How to Roast Chicken
There are lots of ways to roast a chicken. You can vary the cooking times and temperature, stuff it or not, rub butter under or over the skin, sprinkle various herbs on it or in it. The possibilities are nearly endless.
Selecting a Temperature and Time
Scan a few recipes and you'll see that the temperatures and cooking times can vary quite a bit. That means you can pretty easily adjust them so you can bake a few other things at the same time. So either pick the time you want or the temperature. You can check the chicken with a meat themometer to make sure it's done. For the size of chicken I usually find at the supermarket, about 3-4 pounds, you can use the following guidelines:
300 = 2-3 hours
325 = 2 hours
350 = 1 hour
I put my chicken on a rack in a roasting pan to keep it from sitting in its juices. You can of course, start at one temperature and then raise or lower at the end to accommodate another more picky recipe. I tend to like my roast cihcken to be nearly falling off the bone. To keep the chicken moist, try to baste every now and then with the pan juices. If you don't have any pan juice, start with some chicken broth or even just plain water or put a pat of butter on the top of the chicken and let it melt down. Add some water to the bottom of your pan and then use that to baste with if need be.
Flavoring the Chicken
Inside the chicken you can add one or more of the following depending on what's in your kitchen and what your serving with the chicken. Try:
- 1/2 an onion, either in one piece or cut in chunks
- 1/2 a lemon or orange, quartered
- a carrot
- a piece of celery
- sprigs of rosemary
- sprigs of thyme
- a few cloves of garlic
I like to sprinkle a few things on the skin of the chicken. I'm usually too lazy to rub any flavored butters up under the skin but that's certainly another option. I like to sprinkle one or more of the following:
- salt and pepper
- paprika
You could saute some butter, garlic cloves, and lemon juice and then just pour this over the chicken.
You can also marinate a whole chicken before roasting it. I often use the following marinade:
- 1 cup Dijon mustard
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup lemon juice (and reserve the rinds for inside)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
