♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Julia makes Bridget broiled chicken with gravy, Adam reviews toaster ovens, Lisa shares some favorite toaster-oven gadgets, and Dan makes Julia skillet-roasted broccoli.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

♪♪ ♪♪ -Insider tip -- if you want to hear Julia talk about her favorite recipe, just ask her about roast chicken.

-[ Laughs ] -Hey.

-Yeah.

-You like roast chicken?

-It's true.

I could wax poetic about roast chicken for hours, and, in fact, you've witnessed this.

So today, I'm not gonna wax poetic.

I'm gonna make it for you.

-Alright.

-And, you know, I make roast chicken all the time.

It is my number-one favorite meal.

I have a handful of recipes I cycle through.

This is currently the top slot because the cooking method is brilliant.

The skin gets so crisp, and while the chicken cooks, you get to make gravy.

-And gravy is our favorite beverage.

-Alright, so let's get started.

This is a four-pound broiler, and the one thing, again, I love about this recipe is you make gravy alongside the roasting chicken.

You don't have to wait for the drippings, and part of that is because we're gonna use what's in this bag.

We're gonna use the giblets and the neck piece, and there's a ton of flavor in that.

So this recipe really makes good use of that.

Alright, and set that aside.

Now on to the chicken.

This method uses the broiler exclusively, so in order for that to work, the broiler to get that skin crisp, you have to make it a single layer.

You have to spatchcock it or butterfly it, so what I'm gonna do is just cut out the backbone using a good pair of poultry shears.

And really, if you do this a lot, you definitely want to invest in a good pair of sheers.

-Agree.

-Alright, so now I'm just gonna take the backbone.

I'm gonna cut it into pieces again, using the scissors.

That's more surface area for the gravy, and going for about one-inch pieces.

There's a spot there in the middle that has a big bone that you're not gonna get too small.

Alright.

Gonna set that aside.

And now for the chicken.

First, we want to tuck the wings.

We want to get these out of the way because these will burn under the broiler, so you just tuck them back behind like that.

And now to flatten, I'm just gonna press on it.

Now I'm gonna put a little bit of oil on this.

This is 1/2 teaspoon of veg oil.

I'm just gonna put this on the skin side.

Rub it all in there, and now I pre-measured the salt and pepper because at this point, I'm all chicken-y and I don't want to get it all over my pepper mill and my salt mill.

So this is a teaspoon of table salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

One more trick.

I'm gonna take a paring knife.

You're just gonna poke holes through the skin about 3/4 of an inch apart.

That just helps that fat render and gets the skin good and crisp.

And sometimes, there's a little extra flap down here on the skin.

I'm actually gonna cut that off because that's good flavor for the gravy.

-Oh, okay.

-Alright, now, for the back side, I'm just gonna add a little bit of salt.

This is 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Alright, last but not least, we're just gonna tie the legs together using some butcher's twine.

There we go.

That just prevents them from splaying out during roasting, so it looks a little more tidy when we carve it.

Now, here I have a skillet with a teaspoon of veg oil.

If you could heat that up over high heat, that'd be great.

I'm gonna go wash my hands.

-Sounds good.

-How's the oil doing?

-It's smokin'.

-Perfect.

Time to add the chicken.

Now, we're using a skillet because we want to get it good and hot.

It'll start cooking the chicken from the underside.

[ Pan sizzling ] -Oh, good sound.

-That's a good sound.

Alright.

So now we're gonna put this into the oven.

-Let me grab that for you.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

Now, this oven is off at this point, which is good.

You're starting in a cold oven.

As I mentioned, we're gonna broil the chicken.

The oven will heat up really fast, gives the chicken time to acclimate, which is good.

Now, you want to put the pan in the center of the rack as best you can.

We're gonna rotate the handle halfway through.

That way, it gets evenly browned, but the most important thing to note is the distance between the rack and the broiler element.

You want it to be 12 to 13 inches.

12 to 13 is the magic number.

That's looking good.

Time to turn on the oven.

Now I'm gonna turn the broiler, and if your broiler has multiple settings, use the highest one.

Alright, now we're off to the races.

That's gonna roast for 25 minutes before we rotate it.

-Okay.

-Okay, so that chicken is snuggled up in the broiler.

Time to make the gravy.

Alright, so here are all those bits I saved -- the backbone, the giblets, the neck.

Into a nice, large pan they go.

