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?".
564 K 4.2/5 (130 reviews)758700
Last modified on: October 17th 2026
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.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
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
Step 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...
Step 2
... and inside of the bird.
Step 3 - ⌛ 1 min.
Tie herbs firmly in a small bunch, or use a bouquet garni and put inside the bird with 2 cloves garlic.
Step 4 - ⌛ 1 min.
You can also put in half an onion or a whole shallot.
Step 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).
Step 6 - ⌛ 3 hours
Put in the oven at 150°C ou 302°F and forget about it for 3 hours.
Step 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).
Step 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.
Step 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: Homemade, after an exciting lecture by Hervé THIS.
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Nutritional information
| Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats | Calories | Energy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g | 21 g RDI=32 % | 0 g | 7 g RDI=10 % | 146 kcal RDI=7 % | 612 kJ RDI=7 % |
| Whole recipe | 378 g RDI=582 % | 0 g | 126 g RDI=173 % | 2,646 kcal RDI=132 % | 11,078 kJ RDI=132 % |
How much will it cost?
For 1 poultry
8.60 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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This recipe uses (among others)
Whole bird (chicken, duck etc.)
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Herbs of your choice
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