Best High Roast Chicken Recipes

CRISP-SKIN HIGH-ROAST BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN WITH POTATOES

Steps:

• Dissolve salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in large container. Immerse chicken and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 500°.
• Line bottom of broiler pan with foil and spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Remove chicken from brine and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Following illustrations 1 through 6, butterfly chicken, flatten breastbone, apply flavored butter (if using), and position chicken on broiler pan rack; thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
• Toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper to taste in medium bowl. Spread potatoes in even layer in foil-lined broiler pan bottom. Place broiler pan rack with chicken on top. Rub chicken with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and sprinkle with pepper.
• Roast chicken until spotty brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate pan and continue to roast until skin has crisped and turned a deep brown and an instant-read internal thermometer registers 160° in thickest part of breast, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to cutting board. With potholders, remove broiler pan rack; soak up excess grease from potatoes with several sheets paper towels. Remove foil liner with potatoes from broiler pan bottom and invert foil and potatoes onto cookie sheet or second cutting board. Carefully peel back foil, using a metal spatula to help scrape potatoes off foil as needed. With additional paper towels, pat off remaining grease.

HIGH ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Dissolve kosher salt and sugar in water in a large container to make brine. Place chicken into brine, cover, and refrigerate until chicken meat is seasoned, 1 to 4 hours.
• Stir unsalted butter, Dijon mustard, garlic, and thyme in a bowl and let stand at room temperature while chicken marinates in brine.
• Remove chicken from brine, rinse chicken, and discard used brine. Use a sharp, sturdy knife or poultry shears to slice along both sides of the backbone from the tail to the neck, through the bones; remove backbone and tail. Turn chicken over, spread open with breast side facing up, and hit chicken sharply with the heel of your hand between the two chicken breasts to break the breast bone. Press chicken flat with your hands.
• Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels on both sides. Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the chicken breast and thighs. Stir 1 pinch black pepper into the seasoned butter mixture and spread butter mixture generously underneath the skin. Pat chicken dry again. Lay the flattened chicken, breast side up, on the top of a 2-part broiler pan. Rub chicken with vegetable oil and sprinkle with more black pepper.
• Move a rack into the lower third of oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Line the bottom of broiler pan with aluminum foil.
• Place potato slices into bottom of broiler pan atop aluminum foil; toss potatoes with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Place top of broiler pan containing chicken over pan bottom.
• Roast chicken and potatoes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes; rotate pan and roast until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 20 more minutes. Let chicken rest on platter or cutting board while you blot excess chicken fat from top of potato slices. Invert broiler pan bottom to turn potatoes out into a serving dish and blot again with paper towels. Cut chicken in quarters with a sharp knife and serve with potatoes.

MARYA'S HIGH-HEAT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Essentially, rub the chicken with salt and pepper and any spices you want (I use paprika and granulated garlic powder, which helps the skin crisp), start the chicken roasting at 475, and turn it down to 350 after about 20 minutes or when the skin starts to be crisp and browned on the breast. Start checking for doneness at an hour total, unless the chicken is tiny (less than 3 and a half pounds). Those big honking 5+-pound roasters will take an extra half hour or so. Garlic inside is good, but you can also just throw a whole head of unpeeled, separated garlic cloves in the pan and then eat them roasted at the end.