I am a huge fan of Roasted Chicken with extra crispy skin, dotted with salt and pepper and little else. I love that I can get 2-3 meals out of one bird. The drippings are delicious for roasting veggies. The leftover meat can begin day 2 in a salad, an omelet, or in tacos. Finally the frame yields amazing broth that can transform into near-instant soup or be frozen for later.
The PERFECT Roasted Chicken – just the way I like it, with extra crispy skin
My favorite way to roast a chicken is at super high heat – 500 degrees. Your house will end up a little smoky, but the chicken will come out crispy in the right places, tender in others and juicy throughout.
It takes a bit of planing, but this bird is well worth the wait. One key – buy a quality bird either directly from the farmer or from a trusted butcher. It makes a difference in flavor. Second, try to buy a bird that is fresh and has been air chilled – not frozen. Frozen birds will taste ever so slightly of frostbite.
Rich, herb-y (if that’s even a word), pan sauce with garlic
I like to make a pan sauce with the drippings. The drippings along with some garlic, fresh herbs and a splash of pumpkin ale are delicious, rich and perfect for dunking warm chicken into with your fingers. Yes, your fingers. I think chicken belongs firmly in the finger-food category.
Roasted Chicken with Pumpkin Ale Pan Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 Whole Chicken with Giblets – 4-5 lb.
- Olive Oil
- Kosher Salt
- Pepper
- 1/4 cup Pumpkin Ale
- Fresh Thyme & Fresh Sage – a few sprigs of each. Most grocery stores sell a ‘poultry blend’ that contains both + rosemary
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 cup Water or Unsalted Chicken Stock
First, rinse and pat dry
Preparation:
When you get your bird home, pause and think about how good it is going to taste in 24 hours – that is how long it will take to get your chicken to the point of lusciousness. Believe me, it will be well worth the wait. Lick you lips and then sigh. Next, remove the giblets and seth them aside. Give the chicken a good rinse under cold water – inside and out. Pat it dry – again, inside and out. I use paper towels.
Heavily salt and let it air dry in the fridge overnight – here’s a little before and after for you
Salt your chicken with way more kosher salt than you think you should – both inside and out (seeing a recurring theme here?). Then put it in a large bowl in your fridge and leave it uncovered. I’ll just say that again: leave it uncovered. You are essentially doing a dry salt brine here along with some dry aging (just like a dry aged steak). It is the key to tender flesh and crispy skin. Now, resist touching it for at least 8 hours, but preferably 24. Salt the giblets well and store in a separate container.
Method:
Pre & Post-roasting. Look at that golden color…
Remove your chicken from the fridge about an hour before you intend to roast it. Set it on the counter and let it come to room temperature. This is another key to a super juicy bird. When you pop it in the oven cold, the juices just flow right out into the pan instead of staying where they belong.
Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees – yes, scorching hot. I know, it’s counterintuitive. It’ll cook your bird up fast and hot instead of slow and low, but somehow it works.
Pull out your roasting pan and coat the bottom with a thin sheen of olive oil. Take the giblets and put them in the bottom of the pan. I like to use my Lodge cast iron dutch oven – it is seasoned well enough that I don’t even need to use more than a few drops.
Coat your chicken with a drizzle of olive oil. Put it in the roasting pan, breast side up on top of the giblets and rub the oil into the skin. Give it one more sprinkle of salt and crack some fresh ground pepper on top. Before you put it in the oven, tent lightly with foil.
Roast it for 30 minutes at 500 degrees, then remove the foil. Continue to cook the chicken at the same temperature until the chicken reaches 165 degrees when you test it with a thermometer. Start checking at 45 minutes. I usually end up roasting my bird for around 50-55 minutes. Your oven might get a little smoky towards the end, but again, well worth it.
When it’s done, pull the chicken out of the oven and remove the bird to a cookie sheet and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before serving. This will help the meat absorb all the juices.
Deglaze the pan with the Pumpkin Ale. Be sure to scrape up all the yummy brown bits.
To make the pan sauce:
In the meantime, put your pan on the stove (be careful – it will be hot from the oven) and warm the drippings over medium heat. Add the Pumpkin Ale (we used the Punk’n Ale from Uinta Brewery), and deglaze the pan. Remove the giblets – you can eat them or toss them.
Once all the lovely browned bits have come off the bottom of the pot, add the crushed garlic cloves (no need to chop or mince) and the fresh herbs – again no need to chop, cut, tear, etc. Bring to a fast simmer to infuse flavor, then add the water or stock. If you salted the chicken well, you shouldn’t need to add salt, but test it to be sure. Simmer everything for around 10 minutes to reduce ever so slightly for a delicious pan sauce.
Serve the chicken and pan sauce side by side and let everyone dig in with their fingers
I generally serve the chicken side by side with the pan sauce in the center of the table when I have small dinner parties. I have everyone wash their hands well, grab a few paper towels per person and dig in to the chicken with their fingers and dunk in the pan sauce. It is a warm and communal way to enjoy a meal with a nice salad on the side. Everyone talks, shares, dunks and all barriers come crashing down.
Go ahead, dunk that chicken!
Finally, be sure to save the frame for broth down the road.
Enjoy!
-Lydia, finger food fancier
NOTE: This method for roasting this chicken was adapted from Merrill Stubbs’ Recipe on Food52, which in turn was adapted from Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil by Kim Foster (love the cover on this one). We all love a good riff.
