🏠 DWCC

Basic Roast Chicken

Prep:
15 mins
Cook:
1 hour 45 mins
Total:
~= 2 hours

Roast time

My chicken weighs 1500 g: roast time is: 1 hour 20 mins

Chicken roast time is —>  20 minutes + (20 minutes per 450g) — at fan 170C.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat fan oven to 170 degrees celcius
  2. Roughly chop a couple of onions and some carrots, place on the base of a large roasting tin. Add a few garlic cloves and or other root veg if desired.
  3. Rub the chicken on all skin with olive oil, salt and pepper, and add salt, pepper and (optionally) thyme and lemon to the cavity.
  4. Ensure the chicken legs are crossed or held together (with string or by making holes in the thigh skin and stuffing through).
  5. Put the chicken on the veg so that the veg is mostly covered with the chicken, then put in the middle of the oven. Roast for 1 hour 20 mins.
  6. Meanwhile, parboil the potatoes. After about 20 mins of boiling, drain the potatoes and shake in the colander/seive to make the skin and flesh a bit 'roughed up'. This will help get a nice texture from roasting.
  7. Halfway through roasting the chicken, take out the oven, move the veg around to make sure none is burning, and baste the chicken with some juices/oil from the roasting tin.
  8. When about 20 mins left of roasting, add a shallow baking tray with vegetable oil into the oven, in prep for potatoes. After a few minutes, when the oil is very hot, take out and add the potatoes. Season with salt/pepper/herbs and put in the oven. You can check the chicken cooking progress at the same time.
  9. After the roasing time finishes, make sure the chicken is cooked - temperature in the thickest part of the thigh should be at least 75C.
  10. If cooked, remove the chicken tray from the oven, and turn up to 190C for the potatoes to finish crisping.
  11. Use tongs to grab the chicken and put it on a chopping board to rest for 15 - 20 mins, letting all of the juices go into the roasting tray with the veg. You can cover the chicken with foil.
  12. Remove all or most of the veg onto a warm plate, then make the gravy.
  13. Put the roasting tray over a small heat on the hob, then add a tablespoon of plain flour and mix to form a brown sandy paste. Add some chicken stock (about 350 ml) and stir till mixed, then transfer the gravy to a small saucepan and keep stirring over a low flame. Add water or flour as needed.
  14. When the chicken has rested and the potatoes have cooked, carve the chicken and serve with potatoes, veg and gravy.

Notes

Rounding is

Sources