Skip to main content
Main

Broiled Chicken

A whole chicken broiled with bacon, salt, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 Chicken

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Clean the chicken thoroughly.

  2. Split the chicken through the back.

  3. Wash and wipe it well.

  4. Place a piece of bacon under each wing.

  5. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and butter.

Broil

  1. Broil the chicken for 20 minutes over a clear fire, turning it to ensure even browning.

  2. Keep the flesh side exposed to the fire for most of the time.

Bake and serve

  1. Remove the chicken to a hot platter.

  2. Spread with soft butter.

  3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  4. Bake the chicken skin side down in a dripping pan for 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C).

  5. Broil 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
The main protein; splitting it flat lets it cook more evenly over the fire.
Bacon
Its rendered fat bastes the bird and adds smoky, savory flavor.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the skin brown.

The step that matters

Broil over a clear fire, turning often. Direct heat can scorch the outside before the thick meat cooks through. Turning the chicken and keeping the flesh side toward the fire spreads heat for even browning.

“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.

More broiled chicken recipes

with Gravy 7with Mushroom Sauce 6on Toast 5Breast 3Neck 3or Quail 3 See all 165 →

You might also like

Chicken BrothChicken Broth257 recipesChicken SoupChicken Soup156 recipesCreamed ChickenCreamed Chicken89 recipesChicken PanadaChicken Panada75 recipes