I know that science is still trying to nail down whether meat cooked on the bone is tastier, but as for me, I am a believer. I have been known to butterfly and marinate legs of lamb to put them on a charcoal grill but that’s about the only time I willingly take a bone out before cooking.
If you’ve never searched, you might not be aware that sous vide recipes for poultry with bones still in are few and far between. Frankly, I couldn’t find one for a whole bird. Most poultry roast recipes call for removing the bones or at the very least butterflying the bird. I’m sure the reason is that it’s hard to keep a whole bird submerged, because of the air inside.
I solved that problem a couple of years ago when I wanted to roast two guinea fowl for Christmas. I stuffed them! It was a risky experiment that could have meant a terrible Christmas dinner but they turned out beautifully! I was so impressed that I’ve even used sous vide to cook a whole stuffed turkey. I cannot tell you how moist and tender the meat was, even the breast.
That’s why I was so excited when I found a chicken crown roast to further experiment on. It’s not a very common cut for chicken although many shops do sell turkey crowns around the holidays. Basically the crown is the whole breast, both sides, with the bones that support it underneath, sometimes with the ribs as well, sometimes without. It's a good place to start if you are scared of sous vide-ing a whole bird.
Sous Vide Bone-in Chicken Crown
Partially cooking the crown roast first by sous vide before roasting ensures that the meat is tender and juicy, yet covered by golden brown skin that people will fight over. To make a full meal of this beauty, you can add onions, carrots, parsnips and/or potatoes to the roasting pan. Or roast it alone if you have other side dishes in mind. It's one of our favorite family meals.Ingredients
For sous vide:
1 chicken crown, bone in, skin on (about 1 1/2 lbs or 700g)
1 small lemon, sliced in thin wedges
Flakey sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Leaves from 1 large sprig rosemary
2-3 tablespoons butter
Optional for roasting:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 small onions, peeled and quartered
1.1 lbs or 500g Chantenay carrots, topped, tailed and scrubbed clean
2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut into sticks
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Set up your sous vide machine to 145ºF / 62.8ºC in a large vessel filled with water up to the MAX line. Set the time for 1 hour and 45 minutes. (I use this Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker. <Amazon affiliate link)
Liberally salt and pepper the chicken crown. Okay, this guy hasn't been salted and peppered yet but I wanted to show you what he looks like out of the bag.
Put it in a large sealable bag with the lemon wedges, rosemary and butter. Carefully submerge the bag in the heating water until all of the air inside has been pressed out to create a vacuum. Seal the bag.
Sous vide at 145°F/62.8ºC for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Remove the whole bag from the sous vide vessel and leave to cool still in the bag.
To finish, roast on 375°F or 190°C, fan assist, for about 40-45 minutes, accompanied by onions, carrots and/or parsnips drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, if desired. Turn pan occasionally so the chicken crown browns evenly.
Cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Carve to serve with pan juices.
Enjoy!
It’s Multicooker Monday again, that monthly post when we attempt to make more use of our slow cookers, Instant Pots, sous vide machines and air fryers and hopefully inspire you to use yours as well. Many thanks to our group founder and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the other recipes we are sharing:
- Breakfast for Dinner Hash Brown & Sausage Soup from Faith, Hope, Luck & Love Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs from Palatable Pastime
- Instant Pot Chili from Making Miracles
- Instant Pot Turkey Meatloaf with Potato Wedges from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs in the Instant Pot from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Perfectly Baked Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes from Sneha's Recipe
- Sous Vide Chicken Crown Roast from Food Lust People Love
Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group.
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