Tips for making a really nice roast chicken?

Got to make a nice roast chicken dinner, does anyone have any tips as to how to do it really nicely?

Welllllllllllllll

I got a fresh chicken the other day and it was dang nice - but the way I did it - was weird - I cooked at a higher temperature at the start and end - to give it a kick start and to help brown the potatoes...

where the neck was....pull up the skin and pull it away gently from the breast meat...make a little pocket...it wont tear if you pull gently but it will come away.

(Jamie Oliver trick here....get knife, and slash the leg meat across its thick bit...leg meat is fatty and redder....it cooks well with a good slash)

Then WASH YA HANDS (cos raw chicken can kill), then get a big handfull of butter.....and force it in that cavity...

then from outside, moodge the butter under the skin....kinda like flattening a duvet from having bumps in it.

When it roasts the butter will melt under the skin and impregnate the breat meat :)

Also, I am not one for stuffing a bird , cos A it takes hours to cook cos no hot air gets in and B stuffing often tastes better...cooked outside the bird :( not stuffed,

BUT a single onion in the cavity, or if you're not talking to anyone tomorrow, a clove of garlic in the empty cavity.

THEN.....once the chicken is coooked, get a HUGE bit of foil, put the bird on it, wrap it up tight and cosy...and leave it to rest for 15 minutes...I promise, it wont get cold....not it foil, when it was so damn hot on removing it from the oven. Just leave it on the side in the kitchen.

Mean time.....put the roasting pan and all the juices on the hob, turn on the heat, and as it boils, pour in white wine, a glug at a time.....a sprinkle of sugar too, to sweeten it a little...then a pinch of salt..stir a lot :)

the wine will "deglaze" the pan, ie dissolve the chicken bits stuck to it, and make a nice nice gravy.....dont use stock cubes...no need....just keep boiling that chicken stock and adding a bit more wine. Water from the chicken cam eout anyway...just use the wine and that :) its awesome

taste it....dont forget, chciken gravy doesn't need to be thick....just tasty as possible. Thin gravy with chicken is best cos it soaks into the meat when you pour it AND into the spuds :)

IF you have the time, and the patience, pour all this gravy into a measuring jug, leave it for 30 seconds to settle and use a spoon to take off the oil from the top...just the oil elvel...you wont get it all, but get most off....chcuk it away (empty bean can maybe, nothing plastic it will melt)

Then re heat that gravy for serving

Do roast taters in a sperate tin....not the chicken tin. Too much water comes out of a chicken :( and the spuds boil, and dont roast.


Peel spud...cut into chunks...boil for 3 to 4 minutes if small and 5 to 6 if larger....drain...put lid on, shake gently (thats called flouring them)

then put them into hot oil in roasting tray, one at a time, spoon oil over them, put in oven for about 30 mins or a bit more....

chicken comes out after spuds have been in for 15 - 20 mniutes and stays in foil while you do that gravy thing.

Baste spuds in oil 3 times while cooking...big spoon, oil over the top, over and over :)



god...big post...sorry :blush:

better sort that lot hadn;t I :(

Peel Spuds, cut to size you want.
Pull chicken skin up from chest/neck, put butter in
Slash leg meat one each (dont fret about appearance...it'll be fine)
Oven on....gas mark 6 - 7.....shelf near bottom to fit chicken on, and top shelf for roasties
Put chicken in oven..most take about 1 1/2 hours. (but you read the label first)
Put other tray in with plenty oil (sunflower oil) on top shelf (not deep, but enough to splosh about)
Have drink :)

Prep veg for microwave or steamer or pan.
40 min before dinner:
Boil pan of water put spuds in until outside os softening, but not crumbly.
Drain spuds, shake in pan with lid to rough em up, put into hot oil carefully, and baste with oil from oven tray with spooon.
Put in oven.

20 minutes before dinner, chicken out, and into foil. Leave on side. Dont fret :) Check its done by cutting into breast, check its white and not pink..if not it can go back in and no one is the wiser, and you dont have to let it rest :) if it IS dont, its gonna get better in the foil :D)

Baste spuds again (spoon hot oil over, top up oil if spuds absorbed it)

Put oven tray from chicken on hob, heat hard and pour in WHITE wine....add bit salt and bit sugar......heat and stir.

Vegetable need 10 miutes tops, and some only five...the chicken is safe.....dont fret. The spuds, once done can be turned off and leave door closed...they are safe too...

you are in control....vegetable get done last, and then serve it al :)

Good luck dude :)

Not much more to said really.... except check that the chicken is cooked by piercing the thickest parts of the meat (the breast near the neck and on the thigh) and checking the juices come out clear... if they're pink, slam it back in the oven for 20 minutes then check again.


See? Nice, short concise post.....


blimmin ramblers... ;)

Cheers all, especially Zak, much appreciated!

A lemon cut in half and then stuffed in the cavity is a nice alternative to the onion.

waits to find out if he killled his entire family with Salmonella ;)

Well if there's no reply in the day or two, I'd find yerself a lawyer! :P

Unless of course you managed to do the lot of 'em, in which case we'll delete the thread and say no more, eh? ;)

Woopsie, clicked "reply" and not "make new thread" ;)

lol
I stuff mine with quarters of lemon and garlic, with crushed rosemary, garlic and butter under and over the skin - that way I can pilfer the skin for a snack when carving. I always turn the heat down about 10deg C halfway through cooking, then cook for an extra 20 mins.
Also - as per Zakky - when you're flouring the taters, drizzle in some olive oil and rosemary with a little garlic - means they go even more fluffy and crispy on teh outside.

I cover mine with foil for 3/4 of the cooking time, then take it off to crisp up the skin at the end. Keeps it nice and tender. I also do stuff it with sage and onion, I love it when all the chicken juice infuses into the stuffing- yum!

Rich :¬)

LOL, no, it went really well... was for housemates and a few friends rather than family though! I did the chicken very simply, though I used the butter trick, very tasty :)

Roasties covered in oil, herbs, garlic and salt, with chopped onion for good measure, then peas, carrots, beans, gravy and bread sauce. Forgot the parsnips :(

It went down well, so Im happy! Though I really can't carve chicken to save my life... :P

Nice one! A good roast chicken must be up there in the top 5 meals of all time:).

Rich :¬)