Roast Chicken (steam oven).
Appliance: Convection Steam Oven or Any wall oven
Chicken is delicious, versatile, and easy to cook. There are endless ways to cook these ubiquitous birds, but no method is more impressive than the whole roasted chicken. Roasting a chicken gives you a juicy, tender bird with crispy skin and the option for both white and dark meat. But who has time for that on a weeknight? Roasting a whole bird can take up to an hour to cook and there is always the hassle of breaking it down once it has been cooked. This recipe is the solution. Instead of cooking a whole bird, we suggest cutting out the backbone and splitting the chicken in half. Similar to spatchcocking, this method gives you all the benefits of a roasted chicken, but cooks in 25 minutes.
Our favorite way to cook chicken is in the Convection Steam Oven. By using the Convection Steam Mode, you can get the ultimate “crispy on the outside, moist and juicy on the inside” chicken with very little hassle. Consider this recipe as a general method for cooking any cut of chicken in the steam oven. If a whole chicken is not your thing you can use the same instructions for chicken breasts, thighs, or legs (bone-in, skin on). Instead of brining your chicken with salt, pepper and lemon zest like this recipe calls for, feel free to use your favorite marinade.
Serves 4-5
Time: 35 minutes, plus marinating time
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, about 3 1/2 lbs
1 tablespoon salt, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
2 lemons
Instructions:
1. Pat the chicken dry using a paper towel. Place the bird on a cutting board, breast side down. Using kitchen shears, cut the backbone out of the chicken and remove any excess fat. Using a heavy knife slice the sternum bone. Turn chicken back over, breast side up. Press firmly on the breastbone to flatten it; you will feel it pop. Cut between the breasts until the bird is halved through the breastbone.
Tip: Watch the video below.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon salt, black pepper, and the zest of one lemon. Rub the mixture all over the chicken. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Alternatively, place in the refrigerator up to 24 hours (this will dry brine the bird making the chicken juicier and tender).
3. Place the chicken on the solid pan lined with parchment paper. Slide the pan into the oven on rack position 2 and insert the meat probe into the thickest part of the breast (make sure the end of the probe is plugged into the receptacle). Set the steam oven to Convection Steam Mode at 425°. Set the probe temperature to 165°. When the oven chimes, remove the chicken from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. You do not have to preheat the steam oven.
*If you do not have a Convection Steam Oven, preheat your oven to 425°. Roast chicken for 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers at 165° at the thickest part of the breast.