To Roast Fowls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fowl
Pick and draw the fowl carefully, avoiding the gall-bag.
Singe the fowl and wipe it out with a clean, dry cloth.
Break the legs at the first joint, remove sinews, and cut off excess parts.
Place the gizzard in one wing and the liver in the other, securing with skewers.
Cut the head off close to the body, leaving enough skin to tie it back.
Roast and serve
Suspend the fowl neck downwards and baste with butter.
Roast for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on size.
Serve with melted butter or gravy, removing all skewers and strings before serving.
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
What each ingredient does
- Fowl
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked whole so the meat stays moist inside.
- Butter
- Basting adds fat that carries heat over the skin, helping it brown and taste rich.
The step that matters
Basting the fowl with butter while it roasts. Fat spread over the skin conducts heat and promotes even browning, while the meat underneath stays juicier. Skipping or uneven basting can leave the skin pale and dry.
“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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