Easy Roast Chicken


I roasted a chicken in the over for the first time yesterday....it was easy and turned out AWESOME!!!

All I did was brine the bird, stuff it with rosemary and a lemon and finally baked it. I was very simple and I can't see anyone failing at roasting their own chicken.

I went to the grocery store and bought a whole chicken which weighted 4 pounds.

For the brine, use 1/2 cup kosher salt per one quart of water (a quart almost a litre). I took a deep pot, placed my chicken in and covered it with the brine.

You can let the chicken sit in the brine for at least an hour - no more than 5...I kept it in for 2 hours. I then took the chicken out, rinsed, patted dry and let it sit in the fridge for a few more hours...you can let it sit in the fridge the day before.

When you're ready to cook, place a cut lemon in the cavity with herbs, I used rosemary. I then trussed the chicken and placed in my baking pan on top of potatoes and carrots and some red onion.

Use this chart to determine how long to roast your chicken:
Roasting Times Chart
Weight (in lbs.)Regular MethodHigh Heat Method
2.5 to 31 hour 15 minutes1 hour
3 to 3.51 hour 25 minutes1 hour 10 minutes
3.5 to 41 hour 35 minutes1 hour 20 minutes
4 to 4.51 hour 45 minutes1 hour 30 minutes
4.5 to 51 hour 55 minutes1 hour 40 minutes
5 to 5.52 hours 5 minutes1 hour 50 minutes
5.5 to 62 hours 15 minutes2 hours
6 to 6.52 hours 25 minutes2 hours 10 minutes
6.5 to 72 hours 35 minutes2 hours 20 minutes
7 to 7.52 hours 45 minutes2 hours 30 minutes
NOTE: These times are for unstuffed birds. Add 15 minutes to the total cooking time if you’re roasting a stuffed chicken. And as with the chicken itself, make sure the stuffing reaches a temperature of at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).



Cooking Time

Here's the rule for baking chicken in the oven; 20 min per pound plus 15. My 4 pound chicken took one hour and thirty five minutes. When the chicken is removed from the oven, tent it with foil and let it rest for ten minutes.

If you follow the above the directions, you too will have a well cooked juicy chicken.

If there are any questions, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

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