Boiled Fowls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Truss the fowl firmly, drawing the legs into the body and twisting the wings over the back.
Cover the fowl with hot water (not boiling).
Cook
Boil a full-sized fowl for about 45 minutes or young chickens for 20 to 25 minutes, gently simmering.
Remove any scum that gathers on the surface of the water.
Serve
Serve with sauces like parsley and butter, béchamel, or white sauce.
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
- Poultry
- Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and moist as it gently cooks in water.
The step that matters
Keep the water gently simmering, not boiling hard. A hard boil toughens the meat and makes the skin break apart, while gentle simmering cooks the flesh evenly and keeps it tender and juicy.
“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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