I'd toss, but I've never had an issue with regular ole' roasting of chicken. (I also don't mind breat meat that's a little drier than might be ideal.)

I'm watching Death and the Civil War from American Experience, and man, this shit is sad. They kept saying it was inspirational or something, and maybe that's coming (Clara Barton!), but dag.

Aw, I just used that recipe (and have many times) and love it for being fast and yummy. I'm sorry it didn't work in your kitchen. All I can think is maybe start with a hotter oven and/or a smaller chicken? I don't check for doneness when I turn the oven off, I just go by time, so I maybe overlook a little but it seems to stay moist. Fwtw.

You don't go by temperature? I don't turn the oven off at a certain time--I have the thermometer in the breast, and when that pinged 120 (120? I think that was it) I checked if the thigh was the right temp, and it was, so I turned it off. Which is why I wondered if a hotter oven would make a difference. And it was the smallest one they had at the market. Not that I remember the weight. But I do have the pleasant memory of sorting through the carcasses for the runt of the litter.

No, I just 35 minutes with the oven hot, 35 off, 20 resting on the cutting board . Works for me.

Full disclosure, I'm working with 3 pound birds with the heads and feet still on, mostly. I don't know if any of that could make a difference.

Eta I was thing if you start with a hotter oven maybe it will cool off less when you turn it off and therefore more done bird?

Scrappy, I'm sorry the news isn't better.

---

OMG, I've been goingoinggoing since 8 am. Market, then out to Ellicott City for a haircut. Quick stop at Target and Kohls for some cardigany things (because the Great Cull made me realize the few I have left are in sad shape, but I do have lots of sleeveless and camis I can wear all winter.) Then haircut, which is shorter than in a while in anticipation of not getting another until Dec 1 (normal time would be right in the middle of my trip.) Briefly considered swimming in EC, but wasn't in the mood yet, so TJs, then home, THEN pool. Then I cleaned the first floor. Tore down the old shower curtains (2 on the tub, half ones on the upper part of the walls which aren't water rated) put up new ones, using those great 3M hooks for the walls. Looks so much better. But I really want new curtain rings. I need 24!

And now, I've caught up on the day's internet, I've been moving for 13 hours straight and I need my 3rd shower of the day. Which I'm going to go take now....

Since I was going by temperatures, I was assuming a hotter oven would just mean I'd turn it off sooner--I hit the targets in the recipe after 25 minutes, and I just followed the instructions from there. The thighs would sear more--that'd change, but I wasn't thinking the cooling would be greatly affected.

Oh, and fuck--when they say tuck the wings underneath--I did, but during the plumping with juices bit, they totally sprang back out. What's even the big deal there, and how do you origami the bird so firmly they don't move?

Right--I should be eating more and surfing the web less.

Tucking the wings and trussing the legs just make the whe thing more compact, which helps keep the cooking even across the bird. I don't always bother, though, and it still comes out okay.

In Ratio, there's a roast chicken recipe hidden in the section on beurre manie that's similar, except you preheat the empty oven for 25 minutes, put the skillet and chicken in together and roast for an hour. Then you pull the chicken out to rest and make sauce out of the bits that stick to the pan. That might work better for you? About as fast and easy.

Eta he also mentions bringing the ends of the string you use to truss the legs "around the chicken, over the leg and wing, and tying at the neck" which should keep the wings from popping out, at least.

I'm pretty sure I will never cook a recipe so fussy. I'm all about roasting a bird at (I think) 425 for something like 45 minutes, flip, 45 more. Or maybe it is 30. I always have to look it up. It's never done me wrong.

Aveda makes Loki try to eat my haid: [link] The face is involuntary.

Yeah, that described method is how I truss, I think. However, I'm not fussy about it, as noted by my punk rock goose, which was trussed with safety pins and a shoelace with the aglets cut off.

Scrappy, I'm so sorry about the news. But I'm glad you could be with your mom right now.

I should be eating more and surfing the web less.

That was the plan, Stan.