How To Bake Chicken?

How to bake a chicken?

• I've been using a rotisserie oven to bake my chickens for a while now. However, it's no longer available to me. My first attempt at baking a chicken in a long time: Purchase a chicken that's approximately 5 LBS. Removed the innards of the chicken and washed it. Marinaded the chicken with Johnny's Seasoning. Place the chicken on a deep baking tray, resting on a grill. Let the chicken sit for 2 hours at room temperature. Baked the chicken at preheated 400 degrees on middle rack for 1:20:00. Allow the chicken to sit for 20 minutes, then cut it into pieces for consumption. My results: The chicken was nearly done, but one thigh was a little bloody at the joint. The other was very bloody at the joint. I microwaved the bloodier pieces and ate them anyway. The rest of the chicken was cooked pretty well. My questions: How can I improve upon my process? Should I be baking the chicken at a lower temperature (350 degrees) for longer? Should I be baking at 400 degrees for longer? Should I raise the temperature to 425 degrees? I've considered using a meat thermometer, but it seems daunting to me and I haven't had a lot of lucky in the past. Maybe my thermometer is just bad? Any advice is appreciated, but if you can provide reasons for why you advise things, I would be most grateful. Update: I've tried some variations with lower temperature and higher temperatures. The method that has worked best for me is a simpler one adapted from this link: http://thepauperedchef.com/2006/06/kafkas_simple_r.html Purchase a chicken that's approximately 5 LBS. Removed the innards of the chicken and washed it. Marinaded the chicken with Johnny's Seasoning. Let the chicken sit for 2 hours at room temperature. Place the chicken on a deep baking tray, resting breast-side down on a grill. Baked the chicken at preheated **500** degrees on middle rack for 50 minutes (10 min/lb). Allow the chicken to sit for 10 minutes, then cut it into pieces for consumption. As the link warns, there is lots of smoke. The breast is tender, the thighs are juicy and cooked. It's the best chicken I've ever made.

• Answer:

  One thing I wonder is if your oven temperature is accurate? An oven thermometer helps there. As well as a pizza stone to maintain a steady temperature. Also, how big was your chicken? Maybe you didn't cook long enough for the weight. The method I use is this: Pre-heat the oven to 450. Clean bird, remove innards, truss. Salt (Tbls or so) and pepper or otherwise rub on marinade. Place the bird on a large cast iron skillet and cook for 1 hour. Remove bird and let rest for 10 minutes and meanwhile make a sauce utilizing the remnants in the pan. The skin is brown and the meat is juicy. This method is in Michael Ruhlman's, 'Ratio'. I find it to be a great method for basic roasted chicken. I usually use a 4 - 5 lb chicken and haven't checked the internal temps since the first few times of using this recipe except for when I'm at or over the upper end.