How to Roast a Chicken

Roasting a chicken is actually far easier than the browned and succulent results would make it seem. But when your guests rave about the flavor of the roast chicken, you don't need to tell them how easy it was. Just say thanks and smile. This roast chicken recipe serves four.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Remove chicken from its plastic bag, if it is in one.

3. 

   Remove the bag of giblets from the cavity of the bird.

4. Remove any large deposits of fat from the cavity.

5. Trim any loose skin with a sharp knife.

6. Remove the tail, if you want, or leave it on. It's an aesthetic decision.

7. Place a roasting rack in a baking pan with sides at least 1 inch high.

8. 

   Place bird on the rack with its breast-side up.

9. 

   Grind fresh pepper onto the bird, and sprinkle with a little salt. Salt and pepper the cavity as well. Rub all over with olive oil and stuff with fresh herbs and a quartered lemon, if desired.

10. Place the baking pan on an oven rack in the lower-middle part of the oven.

11. Roast the chicken for 45 to 60 minutes or until the juices run clear when a sharp knife is inserted into the joint between the body and the thigh or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees at the same joint.

12. Remove the roast chicken from oven, cover loosely with foil and let rest 10 minutes before carving.

Tips & Warnings

• Once you've roasted your first chicken, experiment. Try rubbing the bird with 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Put fresh herbs in the cavity of the bird, or squeeze a lemon inside the cavity, and then leave the lemon halves inside. Experiment!

• If the chicken seems to be browning too much, cover it loosely with foil.

• Make sure you have some sort of ventilation in your kitchen when roasting a chicken. In small apartments, the roasting process has been known to set off fire alarms, as well as to leave a lingering smell of roasted chicken for days. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but who wants to live in a place that smells like a delicatessen?