Roasted Chicken

A big ol’ whole roasted bird brings everyone to the table. when its fat is richly golden from a life on grass and the meat is so flavorful, it'll be good no matter what you do (seriously!). but, we've got a couple tricks that we stand by for a proper roast chicken: Dry Brine + Half Hour Sizzle!

Dry Brine = Crispy Skin

  1. At least 1 to 2 days before you plan on cooking the bird rub it down with roughly ¾ tsp of salt per pound.  Bonus points: 1 tsp each fennel + coriander seed toasted and crushed with the salt.

  2. Rub the salt and spice mixture all over the inside and outside of the chicken.  There will be salt and spices on the outside of the bird that are unabsorbed and that’s OK!  They will absorb thanks to osmosis in the next step :)

  3. Leave the bird on a rack (that’s resting on a pan to catch the juice) and stick it in the fridge uncovered till ready to cook.  The skin will dry out nicely in this time. 

Roasting! (Half Hour Sizzle = Golden Crispy Skin)

  1. Rub the outside of the bird down with some softened butter, lard, oil, or a combination therein.  We are big proponents of sticking a few small pieces of butter under the skin on the breast too.

  2. Roast at 450, breast side up for half hour (half hour sizzle).

  3. Drop the temp to 350 and roast till the thermometer inserted by the thigh reads 165 to 170 (roughly 20 to 25 minutes per pound).  You should be able to stay breast side up this whole time.  If you do think the top is getting too dark, it’s no problem to turn the bird over briefly in the roasting time.  

  4. When you drop the temp it’s a good time to maybe throw some carrots, potatoes, turnips or any sort of root vegetable under the bird so they can slow roast in all the juices as u continue to cook the bird. For a fully summertime bird cut some corn on the cob into thirds and throw that with some cherry tomatoes and zucchinis under the bird once you get closer to being done.

  5. Let the bird rest (tented with some foil) for at least 20 minutes before carving and serving.  Hopefully the veggies that were under the bird are done too but a keep them going in the oven if they need some more time. Put it all on a platter with some bread on the side for all the good juices :)

  6. Enjoy a happy, healthy, free ranging chicken with friends!

Alison Bjerke-Harvey