Seamless Roasted Chicken
Roast chicken is on the list of things everyone should handily know how to prepare well along with steak, a perfectly brewed pot of coffee, scrambled eggs, and chocolate chip cookies. Even if you hate chicken or are vegetarian/vegan you should still have a perfect roast chicken in your repertoire. I have watched and read a ton of chef's techniques for roasting chicken and experimented with a few techniques for roasting chicken, and I found the most effortless and consistently effective way to roast a bird. A solid roast chicken according to most people's taste should be cooked through, moist interior with crispy skin. This technique ensures this.
You will need a cast iron skillet 12 inches or up in size that will comfortably accommodate whatever size chicken you choose. I usually use a 3–4-pound chicken. Yes, it must be a cast iron skillet. The cast iron skillet will conduct the heat in a way that allows for that moist interior and even doneness. Put the cast iron skillet into the oven while the oven is preheating to 500 degrees.
Wash your chicken with chilly water and dry it off with a paper towel. I usually put a piece of parchment paper down to season the chicken. Next take olive oil, I prefer olive oil as it is easier to spread over the chicken. Apply 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil to the chicken, rub it all over. Salt and pepper to your taste.
Take the cast iron skillet out of the oven, it will be piping hot. Place the chicken in the skillet breast up. Place the chicken uncovered in the oven and roast at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees after the 15 minutes are up and continue to roast until golden brown or a thermometer in the meaty part of the
thigh registers 155-165 degrees. It is usually another 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees for me, but I start checking on it at 35 minutes. I have made this dozens of times this way and it is always seamless.
If you want to jazz up your roast chicken, you can oil it and salt and pepper it as desired and to “kick it up a notch” (LOL) I like to use Zatar seasoning and Aleppo pepper seasoning together on the chicken. It is a savory flavor bomb that really accentuates the chicken's flavor.