Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken

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Gluten-Free/Nut-Free

Skill Level: Beginner (It really is. Anyone can do this, I swear)

Yield: 1 roast chicken

Hands-On Prep Time: 15 minutes

Hands-Off Prep Time: 30 minutes to salt/12-24 hour brine in fridge

Cook Time: 1 hour plus 15 minutes to rest after cooking

Equipment Needed:

• Baking sheet

• Small mixing bowl

• Wire whisk

• Produce bags or covered container large enough to fit a whole chicken

• Butcher's twine

• 10-inch cast iron skillet or shallow roasting pan

• Cutting mat or cutting board

• Chef's knife

The Recipe:

This recipe is by Samin Nosrat from her book, Salt Fat Acid Heat. I love this recipe and have never felt a need to alter it :)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2- 4 pound whole chicken, giblets removed

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus plenty more for salting the bird pre-brine

• 2 cups buttermilk

Procedure:

1. The day before you intend to roast your chicken, remove the bird from any packaging. Check the cavity thoroughly for a little package of giblets; remove if you find one.

2. Place the chicken breast-side up on a rimmed baking sheet or in a pan with sides (there will be some liquid that is released during salting, so you don't want to just leave it on the counter or on a cutting board).

3. If your chicken has wing tips, you can remove these now and discard or save for stock. These are super easy to remove, just bend them back and forth at the joint and they will snap right off.

4. Use kosher salt to thoroughly cover the chicken. I don't ever measure this, but I would say I use between 1/4 and 1/2 of a cup; I pour it in a pinch cup and just sprinkle it all over the chicken in a pretty thick layer. Let the chicken rest in the salt for 30 minutes (it's okay to leave it out of the fridge during this process). A fair amount of liquid will be released as the chicken sits in the salt; this is normal.

5. Meanwhile, use a whisk to combine 2 cups buttermilk with 2 tablespoons kosher salt.

6. After 30 minutes, transfer the chicken to a large container or 2 doubled-up produce bags. Give your buttermilk mixture one more whisk, and pour it into the bags or container with your chicken. Seal your container, or use butcher's twine to securely close your produce bags.

7. Use your hands to squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, then place it in the fridge. If you're able, flip the chicken once (I usually do this as soon as I get up the next morning), but if you forget or don't have time to do this step, it will be fine.

8. Take the chicken out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to start cooking so it can temp up a bit.

9. Set an oven rack in the center position and preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

10. Remove chicken from the buttermilk brine and scrape off as much of the buttermilk as you can with your hand (it does NOT have to be perfect; I just hold it by the legs and scrape off each side, then flip it and hold it by the neck cavity and scrape off each side).

11. Put your chicken in your cast iron skillet or shallow roasting pan. Use butcher's twine to tightly tie the legs together (there is a photo example in the tips).

12. Slide the pan all the way back into your preheated oven and position it so that the legs of your chicken are pointing towards the rear left corner and the breast is positioned in the center of the oven.

13. After about 20 minutes, when the chicken has just started to form a few brown spots, reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue roasting for 10 more minutes, then rotate the bird so that the legs are facing the back right corner of the oven.

14. Roast for another 30 minutes, then remove the chicken from the oven. Your chicken should be a lovely brown all over. Check for doneness by inserting a knife down to the bone between the leg and thigh; if the juices run clear your chicken is fully cooked.

15. Let your chicken rest a minimum of 15 minutes before carving.

To Serve/How to carve your chicken:

This chicken is so juicy and flavorful; we like to eat it with something simple like steamed broccoli or a crisp garden salad. In late summer I love to serve a fresh sweet corn salad with a roast chicken. Occasionally, if I get the urge, I will mix up a white Alabama BBQ sauce or chimichurri to serve on the side for anyone interested.

Carving a full bird can seem quite daunting, but if you break it down into small steps it really isn't too bad. Each time you do it, you will get a better feel for it and improve.

Start by laying your cooked bird out on a cutting board or mat. Note that I have my cutting mat placed inside a rimmed baking sheet; this ensures that all the juices that are about to come out as I carve will stay safely corralled instead of making a huge mess on my counter.

Start with the appendages. I like to go from smallest to biggest, so I start with the wings. Pull one wing outward (away from the bird), so you can have a good look at the joints. You have a choice here to separate the flat part of the wing from the drumette now, or to try to keep them together. The drumette is the part of the wing closest to the chicken's body, and resembles a smaller version of the chicken's leg, or drumstick. I find it tricky to keep them together, so I generally detach just the flats for now.

