The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 712

POULTRYCOOKINGMETHOD2

(IfYou’veGotTimeto
Spare):DIVIDEand
CONQUER
You’ll need to know how to break down a bird to use this
method(or,tomakeitfareasier,justbuypartsindividually
atthestore),aswellasbeingcompletelywillingtokissany
Norman Rockwell dreams of picture-perfect roast birds
good-bye.
Separatingthelegsandthebreastsfromeachothermakes
itaverysimplemattertoroastthepartstogether,removing
the breasts from the oven once they reach their final
temperature and cooking the legs until they reach theirs.
Afterallowingeverythingtorest,allyouneedtodoisbang
theovenuptoaraging500°F,throweverythingbackinside
forafewminutestocrispuptheskin,anddinnerisserved.
Tomaximizeevencooking,Imakesuretocookthepartsin
averygentleoven—aslowatemperatureasIhavethetime
and patience for (seehereforanexplanationonwhyalow
ovenpromotesevencooking).
For the best results, it’s always better to leave the breast
meatattachedtothebonesandtheskinonwhenyouroast
thebreasts.Thishasnothingtodowithanykindofmythical
exchange of flavor between bones and meat (see “Bones,”


here)andeverythingtodowithexposedsurfaces.Themore
surface area of the meat is exposed, the more moisture it’ll
lose, but the bones and skin help insulate the fragile white
meat, preventing it from drying out. The bones are much

easier to remove after cooking, if you’d like to do so, and
youcanalwayspulloffandthrowouttheskinifyoudon’t
wanttoeatit(or,betteryet,passitontosomeoneelseinthe
familywho’llbehappytotakeitoffyourhands).
This method also has a few advantages: namely, that
you’re not anatomically limited (you want 6 legs and 4
breasts?—noproblem!),andthebirdislesscumbersometo
movearound.Onceit’sbutchered(or,eveneasier,justbuy
thepartsyouneedprebutchered),allofthepiecesareeasy
topickupwithtongsoryourhands.Ifyouwanttoreallygo
the extra mile, this method also allows you to cook the
breasts and legs by two completely different methods (see
Thanksgiving Turkey Two Ways, here), giving you more
optionsatthedinnertable.