We're gonna create fond using these bits and a little bit of chicken broth to start.

So this is a cup of chicken broth.

We're gonna bring this to a vigorous simmer.

I'm gonna monitor the heat so it's always simmering.

We're actually gonna reduce this down to au sec.

We're gonna dry it out and create a fond with the fat and the drippings that come off the bones.

That's gonna be the base of our gravy.

So now we're gonna chop up some vegetables for the gravy.

No surprise here.

Classic mirepoix, which is generally two parts onion to one part carrot and celery, and I'm gonna cut them pretty small to make lots of surface area.

I want to get as much flavor out of these vegetables as I can during the short simmering time.

Whatever the vegetable is, a carrot, a celery, cut them into long lengths like this, then line them all up.

Cut right through them into small, little bits.

Alright.

Then we have the mirepoix.

Here we have one garlic clove peeled.

I'm just gonna smash this.

It'll go in right like that.

And then we have some parsley and some thyme.

Alright, so it's been about 12 minutes, smells amazing.

-Kind of roasty chicken heaven.

-Yeah, it's good.

So you can see all the liquid has evaporated now.

That fat has come out, and now we're gonna get some browning and build that fond on the bottom of the pot.

And that is key for making gravy from these little trimmed bits.

Oh, that is some good-looking fond.

-Gorgeous.

-I don't want to let it go any further.

Now it's time to add the vegetables.

Alright, four sprigs of parsley and a few sprigs of thyme.

Alright, I'm gonna turn this down to medium.

I'm gonna let this cook until the vegetables soften.

That can take seven or eight minutes.

And while that's happening, I'm gonna use all that moisture coming out of the vegetables to help scrape up the fond.

Alright, so -- -Wow.

-Yeah, look at all that beautiful fond on the bottom of the pot.

-Deep, dark roasty flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

Now I'm gonna add some liquid.

This is 1/4 cup of white wine.

Alright, scraping up those brown bits, and then we're gonna add some more broth.

So now I'm adding 3 cups of chicken broth.

Oh, now's when you want to take your time, scrape all that browning into the liquid, and we're gonna let this simmer for about 20 minutes.

It's gonna reduce by about half.

Now, time to check the chicken.

-Beautiful already.

-Isn't it beautiful?

Alright, so now I'm just rotating the skillet so the handle's facing the other way, but the skillet is still in the center.

-Smack in the center.

-Yup.

Alright, closing the oven door.

Another 25 to 30 minutes.

-Okay.

-Alright.

Oh!

-Gorgeous.

-I know.

She's a pretty bird.

-Stunning.

-Now I'm draping the towel over this handle.

Handle's hot.

Don't burn yourself.

-[ Chuckles ] Alright, again, we're looking for an internal temperature of 155 degrees.

56, perfect.

So typically, we cook chicken until the breast registers 160 to 165, so 155 is on the low side.

But that's good here because the amount of carryover is gonna be more than usual because we used the broiler, so the hotter the cooking environment, the more carryover the meat will have.

-Intense cooking, intense carryover.

-That's it.

Alright, so getting this out of the skillet.

So we're gonna let this rest for 15 minutes uncovered, letting that skin stay good and crisp.

Now I'm going to take all these drippings, gonna pour them into a bowl.

-That's flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

So we're just gonna let those drippings sit for about five minutes, let them separate.

We'll use the flavorful stuff in the gravy.

Speaking of which, here is the broth that we've been cooking down, and I'm gonna strain it into a nice, big bowl.

Oh, look at that broth.

It's crazy.

-Mm-hmm.

-Pressing all the last little bits of liquid gold out of this strainer.

Okay, set that aside.

We're gonna make a quick roux with 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

Right, so we're just gonna melt this butter over medium heat.

-Mmm.

-Alright, so that butter is melted.

Now I'm gonna add 2 1/2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.

That's just making a roux that will thicken the stock into a gravy, and I'm gonna let this roux cook for a good five minutes and let it get nice and toasty brown because that adds good flavor.

Alright, you can see that roux is a nice golden.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.

Now I'm gonna whisk this broth back in.

[ Sizzling ] Now I'm gonna take all these drippings.

So you can see the fat has come to the surface.

Just gonna use a spoon and spoon that fat right off the top.

That looks pretty good.

Alright, whisk those drippings in.

Now we're just gonna simmer this for about five minutes, let it thicken up, and then we can eat.

