Knowing how to roast a chicken is a basic culinary skill. If you're not sure where to begin, read on! This page will help teach you how to roast a chicken.
A roasting chicken makes the house smell great and provides a simple and easy main course for dinner. The leftovers can be used for meals later in the week, and the carcass can form the base for a delicious soup of stock. Roasting a chicken is easy to learn how to do.
How To Roast Chicken
This chef from the French Culinary institute shows how to roast a chicken. He cleans and seasons the chicken, then demonstrates how to truss it. He seasons it with salt, pepper, and herbs. The herbs are slid under the skin to better flavor the meat. He also places butter under the skin to moisten the meat.
Step 1: Preparation for Roast Chicken
Required Ingredients
A basic roast chicken recipe only needs a few ingredients:
- Whole chicken, preferably free range or organic, take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven
- 4T butter, melted with 1/2 cup of water
- Poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste
Required equipment
The following items of equipment will be needed for your roast chicken dish:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Roasting pan
- Trussing needle and string
- Baster
Step 2: Prepare to Roast the Chicken
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Unwrap the chicken and remove the innards that are wrapped in paper or plastic inside the bird. Check both cavities, as the neck is sometimes packed separately from the organs. These can be discarded, or used in the gravy.
- Stuff the chicken, if desired. If you're not using a stuffing, you can insert two whole lemons, pierced with a fork, and herbs such as sage and thyme into the cavity to season the chicken as it cooks.
- Truss the chicken to help it cook evenly.
- Place the chicken in the roasting pan.
- Pour the melted butter-water mixture over the chicken, and season lightly with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Step 3: Roast the Chicken
- The chicken will take about 20 minutes per pound if it is unstuffed; 25 minutes a pound if it is stuffed.
- Baste the chicken with the pan juices every 15 minutes for the first hour.
- Allow the chicken to sit for 15-30 minutes after it is removed from the oven before carving. This lets the juices settle so that you can slice, rather than shred, the meat.
