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?".
558 K 4.2/5 (129 reviews)
5 hours 15 min.
Easy
9.40 €
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
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.
How much will it cost?
- For 1 poultry : 8.60 €
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
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.
49 K5 25 min.
Julia salad
This salad takes its inspiration from the famous Caesar salad, but is simpler. The combination of chicken with croutons is a delicious way to use up leftovers.
45 K3 35 min.
Gratin of chicken with rice and sautéed mushrooms
This is a very simple gratin, mainly using leftovers (chicken and rice), ideal for a Sunday night supper.
64 K3.8 55 min.
Hot sesame-cream chicken tartines
Slices of lightly toasted bread topped with sesame and tarragon cream, morsels of chicken and a little grated cheese. Just popped in the oven for a few minutes to brown. [Translator's note: in French, a tartine is simply a slice of bread spread with something (butter, jam...) or an open sandwich,...
49 K 30 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.
53 K 45 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Whole bird (chicken, duck etc.)
Like these other recipes: Hay-baked poultry, ... See them all 1
Herbs of your choice
Like these other recipes: Roasted Cauliflower, Cherry tomato and two cabbage salad, Chinese Soup, "Land and sea" kebabs, Green and red salad with sardines and eggs mimosa, ... See them all 60
Pepper
Like these other recipes: Röstis, Leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup, How to prepare cockles, Mexican ceviche, Tahitian style fish, ... See them all 661
Salt
Like these other recipes: How to prepare spinach, Ardennes Salad, Parmesan cauliflower cheese, Loin of pork with herbs and julienne vegetables , Macarons (the original French macaroons) , ... See them all 691
Other recipes you may also like
Flambéd bananas
The trick of this recipe is to end up with bananas caramelised on the outside, still firm on the inside, coated with a tasty syrup which is not 95% butter. February 21th 2011344 K 14 40 min.
Sweet pancake rolls from Brittany
Stewed apples, raisins soaked in whisky, toasted almonds, rolled in a lightly caramelized pancake. March 10th 2015263 K4.3 2 hours 20 min.
Finger biscuits
These small biscuits, that look a bit like savoy biscuits, are delicious alone or with Champagne, but are also the base for charlottes or Tiramisu. July 30th 2021360 K5 50 min.
Vanilla sugar
Almost essential in patisserie, you can find it in expensive little sachets of about 10g. It's necessary to distinguish between the vanilla sugar which really contains vanilla, and vanillin sugar, purely chemical which has never seen a vanilla pod. Here is how to quickly make a whole jar full of your own vanilla sugar. August 12th 2018444 K 15 30 min.
Clarified butter
This is a way of melting butter to eliminate all the impurities. The clarified butter can then be heated without spoiling, and is more digestible. It is ideal for cooking at high temperatures where small black specks would spoil the appearance, or for emulsified sauces like béarnaise or mousseline. June 21th 2017485 K4.2 2 hours 15 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-03-01)
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.