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 ↓
Roast Chicken
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
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cover the breast of the chicken with butter or dripping, or tie a piece of fat bacon over it.
Roast
Place the chicken in a roasting bag and set it on a grid in the oven.
Roast for 25 minutes for a small spring chicken, 35 minutes for a large fowl, or 45 to 50 minutes for stuffed poultry or game.
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.
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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through as the centre of the roast.
- Butter or dripping
- Coats the breast with fat, keeping the surface moist and helping it brown in the oven.
- Fat bacon
- Lies over the breast as a fat layer, basting the meat and keeping it moist as it roasts.
The step that matters
Roast for the right time for the bird's size. Cooking time depends on size and stuffing. Too short leaves the centre undercooked, while too long dries out the meat. Matching the time to the bird keeps the meat juicy and safely cooked through.
“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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