Name: The Best Roasted Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 (4-5 lb) whole chicken; 1 tbsp kosher salt; 1 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves; 1, halved lemon; 1 yellow onion, quartered; 1 tbsp olive oil

The Best Roasted Chicken

Prep

15m

Cook

75m

Total

90m

Bigly says

Folks. FOLKS. The roasted chicken. The centerpiece. The Sunday dinner, the trophy on the platter, the bird that decides whether your dinner party becomes a memory or a regret. And I have to say it — most roasted chicken in this country is a tragedy. Sad, dry, pale little birds with rubber skin, sitting in their own steam, looking like they apologized for existing. A disgrace to chicken. An embarrassment to the bird.

This chicken? Different universe. Mahogany. Lacquered. The skin CRACKS when the knife touches it. I've eaten roasted chicken in every state, twice, plus a farmhouse outside Lyon where a woman in an apron yelled at me for asking how she did it, plus a roadside stand in a town you've never heard of where the bird came out of a clay oven so beautiful I almost cried — and I'm telling you the chicken coming out of YOUR oven tonight is going to embarrass them all. The breast — and ninety-five percent of home cooks ruin the breast, they cook it into a chalk eraser, a national crisis — the breast comes out tender and rich, like the bird WANTED to be eaten. The bird becomes art.

Two secrets. ONE: dry-brine the night before. Salt and a sneaky pinch of baking powder, rubbed on the skin, sitting uncovered in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. The skin dries out. The salt seasons deep. By morning the bird is ready for greatness. TWO: roast HOT. Other so-called chefs will tell you 350. 350 is a low-effort apology. 425 is where the skin actually crackles. End of discussion.

Ingredients

1 (4-5 lb)whole chicken(air-chilled if you can find it)
1 tbspkosher salt(Diamond Crystal; use half if Morton)
1 tspblack pepper, freshly cracked
1/2 tspbaking powder(the crispy-skin secret, not a typo)
3 tbspunsalted butter, softened
4 clovesgarlic, minced
1 tbspfresh thyme leaves
1, halvedlemon
1yellow onion, quartered
1 tbspolive oil

Steps

1
The night before: pat the chicken completely dry with paper towels, inside and out. Mix the kosher salt, pepper, and baking powder, then rub it all over the skin and inside the cavity. Place the chicken uncovered on a wire rack over a sheet pan and refrigerate 12-24 hours.
2
Remove the chicken from the fridge 45 minutes before cooking to take the chill off. Preheat the oven to 425°F with the rack in the lower-middle position.
3
Mash the softened butter with the minced garlic and thyme leaves. Loosen the skin over the breasts and thighs with your fingers and slide the compound butter underneath, spreading it evenly.
4
Stuff the cavity with the lemon halves and onion quarters. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips under the body.
5
Rub the outside of the chicken lightly with olive oil. Place breast-side up in a cast iron skillet or roasting pan.
6
Roast 60-75 minutes, until the skin is deeply golden brown and an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°F. The breast should read 155-160°F.
7
Transfer to a cutting board and rest 15 minutes before carving. Do not skip the rest.
8
Carve and serve with the pan juices spooned over the top.

One more thing

Look at that bird. LOOK at it. That is a trophy chicken. That is the chicken your in-laws talk about in the car on the way home. They pretend they're not talking about it, but they are — the second the doors close, the words 'how did she DO that' come out, every time. They say 'why doesn't ours taste like that' and 'we should ask for the recipe.' They never ask. They never call. But they remember. Forever. Don't say I never gave you anything.