Trussing

why do you take the wings off?

I guess because they are mostly very dry after rosting and when removing them beforehand you still can make lollipops.

Did I miss a pic? How did you get from the figure 8 around the legs to having the twine wrapped vertically underneath?

Like a Boss.

anyone got a step by step using a needle?

Matt described it in words in WDYELNFD. Maybe he can take pics the next time he does a chick or a chicken.

Thomas Keller shows it here

Merci.

The next time I truss a chicken I will take pics, if I remember. I am definitely a partisan of trussing with a needle.

Ditto. Especially with a turkey and its large cavity - I want to create a steamy flavor chamber inside.

Does anyone else cook the bird breast-side down at first for a period of time? I does.

OK, here you go. It is too many pics, but I haven't done many photo essays, so didn't know which ones to leave out. This is called double needle trussing. You can also do single needle, which is a little more difficult (I guess, it is pretty easy) but single needle is for chickens and down in size, while double needle is for any bird...

Pull the leg back toward the wing and stick the threaded needle in the joint between the drumstick and thigh.

Push straight through, out the other side.

Turn the bird over and go through the wing.

Then through the neck skin, under the neckbone and through the skin on the other side, closing it up tight.

Then through the wing as on the other side, and the string is back where it started.

Cut and tie.

Thread again, and on the same side you started, go through the soft bone just in front of the hip.

Straight through and out the other side.

Above the first leg, through the skin and above the second leg.

Again, back where you started, cut and tie.
Fully trussed, nice and tight.

that was an excellent guide, makes a lot of sense too.

What do you guys put into the bird's cavity besides salt and pepper? I always put a half a lemon and thyme into the main cavity and then a quarter of a lemon and a little thyme into the shoulder cavity.

I also run a locking stitch running from the tapered end of the breast meat down to the tail, catching the tail and pulling it up to help close the cavity. That same twine then goes up around the legs in a figure eight and then I tie the twine to a long tag of twine left at the beginning knot on the breast, where I started the locking stitch. If this makes any sense. The trouble is to ensure trapping of the juices inside so there's no loss of aroma to penetrate the inside of the breast.