How to Make Juicy Roast Chicken with Less Work

A roasted, whole chicken is an easy and impressive company dinner. In many recipes, brining, or soaking the chicken in salt water, is called for to make the meat juicier. This step, however, takes a lot of time.

Getting juicy, flavorful chicken with a crispy skin is possible without brining or basting. Here's how.

For this method, you'll need a large roasting pan, an inexpensive rack to hold the bird, and a meat thermometer. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, wash, and clean the cavity of the chicken. Place the chicken breast side up on the rack in the roasting pan.

To ensure the meat remains moist, you will be stuffing it with moist ingredients. Fill the cavity with citrus fruits (halved lemons, quartered oranges), vegetables (carrots, celery, onions), or sprigs of herbs. Specific examples of ingredients to season the chicken with are listed at the end of this article.

Using fingers, find the spots near the cavity opening where the skin covering the breast is loose. These will be on either side of the midline of the chicken. Slide your fingers under the skin and gently separate it from the breast meat to create two pockets. Be careful not to tear the skin.

Fill these pockets with fresh herbs (sage, oregano, and rosemary), thin slices of lemons or oranges, or pats of butter. This is a lot easier than you think.

Rub the outside of the chicken all over with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle a little oil over the top.

Place the chicken in the preheated, very hot oven, close the door, and turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees.

Roast the chicken until a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh reads 175 degrees. This will take about 20 minutes per pound of meat.

Before carving the bird, let it rest for at least 20 minutes. This allows juices to redistribute so that moisture will not be lost.

While you are waiting, deglaze the juices and burnt material, called the fond, in the bottom of the roasting pan. This will make the gravy. To do this, place empty roasting pan on a burner on low heat. Add 2 cups of stock, wine, water, or some combination of these. Stir the liquid in the pan to loosen the material. When it has dissolved, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour made into a paste with an equal amount of water. Cook until the gravy thickens.

For seasoning ideas, see the following combinations.

Asian Orange Chicken

1) Fill the cavity with 1-2 1-inch pieces of fresh ginger and 1 orange, quartered but not peeled.
2) Place ½ to 1 thinly sliced orange, again not peeled, between the breast meat and the skin.
3) Season the outside with 2 T. soy sauce or tamari, 2 tablespoons peanut or sesame oil, and 2 crushed or minced cloves of garlic.
4) Deglaze the pan with orange juice to make a sauce for the meat.

Greek Chicken

1) Fill cavity with 2 lemons, quartered but not peeled, and sprigs of fresh oregano or rosemary.
2) Fill space between the breast and skin with one more lemon, thinly sliced but not peeled.
3) Season the outside of the chicken with kosher salt, fresh black pepper, and olive oil.

Classic Roast Chicken

1) Fill cavity with 1 carrot, a celery stick, and a quartered onion.
2) Insert fresh sage sprigs into the gap between the skin and breast meat.
3) Season the outside of the chicken with more fresh sage leaves, kosher salt, and fresh black pepper.
4) Deglaze the pan with chicken broth or a mix of broth and wine.