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Broiled Spring Chicken

A whole young spring chicken seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter, then broiled or baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,902 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Broiled Spring Chicken

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Clean the chicken thoroughly, split it down the back, remove the breast bone and remove the internal organs.

  2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, then rub the chicken well with soft butter.

Cook

  1. Broil the chicken for 20 minutes over a clear fire or under the broiler.

  2. Turn the chicken to ensure even browning.

  3. Keep the flesh side exposed to the fire most of the time.

  4. Remove the chicken to a hot platter.

  5. Spread the chicken with hot butter.

  6. Alternatively, place the chicken in a dripping pan, skin side down.

  7. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

  8. Spread the chicken with soft butter.

  9. Bake the chicken for 15 minutes in a hot oven (400°F/200°C).

  10. Broil the chicken to finish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,902 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Forms the main structure and protein of the dish, cooked through by broiling or baking.
Butter
Adds moisture and fat, helping the skin brown and the flesh stay juicy.

The step that matters

Keep the flesh side exposed to the fire most of the time. Direct heat on the flesh cooks the meat through while turning and skin-side placement control browning. Turning regularly prevents scorching and uneven browning, so the chicken cooks evenly without burning.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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