# The Ultimate Chicken Cooking Hack

This recipe demonstrates a game-changing method for cooking chicken that involves spatchcocking and brining to ensure a juicy and evenly cooked result, served with silky smooth mashed potatoes and velvety gravy.

- Total time: 90 min
- Cuisine: American
- Category: Side
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 1 whole chicken
- 5 % salt
- water
- ice
- 1 lemon
- bay leaves
- rosemary
- thyme
- 1 onion
- garlic
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 100 ml white wine
- 500 ml chicken stock
- potatoes
- 25 % butter
- 40 % milk

## Instructions

1. Remove the wing tips from the chicken using a knife and cut off the parson's nose.
2. Turn the chicken onto its breast and cut along both sides of the backbone with kitchen scissors to remove it.
3. Place the removed backbone and trimmings into a freezer bag for making stock later.
4. Turn the chicken over, breast-side up, and flatten it by pressing down firmly on the breastbone.
5. Pour water into a pot and add salt to create a 5% brine, heating it slightly until the salt dissolves, then adding ice and more water to cool it down.
6. Add lemon, bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme to the cooled brine.
7. Submerge the spatchcocked chicken in the brine and refrigerate overnight or for up to 24 hours.
8. After brining, remove onions, garlic, herbs, and lemon from the brine and place them in a roasting tray.
9. Drizzle olive oil over the aromatics in the roasting tray.
10. Remove the chicken from the brine, pat it dry thoroughly with paper towels, and place it on top of the aromatics in the roasting tray.
11. Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and rub it in.
12. Place the chicken in the oven preheated to the highest temperature (around 200°C or 396°F) and cook for 30-35 minutes.
13. Check the internal temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer; it should be around 67°C (153°F) before resting.
14. Remove the cooked chicken from the roasting tray and set aside to rest.
15. For the gravy, remove the lemon pieces from the roasting tray with the drippings.
16. Sprinkle plain flour (2-3 tablespoons) into the roasting tray with the drippings and cook out for about 5 minutes, stirring to create a roux.
17. Deglaze the pan with white wine (around 100ml) and cook for another 5 minutes.
18. Add chicken stock (around 500ml) to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
19. Strain the gravy mixture into a saucepan and reduce it to your desired consistency.
20. Carve the rested chicken by removing the legs.
21. Remove the wings from the chicken.
22. Cut along the side of the breastbone and then along the bottom to release each breast.
23. Slice baked potatoes in half.
24. Push the potato flesh through a fine-mesh sieve into a pot.
25. Toss the leftover potato skins with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt, then bake them into crispy snacks.
26. Heat the sieved potato and gradually add cold butter (25-50% of the potato's weight) until incorporated.
27. Slowly add warm milk (40% of the potato's weight) to the mashed potatoes until the desired silky smooth consistency is achieved.
28. Serve a chicken leg with a portion of the mashed potatoes and generously drizzle with the prepared gravy.

## Equipment

- boning knife
- kitchen scissors
- freezer bag
- pot
- wooden spoon
- baking tray
- paper towels
- oven
- meat thermometer
- tongs
- strainer
- pan
- spatula
- kitchen scales
- knife
- fork

## Tips

- Brine chicken for at least 8 hours, but no more than 24 hours to prevent it from becoming too salty.
- Aim for an internal temperature of 60°C+ (140°F+) in the thickest part of the chicken before resting; it will rise above 70°C after resting.
- Cook chicken at the highest oven temperature for about 30-35 minutes, keeping an eye on it.
- For mashed potatoes, use a dry, fluffy potato variety like Maris Piper.
- Push cooked potatoes through a very fine mesh sieve (like a '30 mesh' sieve) to achieve silky smooth mash without lumps.
- When making mash, add 25-50% of the potato's weight in cold butter and then 40% of the potato's weight in warm milk until desired consistency is reached.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=822171623320714
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/448b4a04-ed10-4509-94bb-2aea0714891b
- Extracted: 2025-09-23

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt