Let me tell you, when I saw Pampered Chef’s recipe for 30-Minute Chicken, I was skeptical. Can you really cook a whole chicken in the microwave? Skeptical isn’t even the right word. It was more like, “Yeah, right.” Then a friend of mine, who’s been with Pampered Chef for a long time told me it was totally true… “Uh-huh. Okay.” I was still a non-believer.
Fast forward to a busy Sunday afternoon. Miss O wasn’t feeling well, Mr. O was out working with clients, and I was stuck at home trying to get some work done and avoiding thinking about dinner. I was planning on roasting a chicken – it’s a nice Sunday night meal and the leftovers are awesome for sandwiches and recycling in other meals. Then I looked up and it was 5 o’clock.
Well, crap.
My 7 lb chicken wasn’t going to roast in an hour. It would be closer to 2!
It was time to bite the bullet and try this amazing microwave recipe I’d heard so much about. I don’t yet have a Deep Covered Baker, but I do have a Rockcrok Dutch Oven, so I went with that. I was in a bit of a frantic state at the time, so I didn’t really measure out my spices, just kind of shook them on.
The other tricky part is that the 30-Minute Chicken recipe is for a 3.5-4 lb bird. Mine was 7 and change. I didn’t want to just double the time – my gut was telling me that would be a bad move – so I started with 30 minutes and did a temperature check. After 30 minutes my chicken was at 140 degrees. I reset the microwave for 15 minutes and walked away. After another quick temperature check we were at 165! Perfect!
Of course the big question is the taste. Who cares how fast it cooks if no one will eat it, right?
It was good! The meat was tender and the skin was crispy, and what more can you ask for in a roast chicken? After I let it rest for 5 minutes, cutting through the breast was easy and the juices glimmered.
Miss O’s eyes opened wide when she saw me coming with a roast chicken. She’s the kid who stands at the counter while I carve up a rotisserie chicken, grabbing handfuls and eating it medieval feast style. I was delighted when she once again snuck up to the counter, dragged her stool over and waited for me to carve off a piece of juicy goodness.
So to answer my original question – Can you really cook a whole chicken in the microwave? – the answer is a most definite yes!
