How to roast a chicken without drying it out

To roast a whole chicken without drying it out, do three things: dry and salt the skin the day before, start it in a hot oven, and let it rest before you carve. Those three steps do more for a juicy bird than any marinade, brine bag or basting schedule. Pull it out when the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F (74°C), and not a minute of guesswork later.

That is the whole method. The rest of this post explains each step and gives you quantities and times to start from.

What you need

• 1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds (1.8 kg)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or 2 teaspoons fine table salt)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon oil or soft butter
• 1 lemon and a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary, optional
• A roasting pan or a large oven-safe skillet
• An instant-read thermometer

The thermometer is the one item I would not do without. A clock cannot tell you when a chicken is done, because birds, ovens and pans all differ. A thermometer can.

The day before: dry and salt

Take the chicken out of its wrapping and remove anything tucked inside the cavity, such as the neck or a bag of giblets. Do not rinse the bird under the tap. Rinsing does not make it safer; it splashes raw juices around your sink and counter.

Pat the chicken dry all over with paper towels, inside and out. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the skin and a little inside the cavity. Set it on a plate or a rack over a tray, breast side up, and put it in the refrigerator uncovered overnight, or for at least 8 hours and up to 24.

Two things happen in that time. The salt seasons the meat well below the surface and helps it hold on to its own juices as it cooks. And the cold, dry air of the fridge dries the skin, so it browns and crisps instead of steaming. Wet skin is the main reason home-roasted chickens come out pale and flabby.

If you have no time for this, pat the bird very dry and salt it just before roasting. It will still be good; it will simply be better with the night in the fridge.

Wash your hands, the plate and anything else the raw chicken touched with hot, soapy water.

Roasting: start hot

Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and give it a full 20 minutes to get properly hot.

Take the chicken out of the fridge. Rub the skin lightly with oil or butter and season with pepper. If you like, put half a lemon and the herbs inside the cavity for fragrance. Do not pack the cavity with stuffing; a stuffed bird takes longer to cook through, and the stuffing must reach a safe temperature as well. Bake stuffing in a separate dish instead.

Tie the legs together loosely with kitchen string if you have it, and tuck the wing tips under the back. Set the bird breast side up in the pan.

Roast for about 60 to 75 minutes for a 4-pound chicken. Treat that as a starting point, not a rule. Start checking at 50 minutes.

To check, push the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, near where it joins the body, without touching the bone. When it reads 165°F (74°C), the chicken is done. If the skin is browning too fast before then, lay a loose sheet of foil over the breast.

Why the high heat? A hot oven browns the skin quickly and cooks the bird in less time, and less time in the oven means less time for the breast meat to dry out. A low, slow oven gives you pale skin and stringy breast.

Rest before you carve

Lift the chicken onto a board and leave it alone for 15 minutes. Do not cover it tightly, or the skin will soften in its own steam; a loose tent of foil is fine.

While it rests, the juices that were pushed toward the surface by the heat settle back through the meat. Carve too soon and they run out onto the board instead of staying in the slices. Resting is the cheapest step in the whole recipe, and the one most often skipped.

Use the time well. The brown bits and drippings left in the roasting pan make an excellent quick sauce; skim off most of the fat and follow the pan sauce method from my earlier post.

Food safety and allergens

• Cook whole chicken to 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part of the thigh, not touching bone. Follow your local food-safety guidance if it differs.
• Keep raw chicken and its juices away from salad, bread and anything eaten uncooked. Use a separate board, or wash it well between jobs.
• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, in shallow covered containers.
• Butter contains dairy. Use oil instead if anyone at the table has a milk allergy.
• If you make gravy or a pan sauce, check any stock or flour you add for gluten and other allergens.

Good to know

Pick the meat off the carcass once dinner is done and keep the bones. Covered with water and simmered with an onion and a carrot, they give you stock for another meal, and nothing goes to waste.