Having a look at the joints

Use your knife to cut through the skin directly above the joint that connects the flat and the drumette. Once this is cut you should be able to bend the flat back and forth quite easily. Bend the flat until you snap the joint between the flat and drumette. Then you will simply cut through any remaining meat/skin. Repeat on the other side with the other wing.

Moving on to the other side

Next, move on to the legs. If you haven't already done so, cut through your butcher's twine to separate the legs. You will be cutting off the thigh and leg together in one piece (they are easier to separate from one another if they are removed). Again, use your hands to bend one of the legs outward to have a decent look at what's going on with the joints. Use your knife to slice through the skin and fat between the top of the thigh and the rest of the chicken. I can usually feel with my knife if I am close enough to the carcass of the chicken; I will feel the scrape of the blade against the bone.

Cutting through fat/skin between the thigh and the carcass.

Now you should be able to bend the thigh/leg back and forth until you feel the joint pop. At this point you will likely see the top of the exposed thigh bone, making it quite obvious to see where you should slice through to fully separate the thigh and leg from the rest of the chicken. Repeat on the other side with the other thigh/drumstick.

Here I have already popped the joint and am now slicing through to fully detach the thigh and leg.

You can keep the thighs and drumsticks together, or separate them now. To separate, hold on to the end of the drumstick as though you're going to eat it, and hold the thigh steady with your other hand. Bend the drumstick back and forth a few times so you can see the connection point between the drumstick and thigh (you might slice through the skin first to better expose the joint). From here, you should be able to pop the joint and see where to slice to fully separate the thigh and drumstick.

Last but not least, you'll remove the breasts. This part probably took me the longest to master, but the more times I did it, the easier it became. It's tricky because you really go in blind, whereas when you start to remove the wings and legs there are some definite lines to follow. Start by inserting your knife towards the top of one of the breasts, as close to the ribcage as you can manage.

I always start with the breast to my right, so I insert my knife just to the right of that line you can see running down the center of the chicken.

You may want to take this part a bit slowly to try to keep the breasts as intact as possible. Carve down the line of the ribcage with your knife. As you carve, you can use the flat blade of your knife to nudge the breast outward so that you can better see what you're doing.

Once you've made it all the way down, continue slicing down and around until you can pull the breast all the way off.

Note there's still plenty of meat I left on the carcass; nobody's perfect!

Repeat with the other breast.

You can leave the breasts whole (I will do this if I'm planning to reserve them for another meal), or if you are planning to serve all your chicken at once you can carve the breasts into slices that are about 1/2 inch thick.

If your drumettes are still attached, now would be the time to try to get these out. Flip your chicken over and move your little drumette bone back and forth to locate the joint at the other end; follow the same basic method you've been using to snap the joint and carve out the drumette on each side.

Now it's time to get messy :) I always get as much meat off the carcass as possible. I start by flipping the chicken over and harvesting the oysters. You heard me! These are two little pieces of dark meat located right behind the thighs, near the backbone. You can pop them right out with your thumb or finger, and they are probably the most juicy and tender little bites of heaven you'll ever eat.

There they are!

Here is where the term "oyster" comes from; the cavities they leave behind somewhat resemble empty oyster shells

Meat treats!

After you have eaten your little chicken oyster treats (or the chef's reward, as I like to call it), you can use your fingers to pull off as much meat as possible. I'm always surprised at how much more delicious chicken I can get if I'm willing to take a few minutes to dig around for it.

These shreds of meat are usually what I put on my kid's plates! Already all cut up, so convenient :)

Ta-daa!!

Don't throw away that lovely carcass! Throw it in a tightly sealed bag in the freezer, and use it to make chicken stock when you have a lazy day.

Tips:

• I mentioned it in the recipe, but don't forget to check and see if the manufacturer put a little bag of the giblets in the cavity of your chicken! I forgot to check once and roasted the chicken with the bag inside...whoopsies. You could throw these away, or if you do intend to make stock, save them! They will impart some awesome flavor to your stock (you can seal them up and store in the freezer if you're not sure when you'll get around to stock-making).

• If your bird is small enough, you might be able to fit it into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag for the brining process.

• When trussing the legs (tying them together), I cut a piece of twine that is probably about a foot long. I arrange one of the bones at the end of the leg so that it's crossing over the other, and hold securely with one hand, holding one end of the twine under the thumb of the hand holding the legs together. I use my other hand to wrap the twine around the legs tightly several times, then tie a double knot securely and cut off any excess twine.

All trussed up and only one place to go...

• If you do not have buttermilk, you could substitute plain yogurt or crème fraiche for the brine.

