I make a consistently bad roast chicken. train me up.

[HamblesHandbag]

I'm not a daft cook, I can do LOADS of gorgeous meals, but my roast chickens are SHIT!! overcooked breast and undercooked legs.

I usually do Hugh Fernley's method of 20 minute sizzle at 220, then down to 180 for the rest of it.

I've also done Jamie O's thing of slashing the legs to get the heat in and of course, butter under the skin, but all crapola.

Tesco's rotisserie chickens beat me hands down every time (and are cheaper).

WHY OH WHY???

do what i do..sling t into a slow cooker and leave the bugger for the day.
done
delish
no probs
nice and moist, yum.

I just shove it in the oven at 160 for however long it says on the label.

You need to cook them a lot cooler.

I do mine at 160C for 90 minutes.

yeah, I have done that before. It kind of just falls apart in a disconcerting way... I will try it again.

But roasting? Crispy chicken skin?? (big yum)

ok, two votes for 160.

do you cover?

and do you get crispy skin?

Rub the breast with butter and cover with slices of streaky bacon, just take them off for the last 20 minutes.

Or cook it upside-down, so the breast stays moist.

Remember to let it rest for 15 minutes or so after you take it out of the oven, so the juices come out into the meat.

Hugh works for me.

Do you have a fan oven? The temps you mention are for non-fan, if you are using fan you need to take 20 degrees off.

Chicken gets an hour round here.

Dry breast - try putting bacon over? |Then you get crispy bacon + juicy breast + crispy skin on rest of chicken

I don't cover. I don't do anything to it. Just bung in the warm oven and take out an hour and a half later.

I'm not fussed about crispy skin, but I think it is OK. You could blast up the heat for the last 10 minutes if this is important to you.

I do at 180, covered up for all but last 30 mins. Also slosh a bit of wine in the foil before you seal it up and it sort of steams it and keeps it moist.

Between 160 and 180 depending where the dial lands. Untrussed and with salt and pepper and a quick spray of oil on the skin. In the oven for whatever the label says and baste once or twice. Yummy chicken, lovely chicken skin.

Yes to untrussing and opening up cavity

My mum sticks an onion up there for good measure. I couldn't say why. She throws it away afterwards. You could try that if you have an excess of onions about the place.

I stick a lemon up its bottom, rub butter all over the breast and legs and cook an average sized bird at 160/170 degress for 1.5 hours. I also put the chicken on a bed of halved onions so the bottom of the bird is not touching the bottom of the roasting dish. Seems to help and can be used to make onion gravy.

Works every time.

Trick is also not to buy a massive bird - if needs be buy 2 smaller ones.

I just put mine in the oven with some veggies under it untill i think it's done. Usually have the oven on 190 ish

Chop a lemon into wedges and shove it in the chicken, it helps keep the breast moist. I do very little else, just cook at 180C for however long it says.
I don't cover either, sometimes if i'm feeling extravagant I rub butter in the skin and use one wedge of the lemon to squeeze over it.

I swear by upside down with foil, then turning it right way up for last half hour. Your oven also sounds too hot and you must rest the bird for 10 mins before carving - I use the same foil from earlier to keep the heat in.

If I'm feeling fancy and cba to do proper gravy I'll make a trivet from celery and carrot, lob in a chopped opion, a handful of herbs (sage or rosemary or thyme), a bay leaf, salt and pepper.

If I'm feeling super posh I'll push a bay leaf/sage leaves under the skin on the breast, rub with lemon and the cut side of a garlic clove. If it's a big bird I may smear butter under the skin too.

Always season well and buy a good quality chicken.

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For super easy moist chicken with tender skin use a heavy casserole dish on the hob:

brown onions in butter with a drop of oil.

Add a bay leaf.

Add chicken and sprinkle a dessert spoon of plain flour over the skin and season.

Brown the skin a little on the top and bottom.

Add the juice of one lemon to the pan and crushed garlic if you wish. Give it a good stir to get all the sticky bits off the bottom.

throw in a small glass of white wine and a few twigs of thyme

Stick the lid on the casserole and let it simmer breast side down for half an hour. Make sure it has liquid and add a little water if necessary but it should be ok on a medium heat.

Turn the bird right way up and put in the oven at about 190 for half an hour with the lid off. There should be a little liquid in the pan.

The chicken skin will be moist but crispy and you can thicken any remaining liquid for a sauce while the chicken rests out of the pan. Maybe add a bit more wine or stock. Alternatively for a less roasty roast chicken you can stir in creme fraiche or cream but don't let it curdle.

not tender skin. crispy skin!

I stuff with half a lemon and some bashed garlic cloves, a smear of butter and a liberal sprinkle of salt, pepper and thyme surround with spears of carrot and parsnip, uncovered at 180 in a fan oven for about an hour and 40mins... Makes amazing gravy too and a beautiful golden crispy skin :)

I have got a chicken brick from Habitat. It changed my chicken cooking life.

Shove it in a roasting bag and leave it to it's own devices. Take it out for the last 30 mins to crisp up the skin

WTF is a chicken brick?

Regardless of how you want to flavour your chicken, I recommend cooking it breast down and covered with foil for 45 mins- 1 hour, uncovered for 45 mins then turn and cook breast side up for 20 mins or until it has browned. This is based on a 1.4kg chicken. My top tip for tasty chicken is that it should be cooked lovingly for a good 2.5 hours so it's really tender. MIL on the other hand likes it just cooked, which means it's often pasty looking and chewy - yuck.

I like to throw in some soy sauce and cider - it gives a lovely sweet/saltiness once cooked (even though I use dry cider).

Google Julia Child's roast chicken recipe. It is perfection every time, tho I only use a little bit of butter. Always infused with herbiness, moist and with crisp skin.

Agree with shoving a lemon up its bum. And some garlic cloves. Salt on the skin, squeeze the lemon juice over when it's done - lovely!