Alright, your waiting time is over.

-Thank goodness.

-Just gonna carve up this little chicken.

I want to do kind of a rustic, family-style carve.

I'm not gonna take it off the bone, but I am gonna separate all the pieces.

The legs are basically held on to the chicken by skin, so it's pretty easy to cut them off.

-Look at that.

Gorgeous.

-Yes.

Alright.

Cut that off.

Score the skin.

Yes.

-Beautiful.

-Oh, goodness.

I'm just gonna give you the breast.

-Okay.

-I just am.

-I got to say, the breast is the test, isn't it?

-Little gravy?

-Yes, please.

-A lot of gravy?

-Yes, please.

-Alright.

A little bit of meat.

-Mmm.

Mmm!

-Mm-hmm.

-You know the type of gravy that you spend all day in the kitchen?

-Mm-hmm.

-This has that developed flavor, and if I hadn't been standing next to you and see you making this, I would think you had spent all day doing it.

-Yeah, it's a clever, clever recipe.

-Every bit of that is juicy, moist, not overcooked at all.

This was perfect, and I would expect nothing less from the roast-chicken queen herself.

-[ Chuckles ] -Thanks, Julia.

-Thank you.

-Well, if you want to make this soul-warming, delicious chicken at home, spatchcock the chicken for even cooking.

Start the chicken in a preheated skillet and then broil the chicken on a rack that's 12 inches from the broiler.

Meanwhile, make a broth from the chicken trimmings and finish the gravy with roasted drippings.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," a surefire, satisfying broiled chicken with lots of gravy, and I mean lots of gravy.

-[ Chuckles ] Your plate's looking a little dry there.

Oh, yeah, right on the -- oh.

-That's what friends are for.

-That's a good friend right there.

Yep.

Get a straw.

-[ Chuckles ] Mmm.

♪♪ -"I have too much kitchen-counter space," said no one ever, so a big appliance like a toaster oven better be worth the real estate that it occupies.

Lucky for us, Adam's here, and he's gonna tell us which toaster oven came out on top.

-We're doing a segment for the lucky few who have the space, but you know what?

If you do have the space, we think a good toaster oven is really worth having.

-Okay.

-They can be very useful.

We had a lineup of eight toaster ovens.

Seven of them are here in front of us and behind us.

We were able to get them for a range of prices from $43 to $270, and we were looking for versatility.

So we chose a size that would accommodate six slices of toast or a four-pound chicken.

-Okay.

-The toast tests were first.

We used our favorite white sandwich bread.

We made batches of a single slice, four slices, and six slices.

We were looking for evenness throughout the slices, also a level of browning that was true to the setting that we put it at.

-Accuracy.

-You know, some of them didn't work out too well.

For instance, this one at the high setting went for eight or nine minutes, and it turned our toast into charcoal.

-It's, I would say, well-done.

-It's really, really done.

It also only had three toast settings, where some of these had as many as seven, which really helped us get the level of toasting that we wanted.

The other cooking tests were to bake potatoes and sugar cookies, broil asparagus, melt cheese on tuna sandwiches for tuna melts, one of my personal faves, and frozen pizzas.

Can never have enough frozen pizzas.

-Okay.

Makes sense.

-Some of these were not cooking the recipes within the specified times, so we wired them up with thermocouples and we set them to 350 degrees and tracked the temperature over two hours.

Every oven, whether it is a toaster oven or a wall oven or a range, operates pretty much the same way.

The elements cycle on and off so that they maintain an average, which is the temperature you set in there, so some fluctuation is gonna be normal.

But some of these fluctuated more than others.

-Really?

-The best ones were only off by a degree or two from that 350 set, and those are the ones that cooked recipes within the specified times of the recipes.

This guy, which took up to 30% longer than the recipe said it should, varied by as much as 60 degrees below the set temperature.

-That's enough to ruin a recipe.

-Definitely.

Now, one of the possible explanations for this is the type of heating element that this uses.

A lot of them use nichrome, which is a mixture of nickel and chromium.

The better ones that were closer to the set temperature used quartz elements, and those heat up and cool down faster.

So they're more responsive and able to maintain the temperature more consistently.

We also tried those four-pound chickens.

We wanted to roast the whole chicken in here, which was sort of an extreme test, and that showed us that if there wasn't enough space above the chicken for air to circulate, the skin just did not brown.