• Letting meats "temp up" an hour or so before you intend to cook them can really improve their juiciness! The logic here is that as you roast, the meat that's closer to the outside/surface will naturally cook faster than the meat that is towards the center. If you are putting fridge-cold meat into an oven, you are starting that center at roughly 40 degrees, which will take much longer to get to your desired temperature than if you start it closer to room temperature, causing the outside of your meat to dry out as it waits for the center to be done. This should also result in more even cooking and less time for your meat to lose it's juices. It is important to note that you should NOT leave your meat sitting out longer than an hour, or you risk the chance of bacteria multiplying and causing a foodborne illness.

• You may be wondering, what's up with the immense detail in the position of the pan in the oven?! In Samin's book, she explains that the back corners of the oven tend to be the hottest spots, so by positioning the legs toward a back corner (and then swapping the corner halfway through to even everything out), you keep the breast from overcooking and drying out before the legs are done, as white meat cooks faster than dark meat.

• Many recipes will tell you to tuck the wings underneath the back of the bird for roasting. If you want to leave the wingtips on and do this, you totally could, however I don't really see the value. I prefer to snap my wingtips off if they were there and just roast as is, and the wings seem to cook evenly enough and not dry out.

• Another part of helping meats retain their juiciness is letting them rest after cooking. As meat cooks, the muscle fibers will firm up, causing moisture to get pushed out. Some of this liquid will move to the surface and evaporate. When you remove your meat from the oven or grill, that moisture needs some time to redistribute back into the meat. If you immediately cut into your meat, the moisture will come right out and you will lose a lot of your juiciness, leaving you with dry meat (and a frowny face). By letting the meat rest, you allow time for those flavorful juices to get redistributed back into your meat. And all you had to do was leave it alone!

• While your chicken should rest at least 15 minutes, I generally let it rest between 30 and 45 minutes before I start to carve. At this point the bird is much easier to handle because it's not so crazy-hot. It will retain plenty of heat and is still warm by the time I start carving.

The Story:

I feel like chicken is such an underrated protein. Allow me to explain: there are so many popular chicken dishes, right? Chicken enchiladas, chicken alfredo, chicken stir-fry, chicken and dumplings...the list goes on. However, the common thread I notice is that chicken is usually a strong supporting actor, but never really the star of the show.

Put me in, coach!

I'll never forget the first time I made this recipe. I got this cookbook (Salt Fat Acid Heat) for Christmas a few years back (I had heard of it and requested it), and proceeded to spend the rest of my holiday break reading it cover to cover. I love the author's candid and detailed writing, and the illustrations are really beautiful. There is one section called "Thirteen ways of looking at a chicken," which I found super interesting. I felt very drawn to the recipe that marinated/brined a chicken in buttermilk. Possibly because my kids LOVE buttermilk pancakes, so buttermilk is usually present in my fridge. Also possibly because I had never roasted a full chicken before, and Samin's directions were so disarmingly charming and simple that I felt empowered enough to give it a shot.

My little love upon first entering its love cave.

I followed the recipe exactly, as I generally do during it's first run. The aroma that permeates your house while a chicken is roasting in the oven is truly something to behold. I picture old cartoons where Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck smell something delicious, and their feet leave the ground, floating behind them as their eyelids droop to half-mast and they float towards the scent with their noses taking the lead.

After 20 minutes at 425 degrees; you can see a few spots of brown appearing on the thigh.

When this baby comes out of the oven, the color on the skin and the sound of the sizzle that you are greeted with in combination with that amazing smell are truly a showstopper. Move over alfredo sauce, there's a new star in town!

At the halfway point, I've just rotated the pan here.

As I mentioned earlier, this chicken needs nothing. It's so juicy, tender and flavorful all on it's own that you could easily just eat it as is-and I have! I love to make this chicken for dinner on a Monday; prep it on a laid-back Sunday, then roast and serve it with a simple side the next day and shred up the leftovers to use on a salad or in another dish a day or two later. The day I took photos for this post I did whip up a lovely little Oregano Sauce (also inspired by a Samin Nosrat recipe) to serve with it, and it was delicious. Simply a combination of chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped fresh oregano, finely grated garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and kosher salt. I drizzled it over a chicken thigh, and it was heaven.

Perfect combo of delicious, flavorful fat, touch of salt, bright and acidic lemon juice, and fresh, flavorful herbs.

If roasting a chicken has intimidated you in the past, I really encourage you to try this one-you will be the hero/heroine of the kitchen and you really won't have to work too hard. Added bonus, you will feel like a total boss once you master carving a whole bird (my tips will 100% transfer to your Thanksgiving turkey; it's just a bigger beauty). Make chicken the star of your meal!

Happy tasting!