Sittin Chicken

I love technology ... I love technology ... I love technology.   That is my mantra for the week.  Why, you ask?  Because I need to learn to embrace technology - even when it fails me.  To make a long story short, I got a new "sittin chicken" stand for the Big Green Egg for Christmas from a friend and I decided to give it a try.  After about 2 hours, my chicken smelled and looked absolutely wonderful.  My meat thermometer read 165 degrees so I took my chicken off of the Egg and tented it with foil to rest.  Twenty minutes later, there I was, standing over my beautiful chicken with my lovely family salivating over it's enticing smells when I began to carve my bird.  That is when I realized that my chicken was grossly undercooked.  I reinserted my thermometer only to find out that it was only registering 130 degrees!   Uggg - a thermometer malfunction!  I covered the chicken in foil and put it in the oven to finish cooking while trying to explain to my poor starving family that they would have to wait a while longer for their dinner.  We snacked on bread, green beans and roasted potatoes for an hour while we waited for the chicken to finish cooking. Maybe it's because we were starving but the smell of the orange glaze was intoxicating.  Despite my frustrated over my thermometer malfunction, the chicken turned out great.  Needless to say, I am not in the market for a new kitchen thermometer.  If you have one that you would recommend, send me a comment.   

Glazed Roast Chicken       
                                                                     Glaze
1 whole chicken                                           1 teaspoon cornstarch
5 teaspoons kosher salt                                1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon baking powder                           1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon black pepper                              1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 can beer                                                    1/4 cup cider vinegar
                                                                     2 Tablespoons butter
                                                                     2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
                                                                     1 teaspoon black pepper

 




Cut 4 1” incisions in chicken breasts.  Use metal skewer to poke holes in breasts and thighs.  Combine salt, baking powder and pepper.






Pat chicken dry with paper towels and rub with salt mixture.  Refrigerate uncovered 30-60 minutes.

 

Heat Big Green Egg or oven to 325.  Open beer and pour into the sittin chicken base.












If using a Big Green Egg,  put the plate setter over the grate, upside down.  Center a disposable aluminum pan over the plate setter.  Put the sittin chicken stand in the middle of the pan.  Slide the chicken over the base.

















Roast until chicken breasts reach 140.  (about 75 minutes)  Increase the temperature to 500.  Combine cornstarch and water.




Bring remaining glaze ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook 6-8 minutes until reduced to 3/4 cup.  Slowly whisk in cornstarch mixture.

This is the chicken after 2 hours of cooking.  (I should have taken a picture of the temperature reading.)







Brush glaze over chicken, reserving 1/4 cup.  Continue to cook another 15 minutes.

Remove pan from Egg and tent chicken with foil for 20 minutes.

There is proof that the chicken was still 160 when I brought it inside!





Remove chicken from stand and brush with reserved glaze.

After all the waiting - the chicken was delicious - thank goodness.  I am going to have to make this chicken again when I have a new thermometer.

Ciao!