Roast Chicken

I have used a similar roast technique for years to make marvelous chicken.

Simple:

1. Preheat oven to very hot, 500 Degrees.
2. Put in chicken
3. When fire alarm in the next room goes off. remove battery and turn oven down to 375. about 45 min.
4. Replace battery

Great recipe...good week night staple that the kids love.

If you're feeling fancy (or having friends over), you can throw fresh thyme, rosemary and 1/2 a lemon inside the chicken's body cavity.

Also, for an easy sauce, once the chicken is done, put the pan with roasting juices on the burner, add white wine, shallot, stock, a little butter/flour mashed together and you'll have a perfectly scrumptious sauce to spoon over your bird.

After serving this to my husband he said, "I hope I die before you do."

Using a preheated 500 degree oven will produce a lot of smoke. This technique works perfectly well with a preheated 350 degree oven that will not produce much smoke. The trick is to preheat the oven for about 30 minutes with the skillet on the oven.

Adding a bit of water to the skillet just before putting in the chicken great reduces any smoke. In fact, I had none. Same tasty chicken.

Putting the chicken on a bed of roughly cut (length-wise) parsnips and carrots creates the same moist tender chicken but also delightfully flavoured tender veggies.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet... the smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is only 375-400 degrees. This is why it's so smoky - you're cooking it at 500!! There are good roast chicken recipes that don't use any fat or moisture, and I think they're fabulous. Adding no additional moisture creates an extra crispy skin!

I spatchcock mine. Fits great in a 12" skillet. Cook time is only 30 mins done this way at 425 degs.

Absolutely divine. Follow exactly as instructed, for crisp skinned, luscious chicken.

Hint: I added a chopped onion, garlic, and carrots around the chicken after the high heat phase. 45 minutes later I had an incredibly lovely side dish simmering in the chicken gravy in the skillet bottom. Divine.

Typically it is not the Chicken that smokes, it's the dirty oven. If you roast a lot, take some time and really clean out your oven. I make this all the time, and my house guests cannot believe how juicy the breast meat comes out. A go to roast chicken without the twine. Pretty awesome. As with most roast chickens, let it dry out as long as possible.

Not much wanting to risk smoking up the house (though my ovens are very clean) I simply heated the cast iron 12" pan on the closed gas grill for 45 minutes or so, splayed the chicken......added it along with some carrots and parsnip strips to the pan and closed the lid of the grill. After 15 minutes or so, I reduced the heat to medium on the grill.....and, viola, no house smoke to contend with at all.

Excellent, succulent, moist breast along with perfectly cooked legs as well.

The notes about excess smoke, smoke alarms and a mess are really not so funny. This is a recipe that is more appropriate for a commercial kitchen or an outdoor barbecue. If you have a staff to clean up your stove and kitchen after you are done then go ahead. Otherwise I would suggest trying a different method.

Using a cast iron pan could be overkill. Cast iron builds and retains very high heat by design. Substituting a roasting pan with rack and the same exact cooking instructions for any poultry yields wonderful results.

Place a "bed" of vegetable under the chicken. Use carrot, celery, shallot and sprig of them. Does wonders for pan juices. Improves roasting because chicken effectively roasting on a trivet.

Agreed. This recipe should come with a warning. Was a guest at a dinner where the host used this recipe and we all had to leave the house - opening up all the windows on the way out. Stayed outside for a good 15 minutes while the house cleared of smoke. Ridiculous cleanup after it was over, splatters all over the stove and oven........It was a tasty chicken though.