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    Home » Recipes » Dinner

    Chef Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken of Bouchon Fame

    Published: Apr 11, 2021 · Modified: Apr 28, 2022 by Chef Christina

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    While working at Bouchon bistro in Napa Valley, I prepped A LOT of chickens destined for roasting. And while you can find recipes galore for Thomas Keller's roast chicken, almost all of them are missing one crucial step. Brining is any chef's secret to flavorful, succulent, crispy-on-the-outside-juicy-on-the-inside chicken. Here's an adapted recipe for roasting a chicken like I did at Bouchon in Yountville, California. And also how to get that crispy skin everyone fights over!

    Whole roasted chicken with a deep golden color in a sauté pan on table.
    Jump to:
    • The Story
    • The Formula
    • Brine Ingredients
    • The Secret
    • Equipment
    • Roasting Ingredients
    • The Method
    • The Steps
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Edible Epilogue
    • 📖 Recipe
    • More French Recipes
    • 💬 Reviews

    The Story

    I worked at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, California as a Culinary Institute extern (paid intern) for almost six months. Amidst the quiet chaos and snarky commentary from kids sous chefs ten years younger than me, I prepped a lot of chickens.

    Roasted chicken carved into white and dark meat quarters, on a plate with roasted potatoes.

    The roasted chicken dish at Thomas Keller's Bouchon is one of the most popular items on the menu. And the way we brined, then air-dried the chickens is why. Savory, exceedingly moist, and the crispiest skin on a chicken I've ever tasted.

    It's a literal winner of a chicken dinner.

    Absolute perfection on a plate. I could personally eat it every day.

    The Formula

    Brining a chicken, or any large piece of meat is an inexpensive way to infuse tons of wonderful, nuanced flavors into a rather bland dish. It's a simple step but does require a little planning. However, if you have the time and interest, brining is a great way to keep the breast meat from drying out in the oven.

    Raw whole chicken in a large stainless steel bowl with brining liquid and ingredients.

    Standard Brine Formula

    100% Water + 5%-10% Salt + Herbs and Spices


    In smaller, volume measurements, this works out to about a quarter-cup of kosher salt for every four cups of water. Use half the amount if using table salt.

    Two quarts (eight cups) of water and half a cup of kosher salt is a good place to start for a smaller chicken. A four-pound chicken will require a gallon of water.

    Brine Ingredients

    A simple brine of salt and water will certainly increase the juicy factor of any large piece of meat. But why stop there? Any herbs, bay leaves, or aromatic vegetables you have can be put to great use in a brine.

    Photos of listed brine ingredients for Thomas Keller's roasted chicken on countertop.

    Outside variations, here are classic brine ingredients used in many restaurants, including at Bouchon:

    • water
    • kosher or flake salt
    • honey
    • fresh parsley
    • fresh thyme
    • lemons, halved
    • black peppercorns
    • bay leaves

    Like spicy chicken? Add chili flake and a bit of hot sauce.

    Sweet and herbal? Add several black tea bags in the warm brine and a good dose of honey.

    Making a Brine

    1. Combine half of the water, salt, whole spices, fresh herbs, honey, and even several tea bags in a large pot. Bring the brine mixture just to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt.
    2. Pour simmered brine mixture into a large container or brining bag, and add the remaining measure of cold water. This will help cool down the brine faster so you can add the chicken sooner.
    3. Submerge the chicken in the cooled brine, and refrigerate for 8 hours, up to overnight (about 12 hours). I find ten hours for a three-to-four-pound chicken to be a sweet spot.
    Ingredients for classic chicken brine in pot on stove.

    Chef Tip: You never want to add a raw chicken to a warm brine, that's a recipe for bacteria growth. Lukewarm temperatures are where foodborne illnesses like salmonella and e. coli thrive and reproduce like rabbits. Don't submerge the chicken until the brine has completely cool (like refrigerator temperature cool).


    The Secret

    If you've ever wondered how to get crispy chicken skin, here is the answer:

    Dry. It. Out.

    Leave your brined (or not) chicken uncovered in the fridge for a couple of days. The skin will go from opaque to translucent. If you really want to get crazy, place a battery-operated fan next to it. No, the chefs at Bouchon don't do this. But the large walk-in coolers at most restaurants are equipped with fans that blow the cold air around. A small personal fan would be the home hack.