In terms of capacity, testers were also looking for these to accommodate a 13x9 baking pan and a quarter sheet pan.

Controls varied among them.

One of them, for instance, instead of having buttons that were labeled clearly, like "bake" or "broil," had a bunch of squiggly lines -- kind of hard to figure out what was going on.

Some testers likened these to hieroglyphics.

-You need a Rosetta Stone.

-You need a Rosetta Stone.

Some of the toaster ovens actually had beautifully clear labels, like this one -- said, "bake," "broil," intuitive, easy to set, and in fact, this is our winning toaster oven.

It's won before, and it's winning again.

This is the Breville Smart Oven.

We got it for about $250.

It's got a quartz element, so it's responsive.

It made great food.

It's easy and intuitive to use, so, you know, if you're lucky enough to have the counter space, we think a smart oven is really worth having.

-Alright, well, if you want to pick up the winner, it's the Breville Smart Oven, and we bought it for $250.

♪♪ -Cooking in your toaster oven is handy, but most full-sized pans won't fit.

And any pans that come with the oven tend to be minimal and super flimsy, so we rounded up cookware that fits these compact ovens and we put it to the test.

First, we love these quarter-sized rimmed baking sheets by Nordic Ware Naturals.

They're about $13, and this stainless-steel cooling rack by Checkered Chef -- it fits right inside, and it's about $12.

They're sturdy, and they're perfect for broiling, baking, roasting, and reheating.

Next, the Le Creuset's Heritage Petite au gratin dish is about 6 inches long, holds about 6 ounces.

It's made of enameled stoneware, and it costs about $15.

This not only heats evenly and broils safely but looks really great for serving, too.

And finally, this Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch Pro Muffin tin, about $26.

It bakes just six muffins or cupcakes.

This gold-colored nonstick finish helps baked goods brown beautifully and release perfectly.

The extended rims help with easy handling, and unlike some models we tested, it had plenty of space between the cups, so cupcakes didn't all run together.

With any of this scaled-down cookware, you're ready to cook, roast, broil, and bake right in your toaster oven without sacrificing sturdiness, practical features, or dependable results.

♪♪ -I have never been a fan of broccoli, in large part because it's hard to cook properly.

Either the florets are overdone and mushy or the stalks are fibrous and tough, but today, Dan is not only gonna show me a new method, but he promised to show me how to add some flavor.

-That's right.

So I was in the same camp as you for a long time.

I thought broccoli was always overcooked and not that great.

Then I had roasted broccoli for the first time, and I was a total convert.

So today, we're gonna make a skillet-roasted broccoli, which is even easier.

You don't have to turn your oven on, and you get that same beautiful browning, crisp, tender results on the inside.

Now, when we're looking for browning on anything, we need a nice, flat surface because that flat surface is gonna make good contact, whether they're skillet or roasting pan in the oven, and get beautiful browning.

-Mm-hmm.

-This doesn't have a lot of flat sides on it, right?

-It certainly does not.

-So we have to make some nice, flat sides.

For smaller crowns like this that are up to 4 inches, we're gonna cut them into 4 pieces.

If you have bigger ones that are kind of 4 to 5 inches, you want to go into 6 wedges.

-Okay.

-So what I like to do is first, make my cut here to split this and pull it.

You get less kind of debris and broccoli flying all over the place.

-Aah.

It's a good trick.

-Yeah, so just pull that and get there.

Now, I have 5 tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet here, and that is really a key to any time you are roasting is having enough oil to make great contact with the bottom.

So this technique of starting in a cold pan, we tend to call it cold searing now.

It's something that we do all the time with proteins and with vegetables.

What's really nice about it, obviously, this is cold, very easy to arrange everything in here, and I can add a couple of tablespoons of water... -Aha.

-...without a big, steamy mess and splattering and all that.

And that water is really important.

It's gonna help create a lot of steam in there and help tenderize the broccoli in this first step.

I also have 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt here, so I'm just gonna season these up.

Great, so we're gonna put the top on here, and I'm gonna put this over high heat.

We want to create lots of steam there.

We're gonna jumpstart that browning, get a lot of steam from that water, and this stage here takes about 5 minutes.

-Okay.

-So now we're gonna do a topping.

So, I mentioned that we're gonna get really great broccoli, but then also a flavorful topping for it.

We're actually gonna make a really nice dry topping.

