I have not made a roast chicken in years. However, it is the ultimate in comfort food. And it was delicious!
I made 2 at once, figuring I was going thru the trouble, might as well have extras for leftovers such as Chicken Casserole
This sounds complicated, but it isn’t!!
1) Brine the chicken. Basic brine is water and salt. For a 4-5 pound chicken, make a brine with a gallon of water and a cup of kosher salt. Dissolve the water and salt in a big pot and submerge the chicken in it. (I used a large pot and a large bowl to brine the 2 chickens I wanted to cook.) Put the submerged chicken into the refrigerator and allow to soak about 5 hours. (One hour of brining time for each pound of chicken.)
2) Discard the brine, rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water. Place it on a platter and pat it dry. Place back into the refrigerator for an hour.
3) Remove the chicken from the refrigerator an hour before roasting.
4) Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. I added a few carrots, some celery, a cut up onion, and some garlic cloves into each cavity.
5) Preheat oven to 425.
6) Spray a roasting rack with non stick spray. (I cover the shallow roasting pain with aluminum foil – or you can spray with non stick cooking spray as well. Makes clean up easier!) Place the chicken on the rack in a shallow roasting pan. Use kitchen twine to tie the legs together. Add some chicken broth or water to the bottom of the pan to prevent the drippings from burning.
7) Roast at 425 for about 20 minutes, then turn it down to 350 for another hour. Chicken is done when it reaches 165 in the breast. (I used a meat thermometer, but you don’t need a thermometer, just make sure the chicken is pretty and brown (!), and the leg moves freely when wiggled.)
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8) Let chicken rest approximately 15 minutes before carving.
9) ENJOY!!!!!!!