    Brined and dried out whole chicken on small parchment-lined sheet pan. Skin has turned translucent.

    Equipment

    While you can roast a chicken in a variety of vessels, nestling the bottom cavity of a whole bird over the tube of a bundt (or similar) pan is my pick. It allows all the skin to crisp and for the flesh to cook evenly. I roasted three chickens this way once for a client who was entertaining an acclaimed architect with a picky palate. The meal received high praise, and I left with an autographed book. Perhaps proof of the power of food.

    • Whole chicken with butt end set over the tube of a bundt pan on countertop next to seasoning ingredients.
    • Raw, seasoned whole chicken on a rack set over a parchment-lined sheet pan.
    • Brined and seasoned chicken set inside stainless steel sauté pan.

    When I teach roasted chicken in my culinary classes, I use a simple sauté pan. This is a low-maintenance way to get a chicken in the oven. And one you will see Chef Keller using in many online videos. It's how we roasted individual chickens at Bouchon. Be sure to use a sauté pan that is oven-safe at high temperatures. And mind the handle when taking it out, or you'll end up like me with multiple burn scars.

    Of course, a classic roasting pan gets the job done. The key to using one is to use a rack set inside, so the hot air can circulate around the bottom, too. A rimmed sheet pan with a stainless steel rack set inside is a simpler option.

    However you roast, avoid soggy chicken butts at all costs! That's Chef's (as in Keller) favorite part of the bird, that is.

    Roasting Ingredients

    I learned two important approaches to cooking while working at Bouchon: finesse and the importance of ingredient quality. While all the Thomas Keller restaurants in Napa cook with bounty from The French Laundry garden, nothing is overly exotic.

    Fresh. Simple ingredients. Carefully prepared:

    • whole chicken, cleaned of innards (not rinsed!)
    • avocado/vegetable oil or melted ghee (clarified butter)
    • salt
    • fresh thyme
    Photo of Thomas Keller's roast chicken ingredients on counter with labels: whole chicken, salt, fresh thyme leaves and oil.

    On Salt

    You want to season the brined chicken with salt all over the outside and inside the cavity. Evenly, excessively, and everywhere. Pinching salt in your fingers and raining it down from a few inches above the meat is a great way to get a nice covering.

    Be generous. But not obnoxious.

    Wait, more salt?! Yes, more salt. Trust me when I say you're still eating less than you get from processed foods with loads of salt-based preservatives. Especially if you cook with a kosher or flake salt at home. Kosher salts are inexpensive and don't contain sugar. Yep. There's sugar in table salt. Best avoided. You can get that recommended daily dose of iodine from more natural sources, like seafood.

    Whole brined, dried out chicken on white cutting board, with oiled and seasoned with kosher salt.

    The Method

    It may seem daunting to roast an entire bird on any given busy night, but it really takes less than an hour for a three or four-pound bird.

    Why just an hour, won't it be undercooked? No way, chef!

    Starting with a roasting temperature of around 475° F gives the skin a jumpstart on its way to golden brown and delicious. And of course speeds up the cooking, too. This is called oven-searing in professional kitchens. And I highly recommend it.

    And whatever you do, don't cover it with foil. This will cause the moisture in the meat to steam the skin you spent days drying out. And you can kiss your crispy, tasty goodness, well, goodbye.

    The Steps

    1. Bring the chicken to room temperature. If you don't let it warm up, the high heat of the oven will shock the cold meat, and result in tough, chewy bites. For a larger chicken, this can take over an hour.
    2. Truss (tie) the chicken (optional). Take a long piece of kitchen twine and place the center underneath the bottom of the neck (top) of the chicken. Wrap it around the side of the legs, then cross and bring both sides of twine up in between the legs. Wrap around the end of the leg bones, and tie a knot to bring the legs together.
    3. Oil and season well. Brush, or rub, melted ghee or oil all over the skin of the chicken. Season generously with salt inside and out, raining it down from high above the chicken for even coverage. If you enjoy the flavor of fresh thyme, sprinkle fresh leaves on after the salt.
    4. Oven-sear the chicken. Roast the chicken at 475° F for about twenty minutes, until the skin begins to brown nicely.
    5. Lower the oven temperature. Bring the oven down to 400° F, and cook the chicken until done. At these high temperatures, it shouldn't take more than an hour. For safety's sake, you want the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken thigh to be 165° F. An inexpensive digital thermometer is a great tool to have handy.
    6. Let it rest. We would never serve any meat straight outta the oven at Bouchon (or any restaurant I worked at). Giving it a few minutes to rest in the pan before serving will keep the juices where you want them: in the meat.
    • everything in place
    • Close up of kitchen twine tied off at the neck of the chicken.
      truss, optional
    • A raw chicken trussed with kitchen twine, showing the twine crossed between the legs of the chicken.
      tie off twine at the legs
    • Whole brined, dried out chicken on white cutting board, with oiled and seasoned with kosher salt.
      brush with oil
    • Brined and seasoned chicken set inside stainless steel sauté pan.
      sprinkle with salt. and thyme leaves
    • Whole roasted chicken with a deep golden color in a sauté pan on table.
      roast until deeply browned and 165° F internally

