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?".
556 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
Rice and peas
This is a very simple recipe that can made almost entirely with leftovers: chicken, rice and peas.
145 K4.2 30 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,...
48 K 30 min.
Baked eggs with chicken and spinach
A classic recipe for baked eggs (œufs cocotte), cooked in ramekins with a base layer of spinach and diced chicken.
50 K4 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.
52 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: Baked potoatoes with herb butter or cream , Seafood feuillantines, Chicken and Avocado Salad, Cream and herb dressing, Carrot salad with almonds and Comté cheese, ... See them all 60
Salt
Like these other recipes: French onion soup, Provençal remoulade sauce, Summery cheese on toast, Cucumber, avocado and mussel salad, Mackerel rillettes, ... See them all 676
Pepper
Like these other recipes: Hummus, Baked potatoes with poached egg and tuna sauce , Pasta with green asparagus, Warm scallop and cabbage salad, Seafood sauerkraut, ... See them all 649
Other recipes you may also like
Morteau sausage
In this recipe, Morteau sausages are cooked on a bed of chopped potatoes. The trick is to cook the Morteau sausage slowly, so that its delicious, smoky flavor descends on the potatoes, which are crispy on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth on the inside, a pure delight. September 29th 20241.26 M 34.1 1 hour 35 min.
Steak burger topped with egg
A succulent steak burger, topped with a perfect egg. Here are all the tips you need to produce this simple but delicious dish. June 22th 2013274 K4.9 55 min.
Tournedos Rossini
Tournedos Rossini is a very chic recipe, allegedly inspired by the famous composer. It consists of fried fillet steak, served on buttered toast, topped with a slice of foie gras and a delicious sauce made by deglazing the cooking pan... August 26th 2021359 K 33.7 50 min.
Spring veal sauté
This sauté combines small chunks of veal with spring onions in a white-wine sauce with just a dash of cream. May 18th 201499 K4.5 60 min.
Saltimbocca
Saltimbocca literally means "jumps into the mouth" in Italian. These delicious little meat rolls, made with veal, ham and sage, will do just that! July 20th 201591 K4.9 40 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-12-28)
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.