Simple Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed

• salt and black pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste

• 1/2 cup butter, divided

• 1 stalk celery, leaves removed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place chicken chicken in a roasting pan, season generously inside and out with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder.  Place 3 tablespoons butter in the chicken cavity.  Arrange dollops of the remaining butter around teh chicken's exterior.  Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.

3. Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C).  Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings.  Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

Skin On or Off?

• Crispy, fragrant roast chicken is delicious, but can be fatty.  But whether you eat it or remove it, it always roast with the skin on, as it holds in moisture and keeps the meat from drying out.

How to Truss a Chicken for Roasting?

• If you're roasting a whole chicken that's not been spachcocked (see above), you can truss the bird before roasting it -- that is, tie it with butcher's twine to keep the legs close to the body.  This is not an essential step, but it does make the chicken slightly easier to handle, and it helps hold the stuffing in if you've stuffed the chicken.
  • To truss a chicken, cut about a 3-foot length of heatproof butcher's twine. 
  • Lay the chicken on a clean surface with the breast facing up.
  • Hold one end of the string in each hand, and loop the center of the string underneath the chicken's tail.
  • Catch the ends of the legs inside teh string, tehn cross teh string over teh chicken's breast, making an X.
  • Loop the string under and around the wings, then tie the string snugly in a knot across the middle of the breast.  Make sure that the ends of the wings are tucked in.

Roasting Methods:

There are two methods for roasting a whole chicken:

1. Regular-heat method:
   • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
   • Roast whole (thawed) chickens for 20 minutes per pound, plus an addidtional 15 minutes.
2. High heat method (this creates a crispy, darker skin)
   • Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) and cook whole (thawed) chicken fo r10-15 minutes.
   • Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and roast for 20 minutes per pound.  (Do not add the extra 15 minutes to the cooking time as with the regular method.)

How Long to Roast a Chicken:

• Roasting Times Chart

  Weight (in lbs.)	Regular Method	High Heat Method
  2.5 to 3	1 hour 15 minutes	1 hour
  3 to 3.5	1 hour 25 minutes	1 hour 10 minutes
  3.5 to 4	1 hour 35 minutes	1 hour 20 minutes
  4 to 4.5	1 hour 45 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes
  4.5 to 5	1 hour 55 minutes	1 hour 40 minutes
  5 to 5.5	2 hours 5 minutes	1 hour 50 minutes
  5.5 to 6	2 hours 15 minutes	2 hours
  6 to 6.5	2 hours 25 minutes	2 hours 10 minutes
  6.5 to 7	2 hours 35 minutes	2 hours 20 minutes
  7 to 7.5	2 hours 45 minutes	2 hours 30 minutes