicken from the oven for basting to maintain oven temperature. If your vegetables look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to prevent burning.
The Crucial Rest: Once cooked, it's vital to let the chicken rest for at least 15 minutes. Remove it from the roasting tin, place it on a serving plate, and cover loosely with foil. This resting period allows the juices to settle, ensuring a moist and tender bird.
Knorr's Perfect Gravy: Elevate your roast with Knorr's award-winning Roast Chicken Gravy. Simply mix with water, pour into the roasting pan, and stir in some cooked onions, water from your cooked vegetables, and the delicious meat juices from the rested chicken for maximum flavour.
Effortless Carving: Serving Your Perfect Roast Chicken
Carving your perfectly roasted chicken can be done with ease. Follow these simple steps to serve up every delicious piece:
- Prepare the Bird: Remove the wings and any string used for trussing.
- Remove the Legs: Make a cut down between the leg and the breast. Once you've cut through the joint, gently pull the leg away. Repeat this on the other side.
- Separate Thigh and Drumstick: Divide each leg into a thigh and a drumstick by cutting between the two.
- Carve the Breast: With the legs removed, you'll have easier access to the breast meat. Cut down along the breastbone to release one side of the breast, then repeat on the other side.
- Final Touches: Smaller pieces can be easily removed. Don't forget to turn the chicken over to access all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath.
