The roast chicken should be in every home cook's arsenal. It's a perfect size for a family of four, and yields copious leftovers for smaller families. Plus, it's dead simple. If you have a working oven (or a grill you can keep around 400 degrees F) and an oven-safe pan, you can make a roast chicken.

When it comes to a roast chicken, size is important, to a degree. I prefer to roast birds less than about 4.75#, primarily because they are easier to cook and don't take as long as bigger birds. If you choose to roast something like a 5# bird or larger, use a lower oven temperature, something around 375. If the bird is done but the skin isn't crispy, turn on the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the skin.

Instead of writing a long drawn-out post on how to roast a chicken, I've got a video by Thomas Keller to show you how it's done. Thomas Keller's roast chicken is very basic, and shows you how to truss a bird. Jonathan Waxman's version shows how to cut a chicken in half, and make the salsa verde that goes with it.

Thomas Keller Roast Chicken

Jonathan Waxman's Barbuto Roast Chicken with Salsa Verde

ibtslicer97thumbsdownchicken

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Keller's recipe with the addition of root vegetables in the pan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxm1vPwUQDY

425' for 1:15: salt, pepper, herbs, lemon juice, EVOO - all that rubbed everywhere and under the skin. Hasn't failed us yet. (Courtesy of Ina)

inbeforeFIDOsayingtl;dr/toomanywords


























or not....

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"Food should be fun." -Thomas Keller

Any reason to not cut the spine out and flatten it?

No, just depends on what you prefer. They will both yield excellent results.

Something else to add: if you don't want to truss the bird, at least stuff a lemon inside the chicken. Having something fill the cavity is important to keep the chicken cooking evenly.

What about an onion to stuff it?

So 4# bird at 425 for 50 minutes or so?

I never ate chicken like that growing up. Always boneless, skinless breasts. I felt so deprived when I had a roasted chicken the first time in my life.

I found Ruhlman's recipe from "Ratio" to be abso****inglutely delicious.

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What about an onion to stuff it?

So 4# bird at 425 for 50 minutes or so?

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An onion works too. You just need something to keep the air from convecting through the middle of the bird. A potato would work too. (Thinking about that, a potato might not be a bad idea if it cooks through. I don't think it would though.)

a 4# bird will take anywhere from 45minutes to an hour, depending on how cold the chicken is before you put it in the oven, how accurate your oven is, what pan you're cooking it in, how often your oven cycles, you get the picture. I shoot for about 155 in the deepest part of the breast, and 165 in the thigh.

Staff, this thread can be un-stickied, as it's been added to the FAQ thread.

Just not the same without your explanation

[This message has been edited by BMX Bandit (edited 6/13/2012 4:03p).]

Yeah, well, I didn't feel like writing a thesis yesterday. My apologies.

Apology not accepted. Get to writing!

potatos in the pan w/ the bird, in the drippings

also, smear butter all over it for that gyood golden finish.

dang it, fido

I always roast chicken in a Romertoph clay pot. I stuff the cavity with an onion and a sliced lemon and put butter under the skin of the chicken-salt, pepper, and a little olive oil on the outside. The clay cooker makes the most tender chicken, and I usually take the lid off for the last 15 minutes or so to brown the skin, if needed.

Made this tonight with Mac and cheese and Swiss chard.

This thread inspired my dinner tonight as well. Had mine with roasted garlic mashed taters and a salad.

Did the Thomas Keller version on Saturday night. Excellent.

There are very few things in the culinary world that are better than a perfectly roasted chicken.

Next time you all roast a chicken, chop up some mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery) and put in a mixing bowl. Add some rough chopped garlic, lemons (cut into small pieces), herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil and oregano) and some EVOO. Toss that all together, season with salt and pepper, and stuff your bird with it.

Also, make some lemon salt to season your bird with next time you roast one. It's very simple and is simply a mixture of kosher salt and lemon zest. Makes a big difference and gives wonderful flavor. Also would be awesome to mix some of those herbs with the salt but use caution if you use your broiler to crisp your skin. The herbs can and will burn if not watched carefully.

I love roasted chicken and we have this quite a bit at casa de burnetag. Sometimes I cheat and get the roasted chicken already done at HEB. Combine that with hummas and pita bread it is the perfect meal.

I do this fairly often. 10-15 minutes prep max and let it roast.

As an aside, I always take out the giblets, especially the liver, season it with good salt & pepper and pan fry in a little bacon grease in my cast iron skillet. It's outstanding.

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As an aside, I always take out the giblets, especially the liver, season it with good salt & pepper and pan fry in a little bacon grease in my cast iron skillet. It's outstanding.

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I need to remember to do this next time with the pan drippings from the chicken.

The last chicken I bought didn't come with a giblet bag.

I always stuff mine with mirepoix as well and sometimes include some cloves of garlic and or fresh rosemary. I also add some of the mirepoix into the bottom of the roasting pan.
Then after I've roasted the bird and deboned it, all the bones, mirepoix and drippings go into a stock pot to make some fresh chicken stock.

Of you for the time brine that bird first, get some more flavor in those cells!

So... I managed to screw this up yesterday. Stuffed the chicken with a lemon (sliced open - think this was the fatal error) and some rosemary.

Way too much liquid came out of it after 1:15 at 425 and thighs were not done. Drained it, removed the lemon, and tossed it back in for 30 min and it was OK.

Was slicing the lemon open where I went wrong? Seemed like it would add flavor but next time I may just zest it a bit

How big was your chicken? It sounds like either you tried to roast a chicken that was too big at that temperature, or your oven temperature is calibrated wrong.
Also, how long did you let it sit on the counter before you put it in the oven?

[This message has been edited by HTownAg98 (edited 6/25/2012 4:05p).]

To add on to what Htown is saying, was the bird fully thawed before going in the oven? Like was said, the bird may have been too big for the temperature you were cooking at therefore all of the meat not being done around the same time.

Also, the lemon was not your problem. If there was as much liquid in the pan as you are describing there is no way it came from one lemon. Did you add any liquid at all to the pan before putting it in the oven?

Bird was 4.75lb and sat out for 30 minutes or so before cooking - the liquid was coming out of the chicken - I managed to pour it out over the floor when I pulled it out of the pan.

Only other liquid was just a bit of olive oil on the veggies at the bottom. I guess the only other non-standard thing was that I used my Le creuset (uncovered) to cook it.

The Le Creuset might be part of the problem. It's possible you didn't get enough air circulation around the bird to cook it evenly. The bigger problem was you tried to roast a 4.75# bird at that high of a temperature. Either lower your temp to 400, or get a smaller bird next time.

Don't give up. It took me 4 tries on roasting a chicken to get to something that I like.

OK - I agree that the Le Creuset probably wasn't a great idea - I put it in another pan afterwards and it seemed to be going better then.

I'll lower the heat and try it again - bought two birds while they were on sale this weekend.

Also, let it sit on the counter for an hour instead of 30 minutes. That will help a bunch as well. Try trussing it next time too, as it's the only way I roast chickens now, and it made a huge difference. If you don't want to get into rope bondage with your chicken, at least tuck the wings under the back and tie the back legs together.