Roast Chicken!

So I wrote this post last night everyone, since I was roasting a chicken and felt I should share my tactics because a roasted chicken is delicious and something everyone should know how to cook.

Hey guys! So, I'm roasting a chicken for dinner tonight. Roasted chicken is one of my favorite foods and it's so cheap! It was on sale the other day for about 77 cents per pound, so I grabbed two, one of them being almost 7 pounds! A bird this size will feed me and my wife for a few days which is great because we are broke. Anyway, here's how I roast a chicken!



Firstly, thaw this baby out ahead of time. I had planned on making chicken for an early dinner but had to push that back by, mmm, three or four hours! I hadn't anticipated this, so just keep it in mind for the future. Anyway, after thawing it I scooped the giblets and neck out (they usually stuff these things inside the chest cavity) and threw them in a small pot of water and set it to a low heat to steep for the next couple hours.

Next you rinse the beast down under cold water, inside and out then dry the outside off really well with paper towels - and make sure you drain the cavity, don't want to accidentally pour salmonella water all over yourself.



I follow a real simple way of preparing the bird - I take a cooking oil, canola this time but sometimes I use olive oil - and rub down the bird like you're giving it a really weak massage. After coating it with oil you probably want to wash your hands before handling spices and such. Next I sprinkle it liberally with pepper, a bit of salt, then some garlic and onion powder. Being Italian I think I put garlic on everything. Anyway, you've done one side of the bird, then flip it over and do the other side. Make sure you don't rub it or move it too much right now or you'll mess up the distribution of spices.

Lastly, I cook my bird directly on the oven rack. Some people might be like, "ewww gross" but really, if you clean it first it's no different than anything else. Put it on the middle rack BREAST SIDE DOWN with an 8"x12" pan underneath to catch all the drippings. We do it breast side down so all the juices will settle into the meaty part of the bird. Roast that sucker at 350°F for 20 minutes per pound. I crank the heat up to 450°F for the last 15 minutes of the cook time to help brown the outside of the beast.



While we wait for the bird to cook scoop the giblets out of the water where you've had them simmering for a while. Save this water because once the bird is done you're going to take the drippings pan and mix these two liquids together. Then you take flour and add it, I do it one spoonful at a time, to the liquid and whisk them together until you've got gravy. This will be the best gravy ever. Use it generously.

At this point turn the heat off and let it set on the rack for about 20 minutes so the juices can settle. Prepare some side dishes if you haven't already and after your time is up, carve into it and enjoy! Also, here's a chart to help with cooking times.

Cooking time (unstuffed)

2½ - 3 pounds | 50-60 minutes

3½ - 4 pounds | 70-80 minutes

4½ - 5 pounds | 90-100 minutes

5½ - 6+ pounds | 110-120 minutes

tl;dr?

• Buy chicken
• Rinse chicken with water, put giblets in pan with water and simmer
• Coat in oil, pepper, light salt, garlic and onion powder
• Roast on oven rack, breast side down, middle rack with a pan under it to catch drippings
• Mix giblet infusion with drippings, whisk in flour until gravy has formed
• Eat!

-- The only constant is change --