5 Steps to Roast Chicken

Roast chicken is one of those heart warming, memory provoking, family uniting meals. When it comes out just like Grandma's, there is almost a euphoric feeling of accomplishment. Its a great Sunday dinner, especially if you use the leftovers for wraps, salads, or quick meals later in the week.

1. Rub it Down. - This is the dirty work. The simplicity of roast chicken is part of its appeal, so we don't like to add a bunch of clutterful ingredients, but we do like to give the bird a nice flavor boost before roasting. First step is to rub your bird generously with butter and seasoning. The butter will give good flavour and also help crisp the skin. Rub the skin and season it well, but get under it. Season the breast meat underneath the skin, and the cavity generously. This is a more effective than salting the meat later.


2. Forget the Rope Get a Rack - Trussing chicken is time consuming and a little counter productive. Trussing keeps the drumsticks and wings close to the body so that the skin on the interior part of the breast as well as that inside the drumsticks and wings doesn't brown well. And getting the delicate breast meat and the denser dark meat to cook at the same rate is already an issue in roasting, and trussing can make the dark meat take even longer to cook. A rack lets the hot air circulate under the bird so that it browns entirely - no more flabby chicken skin on the back side. 


3. Stay in Control -  Blasting heat crisps the skin and gives the chicken a great roasty flavor, but we recommend just an initial 15 to 20 minutes at 450°F, followed by a more moderate 375°F for the remaining cooking time. High heat throughout cooking works, but the fat spatters a lot, making a needless mess. If the heat is too low, however, the skin never really develops that lovely crispy brown. 


4. Its Done When Its Done - Ovens vary and so do chickens, so cooking times in the recipes should be guidelines only. You also need to consider the amount of other ingredients in the pan; for example, your garlic herb chicken with mushrooms takes a little longer because you've got two pounds of mushrooms sharing the pan with the chicken. The more important thing to learn is the signs of a done chicken. Start with colour. The skin should be a dark golden brown. Next the juices. Prick the thigh of the bird, and the juices running out should be clear, not rosy. Also use tongs to tilt the bird and any juices that run out of the cavity should also be clear. The best test though is a good old fashioned meat thermometer. They are 4$ at Wal-Mart, but get the 5.49$ one from your local kitchen supply if possible. Stick a thermometer into the middle of the thigh meat, not too close to the bone nor too close to the skin. It should read 170°F for perfect doneness, but for perfect chicken don't forget to account for a bit of carryover cooking.

5. Give It Some R&R - The next step in roasting may seem counterintuitive: you pull your golden-brown bird hot from the oven and you want to rush it to the table. Don't. The chicken will be much better if you let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This lets the muscle fibers of the meat, which have been narrowed by the heat of the oven to relax and be able to absorb more water.

6. Make A Sauce - This is always our final step in roasting a chicken, and one that we think too many cooks overlook—making a sauce from the pan juices. By lifting the chicken up, the juices hit the pan and evaporate into a rich, caramelized layer (the intensely flavorful base for your sauce), leaving the fat as a layer that can simply be poured off. We pour or spoon off all the fat (don't go crazy and try to get every drop: a little residual fat won't make your sauce too greasy, and chicken fat tastes good) and then add some liquid to the pan to melt the caramelized juices, forming a thin, shiny veil that covers the pan.