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How long to roast a chicken?

    Ah, the age-old question of how long to cook something. You can get shot for asking this in a professional kitchen. And if they spare your life, you most likely get an answer like "when it's done, just make it nice". Not so helpful, eh?

    The real answer is once the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh clocks 165° F on a meat thermometer. At the high temperatures called for here, this takes about 50 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your bird.

    Should you wash a chicken before cooking?

    NO! Never, ever rinse or wash a raw piece of meat. This adds moisture to the skin or outside of the cut and will prevent browning during cooking. Rinse, and you're creating one more hurdle to crispy chicken skin or wonderfully cooked steak with a nice crust.

    More importantly, rinsing chicken or any of its animal protein friends could potentially splash foodborne germs like salmonella, campylobacter, or e. coli all over your sink and kitchen. Just. Don't. Do it.

    What's the best pan to roast a chicken in?

    There's obviously more than one pan you can use. And a few are better than others. The key is to choose a pan that allows the heat of the oven to reach as much of the chicken as possible. So baking pans with low sides, and better yet one with a rack, will let the hot air of the oven circulate all around. For my top pan picks that prevent soggy chicken bottoms, read this.


    Edible Epilogue

    Honestly, there is truly no replacement for eating Chef Keller's roasted chicken at one of his amazing restaurants. But I find this comes pretty close. I can vouch because clients and students pay me to cook this chicken. And they love it every time.


    Print

    📖 Recipe

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    Whole roasted chicken with a deep golden color in a sauté pan on table.

    Chef Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken

    4.9 from 9 reviews

    Print Recipe

    Brining is any chef's secret to flavorful, succulent, crispy-on-the-outside-juicy-on-the-inside chicken. Read on for how I learned to brine and roast chicken while working at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, California.

    No time for a brine? No problem! You can still roast up an amazing chicken. The professional secrets to crispy skin and juicy flesh are a high oven temperature and letting the chicken rest before serving. 

    • Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes (8 hours - 3 days inactive)
    • Yield: Serves 4

    Ingredients

    Scale

    Brine

    • about a gallon of water
    • 6-8 ounces/about a ½-¾ cup of kosher flake salt
    • 1-2 lemons, quartered
    • fresh thyme
    • fresh parsley
    • 2-3 bay leaves
    • a small handful of whole black peppercorns
    • ⅓ cup raw honey, optional

    Simple Roast Chicken

    • whole roasting chicken, 3-4 pounds, any innards removed (no rinsing or washing!)
    • melted clarified butter (ghee) or high-temp oil like avocado
    • salt
    • few pinches of fresh thyme leaves picked off the stems

    Instructions

    Brine + Dry Chicken

    1. Combine half of the water and brine ingredients in a large pot, and bring just to a boil. Stir to dissolve the salt and honey, then remove from the heat.
    2. Pour the hot brine mixture into a very large bowl with the remaining half of water, and cool until chilled. A faster way to cool down the brine is to add an equal amount of ice in place of the cold water.
    3. Fully submerge the chicken in chilled brine, cover, and brine for about 8 hours. Overnight can be a great way to achieve this time frame. If you plan on brining longer or think you'll forget to take it out on time, use half the amount of salt to be safe.
    4. Remove the chicken from the brine, and store it uncovered in the refrigerator for up to three days. This will dry out the skin, which will then get wonderfully crispy in the oven.

    Roast + Rest

    1. Let the chicken sit on the counter to come to room temperature. This can take up to an hour or more for a larger chicken.
    2. Preheat the oven to 475° F. 
    3. Truss the chicken (optional). Take a long piece of kitchen twine and place the center underneath the bottom of the neck (top) of the chicken. Wrap it around the side of the legs, then cross and bring both sides of twine up in between the legs. Wrap around the end of the leg bones, and tie a knot to bring the legs together. 
    4. Brush or drizzle the room temperature chicken with a high-heat oil or melted, clarified butter (ghee).
    5. Rain down salt from a foot or so above the chicken, covering it evenly and seasoning inside the cavity. Sprinkle the thyme leaves on in the same way.
    6. Place the chicken breast-side up in a sauté or roasting pan. Or my favorite, sitting upright on the tube of a bundt pan.
    7. Roast for about 20 minutes at 475° F, then turn the oven temperature down to 400° F. Take the temperature of the thickest part of the chicken thigh to get an idea of how it's coming along. 
    8. Finishing roasting for about 20 to 40 more minutes. Do not baste the chicken or cover it with foil.
    9. Remove the chicken when the skin is dark golden-brown, and the temperature inside the thickest part of the thigh reads at or almost 165°F on a kitchen thermometer. The breast will likely reach a higher temperature, but the brining will keep it moist and tender even if it surpasses 175° F. 
    10. Let the chicken rest in the pan for about ten minutes before carving and serving.
    11. Store leftover chicken covered and chilled, and reheat in a 350° F oven.

    Notes

    On roasting time and oven honesty: Every oven is different. And the size of fresh and frozen chickens can vary significantly (this recipe is designed for a three to four-pound chicken). To gauge how fast your chicken is roasting, begin checking the internal temperature of the thigh after 20 minutes in the oven. To know if your oven readout is telling the truth, I recommend buying an inexpensive oven thermometer. Meat thermometers also need to be calibrated occasionally, and the best way to do so is to check the manufacturer's recommendations. 

    On brining: 
    The formula for a basic, gentle brine is about half of a cup of flake salt (5 ounces) for every gallon of water. Using table salt? Use about half the measure, as table salt is much stronger by weight than kosher or any flake salt. I personally don't recommend iodized or table salt, as it contains fillers and added sugar.

    Seasoning with salt: Season the brined chicken with salt all over the outside and inside the cavity. Evenly, excessively, and everywhere. Pinching salt in your fingers and raining it down from a few inches above the meat is a great way to get a nice covering. And prevents random bites with too much salt or any without enough.

    For extra crispy skin: Leave your brined (or not) chicken uncovered in the fridge for a couple of days. The skin will go from opaque to translucent. If you really want to get crazy, place a battery-operated fan next to it. No, the chefs at Bouchon don't do this. But the large walk-in coolers at most restaurants are equipped with fans that blow the cold air around. A small battery-operated fan would be the home hack. 

    • Author: Christina
    • Prep Time: 20 minutes
    • Cook Time: 50 minutes
    • Category: Dinner
    • Method: Roasting
    • Cuisine: French
    • Diet: Gluten Free

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 6 ounces
    • Calories: 123
    • Sugar: 3 g
    • Sodium: 311.2 mg
    • Fat: 9.4 g
    • Saturated Fat: 4.6 g
    • Carbohydrates: 5.1 g
    • Protein: 5.5 g
    • Cholesterol: 25.6 mg

    Keywords: thomas keller roast chicken, thomas keller's roast chicken, simple roast chicken, how to roast chicken, how to brine chicken

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    Tag @edibletimes or use hashtag #edibletimes.


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    1. Mitzi

      June 29, 2025 at 2:30 pm

      Ah. Finally. A perfectly roasted, flavorful, juicy chicken all the way through. And sooooo pretty! It just takes a little planning to have a wonderful roast chicken Sunday dinner. To dry out my chicken, I stood it up on its end in a colander (with a plate underneath, which got the skin dried out pretty much everywhere. I left it like that for a couple days after doing your brining method/recipe (with kosher salt, fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, honey) for 12 hours. Then I coated it with melted ghee, kosher salt, pepper, sage and thyme inside and out. I confess I couldn’t resist loosely stuffing it with a garlic cloves, half a lemon, fresh parsley, and rosemary. I took a chance and decided to use my oven’s convection roast feature (lowering the temperature by 25°F). Overall it took 45 minutes to get to 165°F. Letting it rest for 30 minutes was the hardest part! Honestly, this was by far the best roasted chicken that has ever come out of my kitchen.






