How do YOU roast a chicken?

I thought I'd try Ruhlman's easy method today. Let the bird come to room temperature, salt liberally, stuff 2 lemon halves inside and/or truss, plop it in a cast iron skillet and into the oven at 425º for an hour or so.

Any other tips, temps or tricks?

Sounds like a good plan. Really wouldn't know. In Spring, Summer, and Fall we smoke 'em. And in the winter we just use parts.

I pretty much always roast mine in pieces - leg quarters separate from breasts. They all get a liberal coating of S&P, sometimes along with whatever spice mix strikes my fancy. The leg quarters go on a rack over a roasting pan that has a layer of potato slices and a little oil at the bottom of it (to prevent smoking). That goes into a 450° oven for ten minutes or so. Then the breasts go in and it all roasts until the breasts are just done. The legs are always done and (assuming I pay attention) the breasts are never dried out.

So many ways: whole, spatchcocked, breast down, breast up, roast on all four sides, turning every 20 minutes, (this method is excellent) always with a lot of prep prior. I like my chickens with lots of flavor, fresh lemon being my first choice. I always dry really well and put them on a plate and into the fridge overnight to let the skin dry out.

S&P the cavity, stuff with very thinly sliced onions, lemon , garlic and sprigs of parsley. Roast breast side down on a "rack "of vegetables- carrot, celery, more sliced onion without a cover. When the back side is nice and brown and crispy, season with minced, fresh herbs of choice then flip over, season top. If the bird is very large, cook for awhile with the cover on or finish off without cover to brown and crisp the breast skin. This seems to cook the leg-thigh without drying out the breast. The vegetable "rack"
makes an aromatic seasoning steam.
Vary the veg and herbs- ginger, lemon grass, star anise; cumin, coriander, curry.
Sometimes I put a paste under the skin between the leg and thigh - red or green harissa with chopped preserved lemons in the cavity and a Ras el Hanout exterior seasoning

The same technique applies - cavity with aromatics that steam with cooking; bed of aromatics that steam and carmelize; breast side down until the back is VERY brown and crisp. The gravy made with the juices is always good.

[Jenise]

The legs are always done and (assuming I pay attention) the breasts are never dried out.

So you're saying you're not a breast man.

(rim shot)

I thought I'd try Ruhlman's easy method today. Let the bird come to room temperature, salt liberally, stuff 2 lemon halves inside and/or truss, plop it in a cast iron skillet and into the oven at 425º for an hour or so.

Any other tips, temps or tricks?

Pretty similar to the Keller Bouchon recipe except for lemons. Dry (with paper towels, if possible I like to do in advance and let it sit in fridge to further dry). Salt and pepper, truss bird, 450 over for a little under an hour (3 lb bird). Make a thyme sauce. Probably recipe I'd used most.

S&P the cavity, stuff with very thinly sliced onions, lemon , garlic and sprigs of parsley.

Thanks! Definitely sounds much better than just a couple of lemon halves. First change I'm making!

Fred, I would emphasize the thin slices as you want them to cook and not be still raw when the chicken is done.

Because we have stopped eating the skin of a chicken, I skin it, squeeze lemon over it, add a curry mix and pieces of chopped garlic. Lemon in the cavity, too. To keep it moist, I roast it wrapped in parchment paper on 425 in a convection oven for an hour or so.

Sometimes, I use thyme or rosemary instead of the curry mix.

After many years of roasting, my favorite method tends to be splitting in half length-wise and setting the two pieces on top of sliced lemons and onions, then coating the skin side with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, chopped fresh rosemary and a liberal sprinkling of Lawry's salt and black pepper. I roast in a hot oven for about an hour and a half. I check the done-ness by wiggling one of the legs to see if it freely moves in the socket. (We like our dark meat very done and the skin very crispy.)

After many years of roasting, my favorite method tends to be splitting in half length-wise and setting the two pieces on top of sliced lemons and onions, then coating the skin side with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, chopped fresh rosemary and a liberal sprinkling of Lawry's salt and black pepper. I roast in a hot oven for about an hour and a half. I check the done-ness by wiggling one of the legs to see if it freely moves in the socket. (We like our dark meat very done and the skin very crispy.)

Was going to avoid the spatchcock and just do the quick easy method I described. But you're swaying me. An hour and a half though? After being halved? I guess I tend to undercook and the dark meat *is* my favorite. And crispy skin? Oh yea. That's the only way to delude myself into believing it's ok to eat!

[Robin Garr]

Invite in a bunch of his friends, put out some drinks and snacks, and tell rude jokes about him until everybody is rolling on the floor laughing.

Oh, wait, you mean "roasting a chicken"?

Invite in a bunch of his friends, put out some drinks and snacks, and tell rude jokes about him until everybody is rolling on the floor laughing.

Oh, wait, you mean "roasting a chicken"?

You got me SOMCL!!!

Because I live with two people who value simplicity in food preparations, I dry the bird, salt and pepper it and roast it in a roasting pan at 400° in the convection oven. The skin comes out nice and crispy and the breast comes out juicily moist.

