This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
Five hours poultry
Perhaps simplest recipe on this site, but what a result! The idea is to cook the bird, without fat, at low temperature, covered, and for a long time. In this way, the poultry cooks so as to be almost like a "confit": soft and very tasty. The effect is more spectacular with duck because it is a rather firm meat, tough even, but with this method it can be cut with a fork like a confit.
This recipe is applicable to big poultry too, it's also a response to questions like "How to cook a turkey?" or "how to cook a capon?".
This recipe is applicable to big poultry too, it's also a response to questions like "How to cook a turkey?" or "how to cook a capon?".
548 K 4.2/5 (129 reviews)
5 hours 15 min.
Easy
1 poultry
6 IngredientsLast modified on: January 27th 2012
For 1 poultry, you will need:
- 1
1 whole bird (chicken, duck etc.) - 2
1 bunch herbs of your choice - 3
1 bouquet garni (optional) - 4
2 cloves garlic (optional) - 5
salt - 6
pepper - Total weight: 1,810 grams
Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Cooking: 5 hours
All in all: 5 hours 15 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 1 min.
This works with all kinds of poultry: chicken of course, but also duck, guinea fowl, turkey, etc.
Salt and pepper the outside...
Salt and pepper the outside...
Stage 2
... and inside of the bird.
Stage 3 - 1 min.
Tie herbs firmly in a small bunch, or use a bouquet garni and put inside the bird with 2 cloves garlic.
Stage 4 - 1 min.
You can also put in half an onion or a whole shallot.
Stage 5 - 4 min.
Put bird in a cooking bag then in a dish, or cover dish with oven plastic film (see this page for more informations on papers and bags).
Stage 6 - 3 hours
Put in the oven at 150°C ou 302°F and forget about it for 3 hours.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
After 3 hours, remove the lid, or remove from the cooking bag, arrange vegetables around the bird, and baste with its juices.
For the last 2 hours, leave uncovered, and baste with juices every 15 minutes (or thereabouts).
For the last 2 hours, leave uncovered, and baste with juices every 15 minutes (or thereabouts).
Stage 8 - 2 hours
After the five hours, you can cut it up (but is it the right word when you do that with a fork?) and serve.
Tip: during the last 15 minutes it's a good idea to turn the oven up to 220°C or 428°F to really heat the meat, otherwise it gets cold very quickly at your guests' table. Do remember to heat the plates as well.
Tip: during the last 15 minutes it's a good idea to turn the oven up to 220°C or 428°F to really heat the meat, otherwise it gets cold very quickly at your guests' table. Do remember to heat the plates as well.
Stage 9
Note: This works too with roasting meats. For a joint of pork, for example, surround the meat with some sage leaves, which go very well with pork or white meats.
Remarks
This recipe is warmly dedicated to Frances Maguire, from Dublin, who kindly taught me everything about cooking in a bag.
How can such a low cooking temperature produce such soft meat? To understand that you need some molecular gastronomy. Please note that you can apply this slow cooking to many other foods.
If you have a really big bird, like a capon or turkey, you can easily go beyond 6 hours.
Vegetables cooked long and slow in the poultry juices, become deliciously moist and flavoursome ...
If your bird is so big that you have left-overs, you can make an "Express Parmentier" with it by covering a layer of meat with mashed potato and grated cheese (10 minutes under the grill), and it's very good!
How can such a low cooking temperature produce such soft meat? To understand that you need some molecular gastronomy. Please note that you can apply this slow cooking to many other foods.
If you have a really big bird, like a capon or turkey, you can easily go beyond 6 hours.
Vegetables cooked long and slow in the poultry juices, become deliciously moist and flavoursome ...
If your bird is so big that you have left-overs, you can make an "Express Parmentier" with it by covering a layer of meat with mashed potato and grated cheese (10 minutes under the grill), and it's very good!
Source: Home made, after an exciting lecture by Hervé THIS.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 380 RDI=150 % | 7 RDI=1 % | 130 RDI=20 % | 2,680 RDI=130 % | 11,220 RDI: 130 % |
| Per 100 g | 20 RDI=8 % | 0 | 6 RDI=1 % | 150 RDI=7 % | 620 RDI: 7 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 1 poultry : $10.10
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 17
Potimarron (chestnut pumpkin) "au gratin"
We could almost say a "Parmentier" of potimarron: a layer of left over cooked chicken, covered with potimarron purée and cheese, put to brown in the oven.
270 K 24 1 hour 35 min.
Lemony chicken and radish salad
This salad combines the crunch of finely sliced radishes with tender cubes of chicken. The tang which lifts the flavour comes from fresh herbs and the dressing of lemon mayonnaise.
42 K5 25 min.
Valay salad
This salad combines ratte potatoes, lettuce, radishes and chicken with a herb dressing.
100 K3.9 1 hour 3 min.
Beans with tomatoes
Fresh white haricot beans and leftover chicken cooked with stewed tomatoes, a sprig of parsley and it's ready.
207 K4.1 1 hour 55 min.
Gratin-style spinach and chicken omelette
A simple omelette treated more like a gratin: the omelette forms the bottom layer in the dish, topped with chicken and spinach in a cream sauce and browned in the oven.
44 K 45 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Herbs of your choice
Like these other recipes: Fish in a salt crust, Spring courgette and tuna salad, Avocado with gravlax, Cauliflower and chickpea salad, Raw green asparagus salad, ... See them all 57
Whole bird (chicken, duck etc.)
Like these other recipes: Hay-baked poultry, ... See them all 1
Salt
Like these other recipes: Fisherman's Ragout, Green beans with tomatoes, Dipping bread with cheese, Fresh spinach with cream, Raw beetroot salad, ... See them all 657
Pepper
Like these other recipes: Leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup, Icelandic-style fish and vegetable pie, Baked potatoes with poached egg and tuna sauce , Beurre d'escargot, Colcannon, ... See them all 633
Other recipes you may also like
Muffin dough
This dough can be used to make this delicious and classic of the English cooking: muffins. It can be sweet, in different flavours, with fruit, but also savoury in other recipes.February 6th 2013570 K5 25 min.
Tahitian salad
This Tahitian-inspired salad combines fish cured in lemon juice with lettuce, tomatoes and raw mushrooms.May 10th 202341 K5 45 min.
Chestnut cake
This delightful cake is doubly chestnutty: it contains chestnut flour, and sweet chestnut purée.May 8th 2020343 K5 1 hour 15 min.
Fruit crumble
A fruit pudding: very easy to do and delicious: just a layer of fruit with a golden crunchy topping.February 21th 2011364 K4.0 1 hour 15 min.
Caramelised apple pie
Apple pie made with caramelised apples.September 11th 2018265 K4.3 1 hour 55 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-08-24)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 41 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.