      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        June 29, 2025 at 8:34 pm

        Love this! So glad it worked for you, it is one of the best roasted chickens. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Doreen

      March 27, 2025 at 1:23 am

      I have been lucky enough to eat at Bouchon a few times, and every time I absolutely have to order the roast chicken. It is probably one of my favorite comfort meals of all time, (and I have eaten A LOT of great meals…even one at the French Laundry)! A good friend of mine found your recipe and made it with great results, starting a “viral trend” in our group chat of college buddies to follow suit. I made it yesterday…in Singapore(!)…and it was absolutely delicious! I only had time to dry it for a day, but it was still fabulous. The juicy and tender breast meat brought back joyful taste memories of Bouchon! Hooray! Our chickens are much smaller than in the USA, so it cooked in about 30 minutes. I found it hard to get the breast to brown using the Bundt pan method, although I did rotate the pan. It cooked so fast, I was afraid to brown it any further. Was it perhaps because my bird was small and the Bundt pan was too deep? Any tips? In addition, I made your chicken jus—also delectable although it could use a bit more viscosity. Is it sacrilege to thicken it with a little cornstarch? I didn’t want to reduce it too much and make it too salty. Thank you for the awesome recipe!






      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        March 28, 2025 at 8:28 am

        Love you were able to eat at Bouchon more than once! Wow, Singapore! My recipe "starting a viral trend" in a group chat is one I'll never forget. 🙂 Likely it was just how small the chicken is. With one that small you could just use a sauté pan with shallow sides, and then more hot air could circulate around it. The goal is to expose as much of the chicken to the hot air. Honestly, if your oven is fickle or has hot/cold spots, there is nothing you can really do but move it around a lot during cooking.

        And we didn't thicken the jus in the kitchen, but it's not sacrilege. I feel that, liking a thicker gravy. I would start with one tablespoon of cornstarch for every cup of jus you have, then if you want it even thicker add more. Don't hesitate with any other questions: eat@edibletimes.com.

        Reply
        • Doreen

          April 01, 2025 at 4:55 pm

          Hi Chef! Thank you for your reply! Okay, I might be slightly obsessed, but I made it again! 😍😍We loved it so much, I had leftover brine and my refrigerator shelf was already cleared and clean so why not?! I found a bigger bird and dried it for 3 days. We used the Bundt pan again but this time turned the chicken on its “head”! Perfection! We also threw some potatoes in the bottom of the Bundt pan and ended up with indulgently crispy potatoes! Yahoo! I thickened the jus with a roux as well and got three thumbs up! Thank you again! The skin was so crispy you could hear it(!)😋—until Singapore’s humidity got to it. I’ll have to work on that for the next one! 😄😉 Delicious, nonetheless!






          Reply
          • Chef Christina

            June 29, 2025 at 8:33 pm

            You're welcome, reach out anytime! Love your stories. 🙂

            Reply
    3. Dan

      March 25, 2025 at 1:31 pm

      I have dined at Bouchon (as well as Ad Hoc and French Laundry). I was fortunate to have ordered the roast chicken and it was one fo the best meals of my life. My date had the Croque Madame. This recipe is true to Chef Keller!!






      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        March 26, 2025 at 3:40 pm

        So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Nancy Reed

      June 24, 2024 at 6:02 pm

      Interesting recipe and very straight forward.
      question - do you rinse the brined chicken before final prep?

      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        June 25, 2024 at 9:26 am

        Hi Nancy!
        Thanks for reading. I never rinse any raw meat, as it can spread salmonella and other foodborne bacteria around the kitchen. You can pat the chicken dry after brining if you are roasting it right away (and not letting it dry out in the fridge overnight or a few days). Hope that helps!

        Reply
    5. Susan

      June 12, 2024 at 9:02 pm

      Thanks for the helpful information Chef! We followed all of the steps. First time ever brining a whole chicken and letting it dry in the fridge for three days. We roasted the chicken tonight in a Bundt pan, and it came out really delicious. Will be making this dish again and again.






      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        June 13, 2024 at 11:02 am

        So fun, love the bundt pan! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂

        Reply
    6. David Denman

      May 12, 2024 at 12:10 am

      Hi Chef!

