New Toys and Great Roast Chicken

Boys with toys. That's what a lot of people think about food geek guys who must have the latest and greatest kitchen gadgets. Sous-vide at home, for instance. Torches. Chemistry kits to glue meat together. You know the drill, and I'm really no different. Over the past few months, I've picked up a few new toys; one courtesy of Significant Eater and the others courtesy of well, myself.

From Sig Eater, last year's Hanukkah + this year's birthday + this year's Hanukkah + next year's birthday +...well, you get the point, is this beauty...

One of the cool things is the fact that she said "just get it" when Modernist Cuisine first became the newest object of every food nerd's dream. Well, she said it, along with the obligatory eye roll. But I put together the above equation (I was always good in math), and MC now holds a special place on our bookshelf.

Next up is this lovely kitchen item, which was being offered at an outrageous price (you gotta spend some dough to save some dough) with an outrageous warranty, directly from the manufacturer. And we needed one anyway...

It's a Blendtec blender, seen in smoothie shops nationwide. Can it core a apple? No. But - it can make hot soup. Right in the blender. It can make frozen sorbet. Right in the blender. It makes a damn good smoothie, and I've been on a smoothie kick lately; they're a great way to get lots of fruit (or veggies) all in one sitting.

And finally, there's this...

That's my new vertical roaster. I think it was $12, so it came in a distant 3rd in the cost category. It may have been invented after a technique called beer-can chicken became popular with tailgaters and other he-men barbecue people. Interestingly enough, there's actually a recipe in Modernist Cuisine for beer-can roast chicken (Volume 2; Page 109 for the geeks among you). And it actually calls for a beer can.

However, just like the kid who plays with the cheapest toy or the box it came in, I'm all over the vertical roaster...screw the beer can chicken in MC; besides, it takes over 3 hours to cook the chicken that way and I'm in much more of a rush.

Using a kosher bird (pre-brined, practically), I separated the skin slightly and slipped some softened butter underneath and all around, along with some very thinly sliced garlic. I also seasoned the outside of the bird with a mix of smoked paprika, salt and pepper. It looked like this...

With the oven preheated to 375 F, on convection, the 3.25 lb. bird roasted for 50 minutes, and then it looked like this...

As with all roasted or grilled meats, you should let the finished item rest for at least 15 - 20 minutes before slicing or cutting it up. that helps to redistribute the juices, rather than letting them run out all over your cutting board...

Seriously juicy and seriously delicious, with nice crisp skin, accomplished in about an hour. And it's got me wondering; is there a smoothie recipe in Modernist Cuisine?