Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 3 hr
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Step 2
Rinse capon inside and out and discard any excess fat from cavity. Pat capon dry and season cavity with salt and pepper. Put in a large roasting pan and let stand at room temperature 20 minutes.
Step 3
While capon is standing, stir together butter, zest, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Step 4
Turn capon so neck cavity is nearest you. To loosen breast skin, lift neck flap and work your fingers gently between skin and flesh, being careful not to tear skin. Slide your fingers down breast and along both sides all the way to thighs. Put half of butter mixture evenly under skin of each breast, then rub outside of capon to distribute evenly.
Step 5
Place 6 lemon wedges in cavity of bird and tie legs together with string.
Step 6
Roast capon in middle of oven, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes, 1 1/2 hours. Skim most of fat from pan, then add remaining 10 lemon wedges to pan, tossing with pan juices. Continue roasting capon, basting every 15 minutes, until thermometer inserted 2 inches into fleshy part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170°F, about 45 minutes more.
Step 7
Tilt capon in pan to pour out juices in cavity, then transfer capon and lemon wedges to a carving platter and let stand 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Do not clean pan.
Step 8
Skim fat from pan juices and straddle roasting pan across 2 burners. Add water and jelly and deglaze pan by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper, then pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
Step 9
Carve capon and serve with sauce.
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Reviews (24)
Back to TopRecipe calls for EITHER capon or roaster.
Anonymous
Reading, Pa
1/20/2012
I wish more people would follow the recipe. Capon folks, not a "roaster" chicken. Oh and when you're shopping for a capon look for a bird that averages 8lbs. That is the appropriate size for a capon.
Anonymous
NYC
12/20/2011
Capon was delicious, but the sauce ended up being too bitter. Not sure if was the lemons I used, but it only the drippings that were bitter not the meat itself so will try again.
HalleA
6/29/2011
The reviewer before me must have bought her chicken at the same market. Left everything the same. It was the best chicken/capon I have ever had. My spouse cannot stop raving about.
joanhb
Chicago
11/8/2010
Bought a 5.5lb Chicken instead of the Capon. Cut all ingredients/time (except for pepper and thyme) by two-thirds, and turned out the most moist, best tasting bird i've ever cooked/tasted. Seriously..
bturnage
Chicago, IL
3/16/2009
This is one of the best chickens I've ever had. I used an 8 1/2 lb. roasting chicken and made it to take to a friend. It smelled so good I didn't want to give it away. Got rave reviews, so I made it again the next night. I skipped the currant jelly - I just ran the drippings through a gravy strainer to remove the fat. AMAZING!
heidichef
Olympia, WA
6/20/2008
This was really really good! II too made it with a roasting chicken. I didn't have red currant jelly (which I think would be ideal )so I used black currant jelly which I had, instead. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. It was worth all the work. This is an outstanding recipe.
frolica
Holland Centre, On
5/6/2007
while the capon cooled for 20-30 minutes, I roasted fingerling potatoes in some of the butter/drippings. mmmmmm.
cyborgward
Oakland, CA
1/7/2007
Moist, lemony and fabulous! I love lemon and this really delivered on the lemon flavor, both in the meat and the gravy. The finished bird looked amazing on the platter with the thyme sprigs and roasted lemon -- will certainly make again just as the recipe is written!
Anonymous
San Francisco, CA
12/1/2006
This is also an excellent recipe for turkey. I made it for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. I basically tripled the recipe, but used about two tablespoons of thyme, an equal amount of fresh sage, and a teaspoon or so of fresh tarragon. Also added more of the red current jelly to the sauce, like others have. Turned out moist and delicious! Made soup from the leftover frame, with the herbs and lemon adding a fantastic flavor and aroma. This one is a keeper!!!
bashurst
Palo Cedro, CA
11/26/2006
FABULOUS! Crisp on the outsdie, juicy on the inside -- what everyone wants, but is often hard to achieve. I served it with butter glazed heirloom carrots and mashed potatoes ... everyone raved ... will be making it again this weekend, but this time will serve it with butternut squash risotto (another great Epicurious recipe!) ... by the way, don't change a thing -- make it exactly as is and you won't be sorry.
Anonymous
Evanston, IL
10/31/2006
This was very good and relatively simple. I really liked the citrus flavor in the sauce.
Anonymous
Arlington, VA
4/5/2005
DELICIOUS!! Made it with an 8-lb. chicken (capon was too expensive for me), followed the recipe to the letter, and it came out beautifully! Make sure you truss the bird, as it really does make a difference. I served it at a dinner party with the spring vegetables with lemon, mache salad with pears and parmesan (both from this site), wild/basmati rice blend cooked in chicken broth, and lemon panna cotta with blackberry sauce (from this site) for dessert. It was the PERFECT spring menu! Everything had lemon in it, but nothing was over-powering.
Anonymous
Los Angeles
4/4/2005
This was the first capon I've prepared and it turned out beautifully. Our house guests loved the dinner and the leftovers were even better (save the gravy). Capon have a little more flavor than a chicken which is beautifully accented by this recipe.
cookiedds
Helena, MT
11/11/2004
Really good, solid chicken recipe. Loved the lemon flavor-- not too heavy, subtle and just right. I threw root vegetables in the pan and they also picked up the good flavor. Didn't use the jelly in the gravy, but still good...
Anonymous
Bronxville, NY
9/30/2004
