Blowtorch to roast chicken anyone?

[Beusho]

Has anyone ever used a blowtorch to get a crispy nice skin on chicken. I've been doing it for so long as low and slow and then turning up my oven to roast the outside that I'm thinking about trying the blowtorch to see if it is faster and less chance of overcooking. I've searched and I've seen this has been mentioned but no one has really said whether it has worked or not. Anyone have any experience with this? Does it work?

[Keith_W]

Yes I have tried it. It does not work for me - the skin seems to burn (i.e. CATCH FIRE!) instead of caramelize. Pretty bad fail!

[ChrisTaylor]

How Blumenthal gets around the problem of a hot oven ruining all your hard work is by giving the bird a very lengthy rest (i.e. 45-60 minutes) after the slow-roast. Might be worth trying that, if you haven't already. Of course, in one of his television shows, he did just that except instead of placing the cooled bird in a hot oven, he seared it on all sides in a pan with butter (achieving an even browning would be easier if you were roasting on the crown).

Edited June 5, 2012 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[ScottyBoy]

Yes indeed, I rest for 45 minutes and then blast the sucker as hot as my oven will go (convection is best too).

Actually works fantastic for parties and such, you don't have to babysit a bird in the over, it's ready to go when you are.

[ChrisTaylor]

I forgot to mention that, yes, it does work very well. Too, if you haven't slow-roasted chicken before, do think about roasting it on the crown, saving the legs for another purpose. The breasts on a brined, slow-roasted bird are wonderful--and normally I find chicken but at that low temperature the legs just aren't very nice (altho' I suppose, if you wanted to be clever, you might experiment with leaving the legs in the oven at a slightly higher temperature while the breasts rest).

Edited June 5, 2012 by ChrisTaylor (log)