Does anyone have any original ideas for cooking a roast chicken?

Well, I’m a big fan of 40 cloves of garlic chicken.

Chicken, usually chopped, put into a pot a tight fitting lid. add some herbs (thyme is traditional), a ¼–½C of olive oil (depending on the size of the bird) and 40 peeled cloves of garlic. Salt and pepper to taste and let it go at about 300 until it’s falling off the bone. You can add a little stock if it seems at all dry. I sometimes add chopped carrots, parsnips, or celery to it too.

Actually, roast chicken can be good in a variety of ways.

1) Use rosemary and garlic in place of the lemon.

2) Use lots of onion and celery ditto.

3) Last night I rubbed the chicken with truffle salt and roasted it on a bed of thinly sliced onions sauteed in butter.

And here are a bunch of good roast chicken recipes that differ from yours.

This one sounds particularly good to me.

I’ve used this recipe to roast chicken, and it’s wonderful. You can vary the seasonings according to taste. You just need a lot of baking time, so it’s good for a weekend or day off.

You can also make Bacon Roasted Chicken. I never seem to have beef broth on hand, but have used chicken broth. It just helps keep the meat moist, so you could use any combination of liquid that you think would be good: white wine, orange juice, water, chicken broth, etc.

I don’t always use a recipe for a roast chicken, but combine a few different techniques. I remove the giblets, rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat it dry. I’ll put some carrots, onion, and garlic in the cavity if I have them. Sometimes I put a halved lemon in there, and sometimes a halved apple. If I really feel like putting the effort in, I take a few tablespoons of soft butter and mix in various herbs like sage or marjoram. I carefully spread the butter mixture under the skin on the breast meat. Then, I rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, sprinkle on salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and paprika. You could use anything, like lemon pepper or cayenne, depending on your tastes. I put the chicken breast-side up in a roasting pan, pour a couple of cups of water around it, pop the lid on, and bake at 350 until it’s almost done. The liquid keeps it moist. To brown up the skin, I take the lid off toward the end of the cooking time, baste the chicken, and let it crisp up (the last 20 minutes or so). Usually the chicken is falling apart by that time.

I am really bad about telling when the chicken is done, so I buy large roasting chickens that come with one of those pop-up buttons. It takes the guess work out of it for me, and I’ve never had one fail. The chickens are usually really big, so we have a lot of leftovers for soup or chicken pot pie.

Rub gravy granules all over the skin before you cook it mmm…

You can also try beer can chicken.

Drink a little off the top of can. Place chicken on top of can with the legs down. Season with salt + pepper and place in roasting pan. Cut up an onion and place on bottom of pan to mingle with the juices coming down.

Self basting and delicious.

Cut up the veggies and stuff it like a turkey but when it’s done take the veggies out and make a veggie gravy and serve with roasted baby potatoes and roasted yams- All in the same oven!

That beer-can chicken concept is terrific. I have done it over charcoal on a Weber kettle. Came out very nice. Succulent.

I have done it with a pale ale from (I forget the brewery) and it was ok but I have had better results using a plain old can of regular (not light or lite) Budweiser or Miller. I think Coors is too light and won’t give you any flavor. I guess what I am saying is use anyone’s lager and stay away from darker beers.

I also did it one time with a can of ginger ale. Again real stuff, not the diet versions. It came out a little sweeter I think.

You could use anything carbonated that comes in a can that will fit in the chicken’s cavity.

SRM

WOW thanks everyone!
@wonderingwhy, i have that recipe somewhere i think from jamie oliver sounds yum!
@ Darwin truffle one sounds amazing
@missausten, wow thanks so much yum yum
@button and @srmorgan when you say place chicken on top of can what do you mean exactly? does the can go in the oven? under chicken? in chicken? I am confused!! Also when it is cooked how does it taste? i mean is it a very strong taste of beer?

thanks all i feel inspired to cook today !

If you are holding the chicken with the legs hanging downward, the beer can should fit (right side up) into the cavity.

Both together go into a roasting pan. Just shift it around until it’s balanced.

The reason this works is that as the contents of the can get heated, it bastes the chicken internally.

You don’t have to use beer. You can use soda or wine or even iced tea in the can. Whatever you find tasty.

THANKS! @button does it have an intense beer taste ?

No, not really, unless you use a really dark or a really hoppy type of beer. Most of the alcohol content burns off and evaporates during the hour or so that it’s cooking.

If you’re concerned about it, just use white wine instead.

I’ve also used Arizona Lemon iced tea with some white wine. It (the tea) comes in a can and works really well.

Surprisingly enough, Coke or Pepsi also works really well.

wow, thanks button!!!! thanks all

@chian I have only done this on the Weber grill but this is how I did it:

Hold the chicken upright with the butt end on the bottom. Shove the can into the cavity about half way (half the can, not half the chicken although it might work out that way).

This is going to work better with a longer can that might have a smaller diameter than the conventional beer can. The beer moisture does not overwhelm the chicken. The bird is moisturized by the steam coming off of the liquid. I recommended that you use a lager and not an ale just to avoid getting stronger flavors into the chicken.

Unless the chicken is very large, say over 5 lb., the bird should be balanced on the end of the can and you can cook it upright.

Otherwise you cook the chicken as you would on the barbecue. Season the chicken per your preference. But nothing strong like barbecue sauce, you want this seasoned well with herbs or paprika or pepper but season the outside lightly.

Ordinarily my children don’t mind a smoke on the meat but for some reason they convinced not to add smoke chips when I cook this. You might take this into consideration if you are doing this over charcoal.

Good luck and if no one said it before, don’t use a bottle…

SRM

thanks smorgan, very helpful!