Changed nothing about the ingredients, just tweaked the method of cooking (I have roasted many a fowl in my career). I preheated my cast iron skillet so that when i laid the chicken in it, the bottom/thighs got a nice sear (keeps the dark meat cooking at same rate as white). Then, after about 30 minutes on the high heat, i shut the oven all the way off and let the chicken sit in the cooling oven for another 20 minutes. This lets it continue to cook, but will taper off and seal the juices in. Just don't open the door! This chicken turned out so beautiful golden brown, crispy outside, super moist and tender inside. Thank you chef, for the courage to use so much salt! :))
My husband thought it was excellent. He said: ..."perhaps the best chicken I ever had!". I had followed your recipe without any change. Thank you Chef John.
the chicken came out fantastic. People, please don't rate the recipes based on using the wrong ingredients.
My family has always loved roast chicken so I have made it for years. This recipe is the best I have ever made. The chicken was very juicy and so tender. I even made the sauce and could not believe how good it was and how incredibly simple it was to make. I was out of lemons so I substituted white wine vinegar and it was terrific! Chef John another winner. Thanks for the video it helps.
Okay, it's starting to be that I only want to make Chef John's recipes! This one is (as always) incredible. Who knew that roasting a chicken at 450 degrees for an hour would make the moistest chicken imaginable?! The only slight change I would make (not for me, but for my husband) is to maybe cut the lemon juice in half. I personally loved it, but he thought it was a little too "lemony".
In response to those complaining about being too salty - I think the secret is the last sentence in instruction line 3: "Wipe excess salt out of skillet with paper towels." If ALL salt is wiped off skillet, there shouldn't be a problem.
I made this with an organic whole chicken and my picky family raved over it! Juicy, crispy crust and not a salty taste. Be sure to brush excess salt off the bird before cutting and plating, so it doesn't get into the rest of your meal.
We really enjoyed this chicken! I love making whole chickens and do so at least twice a month. This recipe was a nice change up from my usual rosemary and garlic roasted bird. It did turn out rather salty, and I used coarse ground kosher salt - but it wasn't inedible salty. (and of course, I expected it to be salty!) I prepared this in my infrared oven which I believe helped the skin to crisp very nicely. The whole thing was a beautiful, uniform golden color. My husband, teenage daughter and I loved the sauce, but my young children didn't care for the lemon flavor of it, so next time I will try making it with white wine in place of the lemon juice. This recipe is a keeper that I will make again and again.
the chicken was magnificent. but for some reason, my sauce turned out way too salty. I'm wondering if I didn't blot out enough oil from the pan. will try again.
well I really mucked this recipe...I used sea salt instead of Kosher--didn't think it would make that much of a difference but it did. The chicken came out greasy and way to salty tasting and the jus is inedible. Sorry Chef-will try again using kosher next time! I don't think it is proper to give this recipe a rating until I follow it exactly so I will give it a 3 for now.
