I had been dreaming about a stunning roasted chicken with pomegranate and black pepper glaze since I was inspired by my blogging pal, Meredith, from In Sock Monkey Slippers over year ago. When I was asked to review the new Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to give both the shiny oven and the memorable recipe a try.

First, the oven. It is a stainless steel countertop oven that can bake, roast, broil, warm, toast, reheat, and rotisserie. The pressure technology allows for food that is infused with more flavor and foods cook in ½ to ⅓ of the time on the pressure setting, similar to the way a pressure cooker works, but in the shape of an oven. The meat is tender, juicy, and flavorful as you would expect from a pressure cooker, but it is also browned and crisp, like you would expect from a standard oven. Very cool. It can be used to cook meats, veggies, baked goods, and more. Check out the website for helpful videos and tips that demonstrate all the fancy features and capabilities of this oven.

I roasted a 4.88 pound chicken in 40 minutes using the pressure mode, and it came out with golden brown, crispy skin, and the meat was juicy and cooked through in the middle. You can do the same with a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas roast, saving time and precious oven space. I’m also excited about the rotisserie function and the ability to make rotisserie chicken at home.

Here are the oven specs:

The oven does take up a fair amount of space, so be sure to get cozy with the specs and measurements before you invest in one. The only thing I felt needed some improvement was the recipe booklet that was included. While there were a few recipes I looked forward to trying, like the quick yeasty dinner rolls, I wasn’t all that impressed with the recipes overall… they didn’t seem to be consistent with the the sort of food Wolfgang Puck is known for, if that makes sense. However, I’m a food blogger and I’m fantastically picky about recipes, so take that with a grain of salt. Whether I like the recipe booklet or not has no bearing on the performance of the oven, which I highly recommend.  Also, the oven comes with a cooking chart that tells you how long and on what setting all different proteins should be cooked, which is extremely helpful.

This is one of the best roasted chickens I’ve tried or made to date. And although it looks fancy, it’s really quite simple. I chopped some garlic and fresh sage and mixed it into some softened butter along with some kosher salt. Then I rubbed it all over the outside of the chicken. I didn’t even truss the chicken (but if you want to truss your chicken, check out Meredith’s tutorial). I put it straight into the pressure oven and roasted it for 40 minutes on the pressure setting. At the end of the cooking time, I put some pomegranate juice and black pepper in a small saucepan on the stove and simmered it until it reduced to a nice syrup. The sauce has only two ingredients, but produces a great depth of flavor when reduced down. Then, once the chicken was rested, I sliced it and served it with pomegranate glaze. Oh. My. Word. I think this would be beautiful for the holidays. The recipe below has been adapted with instructions for standard ovens.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic Sage Butter & Pomegranate Glaze

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A beautiful sage and garlic butter roasted chicken with a pomegranate and black pepper glaze.

Yields: 1 whole chicken

• For the Chicken:
• 1 4-5 pound whole chicken, giblets removed, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• For the Pomegranate Glaze:
• 2 cups pure pomegranate juice
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
• pomegranate seeds, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 425. Place the chicken in a roasting pan.

In a small bowl, mix together the sage, garlic, butter, and salt. Using your hands, spread the sage butter all over the outside of the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 75-85 minutes, or until browned and crisp on the exterior and juices run clear. Rest chicken 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, to a small saucepan add the pomegranate juice and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until reduced to a thick syrup that coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Drizzle half of the glaze over the whole chicken, reserving the rest for serving.

Slice the chicken as desired, drizzle with more glaze (if the sauce has firmed up, just put it back on the heat for 30 seconds or so), and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds (optional). Serve.

Adapted from In Sock Monkey Slippers.

Disclosure: I was provided a Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven to review at no cost to me. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions expressed are my own.