-Ooh, so you got the mortar and pestle out.

-Mortar and pestle.

You could also use a spice grinder for this.

I love the mortar and pestle.

I always have it on the counter.

It's just such a great thing to work with here.

So, we have 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds that have been toasted.

I've got a tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

-Nooch.

-Nooch.

So it's something that you use a lot in your kitchen?

-I have.

I put it on popcorn because it makes popcorn taste incredible.

-It's incredible stuff.

It's cheesy and umami, and so, it's deactivated yeast.

You cannot leaven your bread with this, and it adds a ton of savoriness.

And it's dry, so that's a good thing.

So 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon zest for some really nice brightness, and then 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika, and finally, just 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Alright, so I'm gonna get my mortar in here, and I like to first go pretty gently.

-So things don't fly out.

-Exactly.

Work my way around, break some of those sunflower seeds into smaller pieces.

Alright, so now that it's broken down, I can kind of run my pestle around this way, get it to a nice, even consistency.

So this is our topping.

We're gonna take 1/3 of this mixture and put it on the bottom here so that every piece is totally coated.

-I like it.

-We'll set this aside, and now we've got about a minute left on the broccoli here.

-Okay.

Dan, it smells like broccoli.

-Yes!

Oh, you're not happy about that.

-Smells like steamed broccoli.

-So it has been steaming.

There's also a little bit of browning.

It's been about 4 minutes.

We're gonna take the lid off, and at this point, as you can see, some of it's shrunk down.

So I can get those pieces that weren't touching to touch.

So just use my spatula here and press them in.

Okay, great.

Everything is flushed to the surface as I possibly can.

We're gonna put the lid back on and continue to cook.

We're gonna get great browning on the bottom side and keep steaming it through a little bit.

It takes about 4 to 6 minutes.

-Okay.

-Alright, so it's been about 5 minutes.

We're gonna take a look here.

And I think we've got beautiful browning on that side, so I'm going to take this off the heat at this point.

Slide it up here, and this makes it really easy to just turn them all.

So we want that second cut side.

Remember, we made wedges.

We want that second cut side to get really good browning, as well.

So just shifting that over.

Alright, so I'm gonna put this back on the heat.

We're gonna get the second side gorgeous and crispy, just like the first.

This takes about 3 to 5 minutes.

-Covered or uncovered?

-I'm gonna do uncovered now.

We've got plenty of steaming, so plenty of tenderizing.

And from time to time, I'll just use my spatula to make sure I'm getting really good contact.

-Okay.

-And that is good-looking broccoli.

-That is good-looking broccoli.

-Right?

Alright, so we have got gorgeous browning on both sides.

I was just checking to see that.

-Ooh.

Okay.

-Beautiful, right?

-I'm in.

I'm in so far.

-You're in so far?

-Yeah.

-Alright.

Alright, now we're gonna transfer it over to our topping-covered platter.

-And the way you're arranging it on the platter with the topping, it just looks cool.

-Right?

-You know, it's elevating this lowly brassica a little bit.

-And then we will sprinkle it on.

That color's beautiful, too, isn't it?

-It looks pretty cool.

Oh, I can now smell the sunflower seeds and that lemon zest hitting the hot broccoli.

-And you get that smoked paprika, too.

-Yeah.

-Alright.

Let's get you some really nice pieces.

-Mm-hmm.

I appreciate you picking out the good ones.

-Lots of flavor on there.

-Well, I must say, it's the prettiest-looking broccoli I've ever seen.

Alright, Dan.

The true test.

It's pretty darn good.

-Mmm.

-I'm gonna have to try it again.

It's the topping.

I'd put that on anything.

-It's good, right?

We actually have some other toppings, as well.

You can find those at our website.

-I mean, that cooking method's amazing because the florets are perfectly cooked.

They're not mushy, but they're not fibrous in the stem.

Mm-hmm.

-Nice and tender, like crisp tender.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.

-Dan, I can honestly say this is the best broccoli I've ever eaten.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-So if you want to make what is, in my opinion, the best broccoli, cut broccoli crowns into wedges, start it in a cold pan with oil and a splash of water, and serve with an aromatic topping.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a great new method for skillet-roasted broccoli.

You can find this recipe and all the recipes and product reviews from the season, along with select episodes, at our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Going back for a third bite.

-Yes!

-Unheard of.

-Unheard of with broccoli.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