The Roast Chicken Project

Welcome to The Roast Chicken Project! A monthly series where I investigate and (hopefully) answer some of the endless questions around the proper way to roast a chicken. 

(Update: After 12 months of research I found some answers! Check out my observations and personal favorites in my post on The Best Way to Roast A Chicken!)

How do I roast a chicken?

There are so many "perfect" roast chicken recipes out there! There is high heat roasting, low heat roasting, roasting in milk, roasting in cast iron, roasting whole, or roasting in pieces. Then there's spatchcocking, roasting under a brick, beer can roasting, rotisserie roasting, etc.

How do I prep my chicken?

Should I brine? If so, do I wet brine or dry brine? What about trussing?  Should I let the skin dry out overnight or can I roast it straight from the package? And what goes inside? The questions never seem to end.

There probably isn't a best way, but there are ways that will work better for me than others, or plain won't work. I've explored a few of the different methods to try to find out what a “perfect roast chicken” means in my own kitchen, or if it even exists. See the experiments below!