Have you got a chicken brick?
Maybe your parents have one, wedged on top of the kitchen cupboards, all coated in that weird, yellow, sticky, dusty layer that appears on long forgotten kitchen paraphernalia.
The original brick, was launched in 1968, designed by Queensbury Hunt exclusively for Habitat. The concept is that it acts like a traditional clay cooking oven, sealing in air and moisture, to produce a succulent yet browned roast chicken.
I thought that you might have one knocking about and not quite know what you are supposed to do with it, having long ago misplaced the instructions at the back of a drawer of random stuff. So here is a copy of the original, rather lovely, printed instructions that you can print off and stick in your brick if you are having a retro moment. It’s my attempt at a bit of public service. The instructions remind you to always put it in a cold oven, to only wash it in plain water and to soak it for 10 minutes before you start.
I love the browned paper, the simple drawings and the 60’s typeface.
Is a chicken brick amazing? Not really.
Does it do the job? Yes.
Do you get little bits of chicken skin stuck to it that won’t come off and you can’t give it a ‘right good wash’ as you are not supposed to use detergents? Yes, I’m afraid you do.
I like it though because it is an object from another time. You can buy them now from Habitat online for £30 or so, but they look all new and somehow more uniform. I like the blackened, craggy oldness of this chunk of 40-year-old terracotta. This one is from Ed’s Mum and Dad’s kitchen. We have gathered various bits of ‘vintage’ kitchen items over the last year or so as they have had their kitchen remodelled.
Our own kitchen is the next of the ‘big jobs’ to be tackled. We have been discussing, pondering, and drawing up thoughts on and off for years. It will definitely be first on this year’s list.
We are a family of lists. You may have read the ‘List found in a Border Terrier’s Bed’ or my ‘List for Christmas Future’ and there are always a couple of to-do lists on the go, especially for all of Ed’s household and woodworking tasks. With our mantra ‘it only get’s done if you do it’ a list helps to focus the mind.
Have I ever told you about our annual family list?
It is a list of the things that all three of us want to do over the next year. We sit down as a family on September 11th and think about what we have done over the last 12 months and what we would like to do over the next. Why 9/11? It makes us realise that life is short and that years can go by without you doing the things you really want to. It’s a good time for reflection for anyone.
Some things on the list are small, some are big, some are expensive, a few might not happen, but it is something to aim for. As George has just started his new school and his head is still in a spin we have delayed our list making until the Weekend when the world should slow down just enough for us all to think clearly about our plans.
I’m not sure what else will be going on it yet, other than design and build the kitchen, but I do know that there are some things we didn’t complete from last year. We never did replace that sofa (mine) or spend one month eating vegetarian (Ed’s) but we did arrange for George to go sailing, have a sunny holiday, read a book every month and grow more flowers in the garden so to that end it served a useful purpose.
Some things from this year’s list may bump on to next year, and perhaps get slightly closer to the top. Some things may seem less important than they did and drop off the end.
Do you have a list? Perhaps you just have one in your head. What sort of things are on it?
I’d love to know. I might nick some of yours.
Joel Peterson (@Sekkyo)
September 13, 2013
What a fascinating unitasker!
NanaJane
September 13, 2013
Lists! All my life is there. We have a list of ‘to do today’ jobs, shopping lists, places to visit list, places to go on holiday (but can’t really afford a holiday), birthday lists (with 16 in the family I have to keep a note of which book I gave to which grandchild), Christmas list, lists of things to grow, lists of things to make, list of books to read and have read, and work is a whole lot more lists.
Do you ever write stuff onto a list which you have already done but should have put on the list just so you can cross it off?
Pacific Merchants
September 13, 2013
No chicken brick here (though I love your story and images) but I use a big clay cooker that serves the same purpose (but is smoother, easier to clean, and shaped for roasting things other than just chicken.) I love the shot of the instructions, too!
KerryCan
September 13, 2013
I love my lists! I use the Notes app on my iPhone and have dozens of lists there, for every purpose! And, I certainly do write things on them after the fact, just so I can delete them! I like your idea, though, of a family list–we have house and garden lists but not the more general one for the family!
Sally
September 14, 2013
This was probably the first kitchen item I ever bought. Bringing it home from Habitat on the bus, my arms were just about dropping off – it is SO heavy. I remember those instructions too. I cooked chicken with 50 cloves of garlic from the Habitat cook book. Our whole house reeked of garlic for days. I don’t know what happened to the brick but I didn’t miss it until now.
Lists are the glue that hold my life together. I wrote one on my blog at the beginning of this year and have achieved very little on it. I suppose you need to have a strategy or action plan to go with the list! Learn to make sour dough seems to recur every year. Sadly KP hadn’t read that list so bought me a ‘how to clean and cook a fish’ course instead.
Francesca
September 16, 2013
We’re a brick house, too! This is also awesome for fish… even if the shape is a bit sorted 🙂
egg me on
September 17, 2013
Oh man, I’ve never seen this before but I love it. I would totally try it. I’m going to look for one here in the states.
Siew Hsia
September 19, 2013
Reblogged this on Another Part of Me...
whilehewasout
October 16, 2013
Thats one good lookin’ baked chicken!
tablemannersmagazine
December 30, 2013
We have one of the bricks and not only use it for chicken but it works well as a tagine too!
Tony Davis (@anthony0704)
February 22, 2015
Just used a chicken brick for the first time, lovely juicy tender chicken. We will definitely be using it again. Thanks for posting the original instructions.