Perfect Roast Chicken

[CCSPRINGS]

I am on a search for the absolute perfect roast chicken. I love the many ways I roast them but I seek something I have not yet perfected. This will take some time. A restaurant that is approx. 30 miles away came close. The bird was semi boneless, the skin was crisp and lightly coated with a few herbs, mostly rosemary. It was slightly salty, lemony, juicy and delicious. This has become a bit of a grail quest for me. i love the winter because cold weather is the right excuse to have the oven going. I am going to start with a fresh bird from the local poultry farm. I like to brine them before baking. Time to have my very own test kitchen. Any ideas?

[jonoropeza]

Whatever technique you end up using (I'm partial to Julia's myself), I've found the two most important factors in making a perfect roast chicken are thoroughly drying the chicken, and letting the chicken come to room temperature before roasting.

(the usual caveats about room temp meat / food safety apply; I've done probably 100 chickens in the last 15 years and have never gotten sick, nonetheless don't call me if *you* do :) )

[selfportrait93]

Try this

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ty...

[stymie]

Best I ever made or ate, I followed Julia Child's recipe to the T. Leftovers made the best sandwiches.

[mariacarmen]

this is my favorite: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

you could probably add lemon at the end, to not disturb the heavenly crispy skin.

[Erinmck]

I *just* made this roast chicken/recipe tonight after searching for recommendations on chowhound. Turned out beautiful and was remarkably easy to make. Just used a large saute pan, salt, and pepper as the resume suggests.

[greygarious]

I very much doubt there is more to be said on the subject: http://www.chow.com/search?query=Perf...

[CCSPRINGS]

Yes, it is beating a dead horse. Kind of like writing another book about Tuscany. But the most simple dish can be the hardest to reproduce, for me anyway. I can see what I want, just cant touch it.