FOOD NEWS
Your Oven Floor Is The Key To Saving Time When Making Chicken
BY GRETA PANO
Whole roasted chicken can take 75 to 90 minutes to roast the traditional way. To cut the time in half, put it in a cast iron or heavy bottom skillet and cook it on the oven floor.
The direct heat from the oven floor will cook the chicken in 20 to 30 minutes. This method will produce crispier skin while the hot air roasts the bird’s interior to perfection.
First, choose a chicken on the smaller side for quicker cooking. Cornish game hens are great for this method, but any whole chicken works as long as it can fit in your skillet.
Another way to speed up the cooking process is to spatchcock or butterfly the chicken, which means removing the backbone so that it lies flat.
This process involves laying the chicken breast side down on a cutting board and using kitchen shears (or a chef’s knife) to cut along each side of the backbone.
Keep the chicken from drying out by brining it before cooking. To do so, coat it in a mix of salt and herbs, then refrigerate it for a couple of hours before cooking like normal.