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To Broil Chickens

A simple broiled whole chicken seasoned with butter, pepper, and coarse sea salt.

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 ↓

To Broil Chickens

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the chickens open through the back and remove the liver.

  2. Wash the chickens and wipe them dry.

  3. Place the chickens inside down on the grill.

Broil and serve

  1. Broil slowly, turning them after 10 minutes.

  2. Continue broiling for 25 minutes.

  3. Dress with butter, pepper, and salt before serving.

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. Butter + peppertop 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
Provides the main protein, which firms and browns as it cooks over heat.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the skin brown and taste savoury.

The step that matters

Broil slowly and turn after 10 minutes. Slow broiling with a turn lets heat reach the thick meat and cook it through while the skin browns evenly. Rushing with high heat tends to scorch the skin before the inside is done.

“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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