101 Cooking For Two - Everyday Recipes for Two: Crispy Spiced Up Oven Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken can be blaaaaa. I mean bland, no boring, no I really don't know the word I want but I think you know what I mean. Sometimes it's what you want but not always. I wanted a spiced up crisp skin roasted chicken that popped some. Kind of a rotisserie chicken with spice and crispiness at home with only a little work.
I started by washing and drying large roasting whole chicken and then drying it completely. Then a spice rub with a little heat. Then roasted with a Cooks Illustrated method that I used before.

Rating

I really liked it. A little of that rotisserie chicken taste at home.

Notes: This will work with any size whole chicken. I had a huge 6+ pounder. The important part is the end points of turning off the oven and taking it out of the oven. Also ANY TIME you want crispy chicken you must wash and dry the chicken.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a 12 inch cast iron pan coated with 1 T of oil in the oven. Wash the chicken under running water and trim of any excess skin and fat.

Pat dry the chicken.

Tie legs together with twine.

Mix the rub: 4 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp each of pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and sugar. 2 t paprika and 1/2 t cayenne pepper.

Rub the spice mixture in the skin. Transfer to your preheated pan. Let roast until breast temp is 120-125 and thigh is 135. For my 6 lb. bird that was 55 minutes. A 5 lb bird would be 35-40 minutes and for a 4 lb. bird this would be more like 25 minutes.

Turn OFF oven and let set in hot oven until breast temp is 160 and thigh is 175. About 25 minutes.
Let set for 10 minutes before cutting.

Crispy Spiced Up Oven Roasted Chicken

by DrDan at 101 Cooking for Two April-28-2012

A spiced up crisp skin roasted chicken that popped some. Kind of a rotisserie chicken with spice and crispiness at home with only a little work using a Cooks Illustrated technique for roasting.

Ingredients

1 Whole chicken 4-6 pounds
1 T oil

Rub

4 t kosher salt
1 t pepper
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1 t thyme
1 t sugar
2 t paprika
1/2 t cayenne pepper

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a 12 inch cast iron pan coated with 1 T of oil in the oven. Wash the chicken under running water and trim of any excess skin and fat. Pat dry the chicken. Tie legs together with twine.2) Mix the rub: 4 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp each of pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and sugar. 2 t paprika and 1/2 t cayenne pepper.3) Rub the spice mixture in the skin4) Transfer to your preheated pan. Let roast until breast temp is 120-125 and thigh is 135. For my 6 lb. bird that was 55 minutes. A 5 lb bird would be 35-40 minutes and for a 4 lb. bird this would be more like 25 minutes. The end point is important not the time.5) Turn OFF oven and let set in hot oven until breast temp is 160 and thigh is 175. About 25 minutes. Let set for 10 minutes before serving.

Details