Though I’ve roasted a turkey almost every year since I was a teenager, and my roasted duck comes out with crispy skin and not too greasy, I haven’t roasted a chicken since sometime in the '90s.
Recently we hadn’t planned ahead for dinner, and just picked up one of those rotisserie chickens from the supermarket. It was pretty good, actually. Nice and juicy and not dry at all. A bit small, though. (We did get two dinners out of it. Not enough for making chicken salad for later.) So I’ve bought a whole dead chicken from the store, and I thought I’d roast it for Sunday dinner. The last time I roasted a chicken (in the '90s, remember) I made stuffing from scratch. I don’t know if I want to stuff it this time. I don’t have a rotisserie, so that’s out. I roast turkeys in a roasting bag, which I have on-hand, but those are a bit big for a chicken.
My thoughts are these: Put the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, and cover it with foil. This should serve the same purpose as a roasting bag. Alternatively, I can see if it will fit into the cast-iron chicken fryer with the self-basting lid and roasting it in that. I’ve considered turning the chicken over a few times while it’s roasting to simulate to some degree roasting on a rotisserie. For seasoning, I was thinking simply salt and pepper; and maybe a bit of rosemary. Or perhaps a light dusting of Cajun rub I’ve mixed up? Or Creole spices?
What do you think of my roasting methods, and what seasoning would you use to make a ‘perfect’ roasted chicken?
This is the recipe I use. Basically, you want the chicken as dry as possible before roasting, and you roast it in a dry oven. The results are delicious. I do think that bird quality matters; I’ve noticed a big difference when I use a schmancy organic free-range chicken vs. regular grocery store chicken.
Excellent timing. Hubby just bought a fancy schmancy chicken this week. We are roasting it tomorrow. I like the simple recipe linked and will try that.
Perfect roast chicken is actually damn easy to make. I do it in a cast-iron skillet that I let heat in the oven for 15 min or so before adding the chicken. The idea is that the heat radiates up from the cast iron and cooks the chicken thighs so the thigh & breast are both done at the same time.
So, oven at about 400 degrees, cast iron pan in oven. Truss chicken or at least tie the legs together. Slather the skin with olive oil or butter, add salt & pepper. Throw a lemon in the cavity if you want, or some herbs, or throw some thyme on top. Really doesn’t matter, it’s all good.
After pan has been in over for 15 min, put the chicken in the pan, breast side up. Let it cook for 45-60 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads around 160 in the thigh or 140 in the breast, or just until you can jiggle the drumstick and the thigh joint is loose. Let chicken sit for 15 minutes, then eat.
Incidentally, although a lot of recipes talk about putting herbs on the chicken, I’m agin it. A dry-roasted chicken turns this shade of deep golden that is just about the loveliest color you can imagine. Herbs scattered on the skin are like acne on Adonis.
You beat me to it. The dry, high-heat method is what I swear by. If it’s good enough for Thomas Keller, it’s good enough for me. It makes the BEST freaking crispy skin and, for me, that’s half of what’s great about a roast bird. Plus, juicy chicken. I don’t buy the most expensive chicken, I just look for something that is not enhanced with a solution (you’ll see “enhanced with up to 12% chicken broth” or something similar on the label) and I look for the smallest commercial roasting chickens, which are usually around 4 pounds. I also do it at a slightly higher temp - 475.
You do have to beware, as this method can produce a good bit of smoke from the dripping fat.
If you google “perfect roast chicken,” you’ll get lots of ideas and recipes. I like the dry roasting method with a rough-cut onion, garlic, halved lemon and some chopped fresh rosemary and thyme on the inside. I put the chicken on top of some more large-chopped onions in the baking pan to keep it from sticking to the pan/foil. Veggies and roast potatoes on the side.
I promise, that roasting chicken will have you literally drooling in anticipation. (Too bad there’s not a slobbering smilie. It’d be appropriate here.)
I’ve never roasted whole chicken, but the old family recipe for roasting split chicken breast might work, with a bit of tweaking.
