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 : 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
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.
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.
44 K4 30 min.
Quick chicken curry
This curry is quick to make if you have left over cooked chicken, and is always delicious.
278 K5 35 min.
Rice and peas
This is a very simple recipe that can made almost entirely with leftovers: chicken, rice and peas.
138 K4.2 30 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: Breton Sandwich, Pea risotto "Mantecare", Rice and peas, Avocado and smoked salmon terrine , Harichou salad, ... See them all 57
Pepper
Like these other recipes: "Land and sea" kebabs, Crispy potato and mushroom brik rolls, Cretan salad, Chorba, Cauliflower curry, ... See them all 633
Salt
Like these other recipes: Celeriac and sesame soup, Genoese croque-monsieur, Smooth mixed vegetable soup, Spring veal sauté , Baked eggs with chicken and spinach, ... See them all 657
Other recipes you may also like
Spinach Croque-monsieur
A croque-monsieur is a French toasted sandwich. Here, the 2 slices of buttered bread are filled with bechamel sauce, hard-boiled eggs, blanched spinach and melted cheese. The assembled sandwich is popped in the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.May 24th 201572 K4.5 45 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.
Chocolate tart
As you can see, there's very little added sugar in this recipe, so it's a very chocolatey and bitter-sweet tart.November 16th 2013299 K 15 2 hours 30 min.
Baked apples from St Aubin le Vertueux
Under this pretty name, my personal version of "Les pommes au four" (baked apples).February 21th 2011254 K 24.2 1 hour 7 min.
Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)
Quite similar to crème anglaise but much thicker. It is used in many pastries like choux pastry (pâte à choux) or millefeuille.January 27th 2017767 K 313.7 40 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.