      Love this recipe but have one issue with it in that I always have burnt fat and juices from cooking at such a high heat. This affects the quality of the gravey/sauce I can make whilst the birds resting.

      Any suggestions on how to improve this or is it just the trade off required to get this quality of crispy skin?

      Thanks

      David

      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        May 13, 2024 at 7:45 am

        Hi David!
        This recipe isn't designed for making a sauce from the pan drippings because you're right, you will have burnt, bitter bits (say that five times fast, haha!). You could always try wiping out the darker fond (drippings) before deglazing and making your sauce. But I recommend a reduced chicken jus made separately, and you can get the same flavor into your sauce by roasting chicken bones then adding them to water or stock. This recipe for chicken jus explains the process. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

        Reply
    7. wes

      March 11, 2024 at 11:27 pm

      I also worked at ad hoc, but lost my recipes, so am glad I found your blog. Thank you for posting! I am excited to get this going.

      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        March 12, 2024 at 11:44 am

        Chef Wes! So glad to hear from you, and that you found this. It's definitely a paired down version, but hope you enjoy. I believe the original calls for more aromatics by weight compared to water. I'm sure you'll make it nice. 😉

        Reply
        • wes

          March 12, 2024 at 6:28 pm

          Make it nice, or make it twice, Chef! I'll be snooping around. Thanks again.

          Reply
          • Chef Christina

            March 13, 2024 at 7:34 am

            If I had a dollar for every time I heard it.. sounds great!

            Reply
    8. Nat

      November 21, 2023 at 5:47 pm






      Reply
    9. Abigail

      November 02, 2023 at 7:44 pm

      Hi Christina! How would you adjust the cooking time for a 6.39 lb bird? Would I need to lower the oven searing time or keep it the same?

      I'm so excited to make this — I've been using Thomas Keller's brine recipe for a long time, but have been experimenting with dry brines to get the birds to have crispy skin. I recently wondered whether we could get the best of both worlds, and it sounds like the answer is yes! Thank you!!

      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        November 02, 2023 at 8:42 pm

        Hi Abigail, that's a big chicken! I would say keep the oven cranked up until you start to see some nice browning, then turn it down to 350-375° F. The great thing about a wet brine is it really helps prevent the breast from drying out, even when it reaches higher temps of 175° F and up. If the skin is browning unevenly, rotate the pan every 10 to 15 minutes. Definitely employ a probe thermometer to gauge the rate of cooking. Hope this helps, thanks for reading!

        Reply
    10. Mike

      September 30, 2023 at 8:42 am

      Can this recipe be used for chicken thighs only instead of the whole bird. If so, what adjustments would need to be made?

      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        September 30, 2023 at 9:19 am

        Hi Mike,
        Absolutely! You will need much less brine depending on how many thighs, and the brining and cooking times should be about cut in half. I’d recommend a meat thermometer to know when they’re approaching 165. You could still dry the thighs for a few days in the fridge. Thanks for reading!

        Reply
    11. Mary

      August 31, 2023 at 6:15 pm

      What happens if you leave it to dry in the fridge for too long? Like a day or two extra? 😅 will it make someone sick? Or make it irredeemably gross?






      Reply
      • Mary

        August 31, 2023 at 6:24 pm

        My chicken is almost 8lbs, if that makes a difference, but I read it as “at least 3dys” not “up to 3dys” and I’m hoping it can be saved

        Reply
        • Chef Christina

          August 31, 2023 at 9:25 pm

          I answered on your other comment, but your chicken should be just fine if you roast it in the next day or so. You can typically keep fresh meat in the fridge for up to five days, but longer if you’ve brined it.

          Reply
      • Chef Christina

        August 31, 2023 at 9:23 pm

        Hi Mary,
        Your chicken will be just fine! You can dry it even longer than three days. And especially since yours is larger, it’ll just have extra crispy skin. The brining acts as a preservative, so that keeps it from spoiling as fast. Hope this helps, thanks for reading!

        Reply
    12. Chris

      January 28, 2023 at 1:25 pm

      Any advice or tips on how to convert this recipe for a cornish hen?