You leave the chicken in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes before you season it. (That’s if it’s defrosted or had been sitting in the fridge - a bit more if it was frozen.) Brush vegetable oil on the skin and sprinkle on onion salt and poultry seasoning mix - (or if you don’t have onion salt, substitute salt and onion powder.)
Delicious! I haven’t had this chicken in too long.
Indeed. If I let her, my wife would flay the roasted chicken and eat the entire skin, right there at the kitchen counter. As for juiciness, I didn’t even realize what a chicken breast could taste like until I tried this method: I thought chicken breast was always dry and flavorless. This method creates a breast with “juice” (really, I think, just fat rendered from the skin that soaks into the meat) and a wonderful sweetness.
Also very true. We’ve set off the smoke alarm more than once. And until I learned to line the bottom of the roasting pan with foil, cleanup was hell.
Yeah, but I want the straight dope! And here, everyone can share.
The SO came out and said, ‘That’s a big chicken!’ She said it’s like a turkey. It’s 4.67 pounds, so there will be plenty of leftovers for chicken salad and chicken enchiladas.
Ok here’s my perfect roasted chicken recipe. Uses a little bit higher heat so it browns quicker and comes out juicier (IMHO that is). I’ve cooked a lot of roast chicken and this is what I have come back to over and over again:
Preheat to 450.
Dry bird. No, dry it some more. It needs to be dry. Drier!
Put bird in a cast iron skillet. Breast up.
Salt and pepper the bird. Add a little bit more salt and pepper.
Put the whole thing in the oven for 45 minutes.
Yank it out and let it rest for 10 minutes or so.
That’s it. Now with you having such a big bird, I would definitely use a meat thermometer to make sure you cooked it long enough, but I think you’ll be fine.
If you haven’t roasted a chicken since the 90s, you’ll be surprised by how much fattier the birds have gotten. You need to cook longer and at a higher temperature to get the skin crispy. An hour at 425 is a good starting place for the birds from our supermarket.
The best trick is to spatchcock the bird. There’s about a million videos on youtube on how to do it, it’s super easy. It’s basically just cutting out the backbone, maybe removing the sternum, and pressing the bird flat.
Once you’ve squashed your bird, just use any old roast chicken recipe. Flattened out, the chicken cooks MUCH more evenly; you won’t dry out the breast waiting for the thighs to come to temperature.
Speaking of temperature, an instant read thermometer is your best friend. There’s really nothing else you can trust when roasting.
Here’s what I do, and I get fantastic chicken and gravy that will make you smack your mama. I have a cast aluminum roaster that I got from my granny, and I think that makes a big difference.
Rinse the bird, really cleaning the cavity, and dry it. Make a compound butter with 1/2 stick, 2-3 cloves of finely minced garlic, and enough salt and pepper that it tastes salty and peppery. I massage 1/3 of this butter under the skin of each breast, trying for an even coat. Then the last bit gets split and massages on top of the thigh/drumstick skin. Good stuff goes in the cavity, like a quartered onion, some whole garlic cloves, a halved lemon, and whatever dried spices I feel like sticking in. I put the bird in my pan, and pour about 1-2 inches of stock on the side of the pan. Don’t want to disturb the butter! This roasts for about 15 minutes per lb, uncovered, or until the meat thermometer says its ready. Oh! Forgot the temp. I go at 375.
I take the bird out of the pan onto a platter to rest. The drippings get poured into a large measuring cup to settle, for gravy. Once the drippings have settled into a fat layer and the brown broth stuff (about 5 mins), carefully pour about 3 tbs. of the fat into a large pot. Make sure to only get the fat! On medium heat, add 3 tbs. of flour, and stir constantly until the mixture is browned. Granny told me the color of the gravy is the color of the flour, so be sure to let the flour cook, without burning. Pour off and discard as much of the fat from the drippings as you can, then slowly add the broth to the flour. Stir stir stir!!! Test your consistency, and your seasonings, adjust with more liquid to make it as thick as you like.
Mmmmm
I put salt and paprika on the bird, and dry roast it. It doesn’t need anything else. I can see people adding a lot of herbs and flavoring to the modern flavorless version of chicken though. But roaster’s still tend to be flavorful enough.
