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!
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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.
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.
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.
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Oven-sear the chicken. Roast the chicken at 475° F for about twenty minutes, until the skin begins to brown nicely.
- 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.
- 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 truss, optional tie off twine at the legs brush with oil sprinkle with salt. and thyme leaves roast until deeply browned and 165° F internally
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
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.
📖 Recipe
Chef Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken
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
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 475° F.
- 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.
- Brush or drizzle the room temperature chicken with a high-heat oil or melted, clarified butter (ghee).
- 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.
- Place the chicken breast-side up in a sauté or roasting pan. Or my favorite, sitting upright on the tube of a bundt pan.
- 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.
- Finishing roasting for about 20 to 40 more minutes. Do not baste the chicken or cover it with foil.
- 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.
- Let the chicken rest in the pan for about ten minutes before carving and serving.
- 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.
- 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
Nat
Abigail
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!!
Chef Christina
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!
Mike
Can this recipe be used for chicken thighs only instead of the whole bird. If so, what adjustments would need to be made?
Chef Christina
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!
Mary
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?
Mary
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
Chef Christina
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.
Chef Christina
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!
Chris
Any advice or tips on how to convert this recipe for a cornish hen?
Chef Christina
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!
Lars
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.
Chef Christina
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
Morgan
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?
Christina
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!
Morgan
Thank you!
Christina
My pleasure! Happy roasting. 🙂
Joan
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!
Christina
Glad to hear it! Thanks for reading.:)
Dana
Do you have a recipe for the pan sauce that the chicken is served in at the restaurant?
Christina
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!
Dana
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!
Christina
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!