Mark Lipton

I always stuff whatever seasonings I am using (minced garlic, herbs/spices, preserved lemon, etc.) under the skin - all over the bird so the meat is evenly covered. I have found that works well to keep the seasoning from burning when the skin gets crispy. The fat under the skin keeps them moist, and the flavor is more evenly distributed to the meat that way. The top of the skin gets rubbed with olive oil, s&p. I always truss the bird to ensure even cooking. Usually start out breast side down and finish breast up to get the skin really crispy.

I do what Joy does with the butter and herbs usually using herbs de provence. Like Karen, I will usually spatchcock, then I cook over charcoals. I will start and finish over direct flame for that crispy skin and color, but will move to a less intense part of the Weber, cover and cook about 45mins. I agree with Joy that putting the butter and herbs directly on the meat underneath the skin seems to trap the moisture in the breast meat. Good every time!

[Jenise]

and a liberal sprinkling of Lawry's salt

Funny, in reading that I got this warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy and an instant memory of something I'd forgotten: the advent of supermarket roast chicken in my little childhood world. The chickens weren't roasted there and I haven't a clue where they came from--and 'baked' is probably a more correct term than 'roasted'--but on offer, all in little disposable aluminum pans, were anything from a simple breast to half or whole chickens liberally coated with the orangey-red dust of seasoned salt which would have been as much about color as flavor because the skin was closer to blonde than brown--and kept under a heat lamp all day until sold. I've been on my own since I was 17, and those Lawry's season salt flavored roast chicken parts were many a dinner in those days.

Jenise, those chickens are all over the place...Most folks tell me that Costco has the best ones in these parts. I have never purchased one there. Thursdays and Fridays you can smell that wonderful BBQ odor around town as several grocery stores, and deli's have their oak grills going all morning ,loaded up with tri-tip and ribs, as well. Each has their own way of doing it, and and the sides are all different. Frankly, I wish they would get a little more creative with all this but I suppose that is what is profitable for them. A kiosk about 3 minutes from here opened up in the parking lot of a gas station, grocery store area called SMOKED. They grill all day long, making various sandwiches with the meats taken right off the grill and cut just before making your sandwich . I hear it is quite good, but keep forgetting to go there.

and a liberal sprinkling of Lawry's salt

Funny, in reading that I got this warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy and an instant memory of something I'd forgotten: the advent of supermarket roast chicken in my little world. The chickens weren't roasted there and I haven't a clue where they came from--and 'baked' is probably a more correct term than 'roasted'--but on offer, all in little disposable aluminum pans, were anything from a simple breast to half or whole chickens liberally coated with the orangey-red dust of seasoned salt which would have been as much about color as flavor because the skin was closer to blonde than brown--and kept under a heat lamp all day until sold. I've been on my own since I was 17, and those Lawry's season salt flavored roast chicken parts were many a dinner in those days.

Were they wrapped in Saran? I remember those little chickens under the heat lamps! Publix supermarket circa 1975-ish for me.

[Jenise]

Were they wrapped in Saran? I remember those little chickens under the heat lamps! Publix supermarket circa 1975-ish for me.

Yes, Saran Wrap, which shrank back and was fun and sticky to touch. I loved that part.

[Jenise]

Jenise, those chickens are all over the place...Most folks tell me that Costco has the best ones in these parts. I have never purchased one there. Thursdays and Fridays you can smell that wonderful BBQ odor around town as several grocery stores, and deli's have their oak grills going all morning ,loaded up with tri-tip and ribs, as well. Each has their own way of doing it, and and the sides are all different. Frankly, I wish they would get a little more creative with all this but I suppose that is what is profitable for them. A kiosk about 3 minutes from here opened up in the parking lot of a gas station, grocery store area called SMOKED. They grill all day long, making various sandwiches with the meats taken right off the grill and cut just before making your sandwich . I hear it is quite good, but keep forgetting to go there.

Karen, oh sure, supermarket chickens are ubiquitous nowadays and many markets have their own giant rotisseries. But when we were kids, the big rotisseries weren't there. More likely back then, a vendor in the regional vicinity installed the heatlamp/display thingie and re-supplied it daily. And there weren't flavors the way there are now--I'm sure all these flavors are all achieved by seasoned salt toppings (lemon, garlic, BBQ etc) but back then it was just the simple flavor of Lawry's seasoned salt. I never buy them from the local stores (if I've gone to the trouble of stopping for groceries, I clearly have the time to do more than buy ready-made food goes my thinking), but I'll admit to picking up a Costco chicken once or twice a year when I'm there late in the day and running behind schedule--they ARE very good. (We have exactly one way of eating it, the Pollo Loco way--pull hunks of meat off the bird, stuff in hot corn tortilla, top with fresh pico de gallo.)

The chickens weren't roasted there and I haven't a clue where they came from--and 'baked' is probably a more correct term than 'roasted'.

I think that "broasted" is the term you're looking for, Jenise.