Questions re Maggie Beer (Behr?)'s Roast Chook!

[Zurie]

I'm watching an Australian Masterchef series (granted, 2 yrs old, but great, and a treat!)

Two nights ago your famous Maggie Beer (sorry not sure of surname spelling) demonstrated in a masterclass how to roast a chicken perfectly.

I'd love you guys to help with a few questions.

It was a very large chicken. (DH watched part of this process, and asked me what kind of bird she has there, as the word "chook" is unknown here! ). I picked up new tricks from her, which I'll certainly try out, such as "resting" the roasted bird on its breast side to let the juices penetrate.

She covered the breast with foil to start with, explaining it was to keep it moist. Then she removed the foil, and let the breast colour properly. Yet her finished chook did not seem to me to be evenly roasted, and it was still light round the legs. But that's not too bad.

But I wondered about this part: she said to "rest" the chicken for 40 minutes -- 40 minutes?! -- before serving. She rested it at room temperature!

To my mind that chook would have been luke-warm when served, and certainly not nice and hot!!

My question: I have 2 ovens, one smaller than the other. I use the smaller one as a warming oven most of the time. Is there any reason why such a chicken -- or indeed any roast -- cannot "rest" in a warm oven? (About 70 deg C, more or less?) Because that's what I do, to prevent food getting cold.

Is there a difference between resting meats at room temperature as opposed to resting in a warm oven?

[Peter J]

Her name is spelled Maggie Beer. My thought would be that the problem with resting in the oven is that it would slow the process down a lot, so say then it takes over an hour to get the same result and meanwhile it may have dried out a lot (humidity will be lower in the oven).

Personally 40 minutes is probably a bit more than I'd do for an average chook, but wrapped in foil a large one would still be quite warm. I'd probably try 20 minutes at room temperature for a start and just see what you think of the temperature then.

Growing up I was in the habit of eating food scorching hot, my mum seems to think food gets to cold after about 1 minute after being off the stove . But now I'm in the habit of resting food longer and really do enjoy it a lot more at more of a warm rather than hot temperature.

[Zurie]

Thanks, Peter!

She did not wrap the bird at the resting stage -- simply left it on a grid above a roasting pan.

But I did like the way she massaged the bird with virgin olive oil and herbs before roasting (I use various marinades) and I'll use the bit about resting the chicken on its breast. Still, I think I'll go on leaving it in a warm oven rather than out on a counter!

It's never dried out before -- the oven heat is low. And I will try covering the (roasting) breast with foil for a while, although today's free-range, rather fat chickens roast beautifully even when just chucked into the oven.

[Peter J]

I personally don't bother with the foil while cooking either because as you say they cook just fine just chucked in. If I'm using something like an oil or honey based glaze likely to brown it too much I just brush it over when there's about an hour left.

Sometimes I also use a lemon cut in half to fill the 'cavity' which is another nice way to keep them moist. I have a particular pet name for the technique, but just thought to Google before posting and see the term has some alternative meanings that may make it inappropriate to mention .

[Zurie]

I like shoving lemon up the cavity, too ... and I'll keep my thoughts to myself! Shame, not very dignified for the poor chicken!

[**Jubes**]

Hi Zurie

I didn't realise that "chook" was an Aussie term, but it's just another word for a chicken.

I like Maggie Beer and her recipes always seem to appeal. I think that she has a great approach and makes her recipes look easy to the home cook.

You'll find some more of her chicken recipes here -
http://www.maggiebeer.com.au/recipes/theme+game-and-poultry
Seems that she doesn't always cover the legs in foil either.

I usually rest my chickens covered in foil with a clean teatowel over the top to keep the heat even more

[I'mPat]

Hi :wave:Zurie the following is a link to a recipe that Maggie did for roast chicken in series 2 (hope that it is thesame and not regional locked - if so let me know and I will type and post in the thread)

http://www.masterchef.com.au/recipes/chook-roasted-with-garlic-and-verjuice.htm

Pat

[Peter J]

I'mPat wrote:
Hi :wave:Zurie the following is a link to a recipe that Maggie did for roast chicken in series 2 (hope that it is thesame and not regional locked - if so let me know and I will type and post in the thread)

http://www.masterchef.com.au/recipes/chook-roasted-with-garlic-and-verjuice.htm

Sounds tasty . I just checked from a USA, Canadian and French IP address so it looks like it's not region locked.

[I'mPat]

Thanks Peter wasn't sure as I have posted Master Chef links in Celebrity Chefs and Famous Cooks only to find out they were regionally locked.


Pat