      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        January 28, 2023 at 1:42 pm

        Hi Chris!
        Smaller one-pound hens will of course cook faster than a chicken, and you might want to set the oven at 450°F. I'd recommend checking their internal temperature in the thickest part of the flesh after 15 minutes to gauge how they're cooking, 165°F is the number to aim for. You may want to double the brine recipe if you're cooking more than three hens so you have enough, and 6 hours in the brine should be plenty. You can dry them out just the same, overnight or for up to a few days. If you roast the hens please come back and let me know how they turned out. Thanks for reading and for such a great question!

        Reply
    13. Lars

      January 17, 2023 at 7:56 pm

      Upgrading to 4 stars because the flavor was great even though I found the time to be off. I know some ovens are different, but perhaps 20 min at 400 might be a good time to check the temp.






      Reply
      • Chef Christina

        January 17, 2023 at 9:09 pm

        Hi Lars,
        I'm glad to hear you did enjoy the chicken, it's one of my favorite meals. And you're 100% correct, ovens certainly heat differently. I teach this recipe in my cooking classes several times a month and it routinely takes 40 to 50 minutes at the given temperatures (that's also the time frame Chef Keller gives in his published versions of this recipe). I find when roasting times don't line up it's because the oven is running too hot, or the chicken was smaller/larger than average. I'll definitely add a note about checking after 20 minutes. Thank you so much for your feedback and for reading. I also recommend to my students that they buy an inexpensive oven thermometer to gauge how their oven heats.
        All the best,
        Christina

        Reply
    14. Morgan

      December 18, 2022 at 7:58 am

      I have a seven lbs chicken to figure out what to do with for Christmas. Do you have any tips for using this recipe with a larger bird?

      Reply
      • Christina

        December 18, 2022 at 8:19 am

        Hi Morgan!
        You can absolutely use this recipe for a larger bird. First, double the brine recipe and brine the chicken a little longer, say around 16 hours. Then when you roast it, start it at the higher temperature listed to brown the skin, then turn the heat down to 375/400°F to finish cooking it to 165°F.

        If you're not married to the idea of serving a whole chicken intact, you can also spatchcock it and it will cook quicker. I'm having trouble getting the link to my spatchcock chicken recipe in this reply, but search "Thanksgiving chicken" on my site and it'll come up. Hope this helps! Don't hesitate to email me with any more questions, eat@edibletimes.com. Happy holidays!

        Reply
        • Morgan

          December 18, 2022 at 8:08 pm

          Thank you!

          Reply
          • Christina

            December 19, 2022 at 9:20 am

            My pleasure! Happy roasting. 🙂

            Reply
    15. Joan

      May 09, 2022 at 9:07 am

      This chicken turned out beautifully. This is the first time I have had a chicken with that golden brown skin all over. I will definitely make this again!






      Reply
      • Christina

        May 09, 2022 at 9:08 am

        Glad to hear it! Thanks for reading.:)

        Reply
    16. Dana

      December 30, 2021 at 1:03 pm

      Do you have a recipe for the pan sauce that the chicken is served in at the restaurant?

      Reply
      • Christina

        January 03, 2022 at 6:21 am

        Hi Dana! I don't believe I have the recipe we used for the sauce, and it takes days to make anyway (why it's so good!). To give you an idea, we'd first simmer a scratch-made chicken stock with roasted chicken bones in a huge stockpot for nearly a whole day (it was truly the size of a small child). Then after a series of straining and reduction with aromatic vegetables (low simmer to reduce the liquid to a fraction of what we started with), the chefs would season and finish the jus (sauce) for service. Start to the finish, I'd say the whole process took a couple of days for each batch, if not more. To cheat this at home, I'd recommend looking for a well-made chicken demi-glace that you can reconstitute and add fresh herbs if you like. You can find demi-glace at specialty culinary stores, and I've often seen them at our local Whole Foods market. I'll also go ahead and add this to my content list:) Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

        Reply
        • Dana

          January 03, 2022 at 11:52 am

          Thanks for the reply! I sautéed some onion, celery, carrots. Deglazed with white wine, and then added good quality bone broth and reduced until it was thick. It’s pretty close but could use some sweetness and a little more viscosity. I look forward to your version!

          Reply
          • Christina

            January 03, 2022 at 12:10 pm

            Well done, and sounds delicious! The Bouchon chefs really roast the chicken bones in a high-heat oven, which caramelizes them, and that creates a subtle sweetness that's hard to replicate otherwise. But I think what you did sounds great!

            Reply

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