Learn how easy it is to truss a whole chicken so that it is more flavorful, juicy and tender when cooking and serving it up.
Trussing a chicken is one of the first things you learn in culinary school. It’s fundamental in its technique and can then be applied to things like turkey, rib roast or even beef tenderloin. It’s incredibly easy to do and can make all the difference in the world to your cooking.
It’s the process of tying your meat together with twine before cooking to help seal in juices, flavor and tenderness to what you are cooking. You most often truss:
Trussing a chicken makes it much easier to prevents the wings and legs from burning. When you don’t truss your chicken, the breast cavity can stay open allowing too much hot air to circulate inside of it. That dries out the breast meat before the thighs and legs are properly cooked.
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Theres a time and a place for a beautiful, round bird. If Im expecting guests, I will likely go for the more put-together truss. And if I dont have any string handy—or if Im just feeling too lazy—I will opt for a string-free “trussing.” (And by “string-free,” that includes alternate supplies like unflavored dental floss, toothpicks, and the like. Im going for nothing-new-necessary here.)
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In culinary school, we had many lessons on chicken, including the various ways to truss one. Doing so, in effect, allows the chicken to retain its moisture while cooking and browning evenly.
But what if you dont have a spool of twine lying around? Should you go ahead without, roasting with the legs splayed? Yes, of course you should (and I often do, as a non-trussed bird gets me a cooked bird just a touch quicker).Shop the Story
All you need is a sharp knife tip or a pair of trusty kitchen shears. Heres how to do it:
How to Truss A Chicken
Place your chicken on a cutting board and make sure it is patted dry with a paper towel.
First, Season the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper.
Fold each wing back behind the cavity of the chicken.
Place the long piece of butchers twine under the bottom part of the chicken, about 2” up from the bottom, and pull up on each side.
Cross the twine over on the top side of the chicken legs and pull together to begin to close up the cavity and bring the two legs together.
Making a figure 8 cross the twine back under the legs and pull to bring them together.
Run the twine to the front side and over top of each leg.
After running it over the legs begins to bring the rope downwards to the bottom side of the chicken.
Flip the chicken over holding everything still in place and pull the twine upwards past the next bone.
Make a knot just right above the neck bone.
Pull the knot tightly together under that neck bone and then make another knot to secure it.
Trim off any excess twine using scissors or a knife.
Make-Ahead: You can truss a chicken up to a day or two before roasting it.
How To Store: You can keep the chicken trussed and covered in the refrigerator up to 2 days before roasting it.
ChefSteps Tips & Tricks: Best Way To Truss A Chicken
FAQ
Do you really need to truss a chicken?
What is the purpose of trussing chicken?
What is the point of trussing?
What would happen if you didn t truss poultry before roasting it?
Why do you truss chicken?
By trussing the chicken, it retains its shape, cooks more evenly, and results in a beautifully roasted or grilled dish. Trussing is particularly popular in traditional roasting methods, as it helps the chicken cook more uniformly, allowing the heat to penetrate all parts of the bird evenly.
Do you need to truss chicken?
Untrussed chicken is prone to having drier breast parts. The dark meat is still in the process of cooking when the breast is already not juicy due to the heat. So, the breast is long overcooked before the inside of the legs is. As the earlier parts of the article say, you don’t necessarily need to truss the chicken.
Does trussing a chicken look better?
What really happened is by the time the dark meat was done on the untrussed chicken, the breast meat was already long overcooked. Conclusion: Trussing your chicken not only looks better but yields a more evenly cooked, moister bird.
What happens if you don’t truss a chicken?
When you don’t truss your chicken, the breast cavity remains wide open and too much hot air circulates inside of it, drying out the breast before the thighs and legs are properly cooked. So always truss those chickens in order to protect the breast and make the chicken a more even mass for roasting.