Can some of you lovely lot give me feedback on my roast chicken plan?

[QuimReaper]

I've done them before but want to up my game. I've read a bunch of threads and things and collated the tips to do what I think will be a fab roast chicken, but just wanted to run it by you experts. This is my plan of attack:

• Brine overnight
• Rinse thoroughly
• Dry out uncovered in fridge for a few hours
• Lemon and garlic up bum, seasoning and butter under skin, etc.
• Place upside down in roasting tin on bed of Chantenay carrots and onions with splash of wine (rumours any liquid stops the skin crisping - any thoughts?)
• Cover with tin foil
• This is where I'm shaky - it's a 1.8kg bird, popular MN wisdom suggests low and slow is better, so 160 for 1.5hrs?
• Flip the right way up for last 45 minutes?
• Stand for ages covered in tin foil and tea towel

It's the cooking times and temps I'm shaky about, lots of conflicting info out there. Any tips welcome.

Thank you!

Sorry - flip the right way up and uncover for last 45 mins.

Should I turn it up for this bit, or for the last 10 mins or 20 or anything, to crisp the skin up?

Foil off and heat up for the final 15 minutes yes, for lovely crispy skin!

I brined a turkey last yr and just thought it added hassle- otherwise everything sounds delicious!

I usually do a slightly smaller bird (1.4-1.6kg) and cook on 180 fan for 1hr 15 -1hr 30 until the juices are clear. Skin comes out crispy. So maybe at 160 you would need slightly longer than 1.5 hours? (Assuming the last 45 mins are included in the total? Or an extra 45 mins?). I season and put butter and herbs on chicken, and a bit of water in the bottom which turns into gravy. I do them regularly so I know how my oven behaves, which helps! I can see why the upside down then flip method would be better. I am definitely a chuck-in-oven-and-leave woman though I would check towards the end that the juices are clear, that's the best way to gauge whether it's done.

I have never heard of this brine and rinsing and drying business.

Also www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/campaigns/campylobacter/fsw-2014

Seems like masses of effort for a roast chicken?

We by which I mean DH just rub olive oil on the skin, salt and pepper, herbs and half a lemon up the bum, cloves of garlic in the cracks. Stick in oven at 180 for appropriate length of time. Always comes out moist, delicious and with crispy skin.

I can understand the effort for turkey, which is much harder to cook and keep moist, but chicken...?

Yep Two was 1.5 +45 so 2.15 in total.

I'm sold on brining because it's revolutionised my chicken breast fillet cooking so want to give it a go with a whole bird to see how it goes! I'll report back if it makes an appreciable difference.

Close I normally do a no-fuss chicken and it's fine, but fancied getting a bit Cordon Bleu to see if I can take it to the Next Level

zz wasn't planning on stuffing, no, and doing the spuds separately - our oven's fairly new and I don't trust the fan compartment with the chicken so using it for spuds whilst the chicken rests!

Planning to do the spuds for 45 minuets odd on 200. I'm no spud expert, I normally do mash, so all tips welcome there too!

Main thing is to buy a decent chicken in my opinion.

Corn fed/free range.

If it's factory farmed/water injected, all manner of tarting about is required to disguise the bland unpleasantness of it.

Qnim please report back on the brining!

Ive brined a turkey before but just be aware that the cooking juices may then be very salty and no good for making gravy. Good luck

No stuffing?! Can I assume you're at least doing bread sauce?

If you're going fancy here you could do hasselback. potatoes? They look and taste delicious!

Chicken is fattier than turkey and faffing isn't necessary IMO. Use the Delia '1 hour on high with an onion and a lemon up its bum' method and expend your energies on accompaniments an trimmings.
Roast chicken is so very delicious why mess with it? Turkey can dry out hence the many and various methods of maintaining moisture but chicken?

I have brined turkey but never chicken.

You should be able to dry brine (ie a rub overnight or a few hours ahead of roasting) which will save you the drying out process.

Crushed garlic and butter under skin is lovely, then lemon and thyme inside

I've always cooked right way up all the way through - except with beer can chicken which is a totally different sort of roast but a revelation with a sticky barbecue sauce!

Agree that corn fed chicken is delicious

Brining update for Bitchy - it was a real game changer, I'm a convert! Not essential I'm sure, but it made a real difference - I wouldn't be so confident it wasn't confirmation bias, if it weren't for the fact that the proof was in the roasting tray: there was almost no juice! I put a splash of wine in before cooking and there was less liquid when it came out than when it went in. This obviously made gravy a bit tricky but I coped. I was so impressed! And everyone raves about it

Thanks for the update! Where did you get your brining recipe from?