Discussion
I fancy having a go at stuffing a bird inside a bird this weekend, in preparation for having a go at a 3 tier version for Christmas.
I've boned chickens before, and use a sausage meat stuffing, then wrap it up tight in a jay cloth (great tip from a cookery course some time ago) to roast it.
Any recommendation or tips for multiple birds? I'm thinking something (duck? pheasant?) inside a chicken for my first attempt. Jay cloth method is clearly not going to be big enough when I advance to turkeys so I'll be trying this one with string and foil I guess.
As an added complication the Christmas one won't be able to use sausage meat or bacon as my mother is allergic to pork, so probably looking at a sage/onion/chestnut stuffing.
I've boned chickens before, and use a sausage meat stuffing, then wrap it up tight in a jay cloth (great tip from a cookery course some time ago) to roast it.
Any recommendation or tips for multiple birds? I'm thinking something (duck? pheasant?) inside a chicken for my first attempt. Jay cloth method is clearly not going to be big enough when I advance to turkeys so I'll be trying this one with string and foil I guess.
As an added complication the Christmas one won't be able to use sausage meat or bacon as my mother is allergic to pork, so probably looking at a sage/onion/chestnut stuffing.
I did a pheasant in a chicken in a duck a year or so back. (The duck was bigger than the chicken) I used sausage meat, black pudding, chestnut and garlic stuffing. I managed to overcook it because I followed the 20 min a pound + 20mins rule, this was way to much. Next time I will use a temp. probe. I boned out the duck and chicken but only used the breasts of the pheasant. I would also add some butter for basting.
Well that worked pretty well for a first attempt.
I went for pheasant breasts in a duck in a chicken, with sage, onion and garlic stuffing between each layer to keep in nice and moist. Lots of discussion online about whether to skin the inner bird or not, I left the skin on and it was a bit rubbery, but if you remove the skin it's not going to stay together so you may as well just use breasts and legs rather than a whole bird.
Whole think weighed a shade over 6lbs, so I aimed on 2.5 hours being the maximum cooking time. I kept it covered with tin foil for the first couple of hours and it took pretty much the 2.5 hours to reach my target temperature of 70 degrees. All layers nice and moist too.
In hindsight I'd alternate the layers of light and dark meat. I went pheasant-duck-chicken whcih meant it was a lot harder to spot the pheasant than if I'd done pheasant-chicken-duck. I should have used s slightly smaller duck too, local farmers market had mallards but I thought they might be a bit tricky to bone so went for a larger supermarket one instead. It was a bit tricky to squeeze it all in to the chicken and 4 or us have only managed to eat about half of it
I went for pheasant breasts in a duck in a chicken, with sage, onion and garlic stuffing between each layer to keep in nice and moist. Lots of discussion online about whether to skin the inner bird or not, I left the skin on and it was a bit rubbery, but if you remove the skin it's not going to stay together so you may as well just use breasts and legs rather than a whole bird.
Whole think weighed a shade over 6lbs, so I aimed on 2.5 hours being the maximum cooking time. I kept it covered with tin foil for the first couple of hours and it took pretty much the 2.5 hours to reach my target temperature of 70 degrees. All layers nice and moist too.
In hindsight I'd alternate the layers of light and dark meat. I went pheasant-duck-chicken whcih meant it was a lot harder to spot the pheasant than if I'd done pheasant-chicken-duck. I should have used s slightly smaller duck too, local farmers market had mallards but I thought they might be a bit tricky to bone so went for a larger supermarket one instead. It was a bit tricky to squeeze it all in to the chicken and 4 or us have only managed to eat about half of it
This is flawed from the start. How can you roast breast and legs of multiple birds without the breasts on the outer becoming dry?
My suggestion? Lamb breast, stuffed and rolled, slow braised for 3 plus hours. On the next shelf, some pork belly with lots of seasoning and hopefully some amazing crackling. If you've room and are feeding lots of guests - a small turkey crown for those that prefer less rich meat.
That's your solution instead of farting about with multiple birds.
My suggestion? Lamb breast, stuffed and rolled, slow braised for 3 plus hours. On the next shelf, some pork belly with lots of seasoning and hopefully some amazing crackling. If you've room and are feeding lots of guests - a small turkey crown for those that prefer less rich meat.
That's your solution instead of farting about with multiple birds.
Sorry for the thread resurrection but figured I should close this off.
The reason for my previous attempts was to practice before doing one for Christmas. So for Christmas I did a couple of pheasant breasts in a chicken in a duck in a turkey, with sage, onion and chestnut stuffing packed in between the layers. Whole thing weighted just under 7 lbs, took 5.5 hours to cook, and came out lovely and moist with good flavour. Only slight issue was that it was quite a lot to fit in the turkey, and the skin split between the breasts while cooking. I think it really needed some kind of prop under the sides, or a curved trivet, to take the weight off it a little bit.
Tasted great though, I'd recommend trying similar to anyone who fancies a roast that slightly different to the usual.
The reason for my previous attempts was to practice before doing one for Christmas. So for Christmas I did a couple of pheasant breasts in a chicken in a duck in a turkey, with sage, onion and chestnut stuffing packed in between the layers. Whole thing weighted just under 7 lbs, took 5.5 hours to cook, and came out lovely and moist with good flavour. Only slight issue was that it was quite a lot to fit in the turkey, and the skin split between the breasts while cooking. I think it really needed some kind of prop under the sides, or a curved trivet, to take the weight off it a little bit.
Tasted great though, I'd recommend trying similar to anyone who fancies a roast that slightly different to the usual.
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