Recipe: Foolproof Roast Chicken

Thomas Odermatt, chef/rotisseur, Rotisario

1 3 1/2 pound free range roasting chicken

Freshly ground sea salt

Tarragon and marjoram, to taste

1 standard cheesecloth

When you purchase the chicken, make sure the skin is intact.

Place a combination of tarragon and marjoram under the skin of the chicken without damaging it with your fingers. Then rub a tablespoon of salt over the skin. Cover it and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Fill a small container with water, add 1-2 tablespoons of salt and a lemon, cut in half. Twirl up a cheesecloth and place it in the acidulated, salted water, and place the container in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, heat your oven to 375 F.

Remove the chicken and cheesecloth from the refrigerator. Ball up the cheesecloth and stuff it into the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs of the chicken together, making sure no steam can escape from it. You want the moisture retained inside the chicken.

The cheesecloth will slowly warm up. Because the chicken is cold, steam will be created inside the chicken, and the steam will permeate the meat. The chicken will cook evenly — from the outside in the warm oven, and from the steam created by the soaked cheesecloth inside. The result is a moist chicken.

Roasting time should be about 1 hour and 15 or 20 minutes — start checking on it at about 70 minutes.

One test to see if a chicken is done is to push on it, and if it gives then it is cooked through or nearly so.

The best way is to cut into the thick neck. Using a pair of poultry shears, cut into the neck at a 45 degree angle. You will see if the meat next to the bone is no longer pink and if the juices run clear. Then remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting it into portions.

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