Sunday Chicken

My experience with just roasting a plain ole chicken has been, at times, frustrating. It sometimes comes out too dry, under done or just not as flavorful as I think  it should be. Now you would think that it would be fairly easy to do.

I've seen recipes that say to just put a little olive oil on the outside along with a little salt and pepper and bake at 350 til the internal temp. is about 182 (that's according to my meat thermometer). But I'm always afraid that it's not going to be cooked all the way that I leave it in longer than it probably needs to be.

Then there are the recipes that tell you to brine the bird, or to put butter under the skin and some say don't put anything on it, just pat dry and put in the oven. Then there's the whole question of that empty cavity. Do you put something in there to add flavor to the chicken or just leave it empty. Once I tried  recipe that called for putting an onion that's been cut in half, garlic cloves and a lemon that is cut in half inside the chicken. I then cooked it til it reached the proper temperature, but the juice from the cavity was still pink and not cooked all the way. Needless to say, I never tried that again.

Well, yesterday I took a different approach. After looking up several recipes, watching several cooking shows and using some common sense, I gave it another go. Apparently, leaving the chicken, uncovered in the refrigerator overnight helps to dry out the skin which makes for a crispier crust. So I did that. I then thawed out some of the chive butter that I made last summer and rubbed it liberally all over the outside of the chicken. Do not be afraid of using a lot of butter for this. I even put some of it inside the infamous cavity. I used some kosher salt for seasoning.

According to a lot of cooks you should first cook the chicken in a very hot oven, about 425F for about 30 minutes and then turn down the oven to 350F to finish. I had a pretty big bird so I cooked it for another 1 1/2 hours until the internal temp. reached 180. After taking out of the oven, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 15 or 20 minutes. That way the juices re-absorb into the meat.

I have to say that this was the best chicken that I have ever roasted. It was juicy and perfectly done. Even my son said it was really moist and he's not a big fan of baked chicken.

I really think the difference was leaving it uncovered overnight to dry the skin, cooking it at a high temp. at the beginning and not being afraid to rub it with lots of butter.

I ate some moe of it tonight for dinner and it was still moist and delicious. Seems like just a few tweeks to what I had been doing made the biggest difference .........who knew!


Kathy