Grant Crilly is the Executive Director and cofounder of ChefSteps. Grant is a classically trained chef and, prior to ChefSteps, he worked on the award-winning cookbook series Modernist Cuisine and cooked at various restaurants, including L’Astrance in Paris, Busaba in Mumbai, and Mistral Kitchen in Seattle.

Grant Crilly

Digital scale

1/4 Sheet pan(s)

Brine injector

Butcher’s twine

Meat hook(s)

Baking/Cooling rack(s)

Wire rack(s)

Thermocouple thermometer

Digital instant-read thermometer

Breville Joule® Oven Air Fryer Pro

Water

Kosher salt

Chicken

Hanging the chicken: This recipe calls for hanging a chicken to air dry it, roast it, and rest it. Hanging the chicken by its legs increases the surface area of the skin, which makes both the drying and roasting processes more efficient. Keeping the bird elevated also prevents moisture from pooling in any one location while the chicken dries, roasts, and rests, which will affect the crispiness of the skin.

Not everyone has the space in their refrigerator or oven to hang a chicken. We came up with 2 alternate methods for preparing this recipe: We fashioned a DIY standing roasting rack built from 2 wire clothes hangers set in a 1/2 sheet pan, which keeps the chicken upright, and we came up with a simpler approach of setting a trussed chicken on its back on a wire rack set in a 1/4 sheet pan.

For the best results: Hang the chicken. The next-best option is to use the roasting rack. Using a wire rack set in a sheet pan will produce great results, but they are inferior to the other two options.

Before we begin

While we’re always revisiting and retesting our old recipes, we like holding on to previous iterations. Instead of just ditching the original video, we’re keeping it here for posterity! Look how far we’ve come, Ma!

The original Ultimate Roast Chicken video

In a medium bowl, whisk together water and salt until salt is completely dissolved; set brine aside.

Using a sharp knife, make incisions along each side of wishbone. Using your fingers, pry wishbone from chicken; discard wishbone. Remove any fat deposits within cavity.

Transfer chicken to 1/4 sheet pan.

Fill injector with brine.

Starting at the top of the breast, use fingers to pull skin back from the meat and make 2 injections of 25 ml brine directly into one breast. Repeat with second breast.

At the bottom of the breast, pull skin back from the meat and make 2 injections of 25 ml brine into the breast. Repeat injections in other breast, for a total of 8 injections (200 ml brine; some brine will leak out onto the sheet pan, which is normal).

Entering from inside the cavity and piercing through to the meat, inject each thigh with 75 ml brine.

Entering from ankle joint of drumstick and piercing horizontally through to the meat, inject each drumstick with 20 ml brine.

Entering from inner drumette, inject each drumette with 5 ml brine. Finally, entering horizontally at joint of wing, inject 5 ml brine into each wing flat.

Remove wishbone and inject brine

Using butcher’s twine, stretch legs out and tie ankles together with several windings of butcher’s twine. Tuck wings under chicken. See step video for detailed instructions.

Using a meat hook, suspend chicken by its legs and hang in refrigerator, placing 1/4 sheet pan underneath chicken to catch drips. If your fridge doesn’t have wire shelves, you can use a tension rod to hang the chicken. Make sure there is ample airflow around the hanging chicken. Alternatively, stand trussed chicken up on a roasting stand or set trussed chicken on a wire rack set in a 1/4 sheet pan.

Refrigerate until skin is completely dry, leathery, and translucent around the legs, 3 to 5 days.

Drying time will depend on the size of the refrigerator and airflow.

Tie legs and hang chicken

If you don’t have space in your refrigerator or oven to hang the chicken to dry it and roast it, you have two options: construct a drying/roasting rack out of wire clothes hanger and a 1/2 sheet pan or place the chicken on a wire rack set in a 1/4 sheet pan.

If you choose to dry and roast the chicken using either of these methods, you will need to <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/tips-tricks-best-way-to-truss-a-chicken">truss it</a> using our recommended method.

To use wire clothes hangers to prop up the trussed chicken, you’ll need 2 wire clothes hangers.
 
Working with one hanger at a time, use your fingers to pinch the head of the hanger so it will slide easily in and out of the chicken cavity.
 
Place the hanger flat on a surface. Using your hands or a pair of pliers while holding the shoulders flat against the surface, bend the head up so it is perpendicular to the shoulders. Repeat with remaining clothes hanger.

Arrange the 2 wire clothes hangers so that the heads are in the center of a 1/2 sheet pan, with the shoulders splayed out on either side. Slide the trussed chicken cavity over the upright clothes hanger heads.

Refrigerate until skin is completely dry, leathery, and translucent around the legs, 3 to 5 days.
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Use this untraditional technique when you roast chicken to get crispy skin and juicy, evenly cooked meat.

Tips & Tricks: Best Way to Truss a Chicken

How to dry and roast chicken without hanging it

If hanging chicken to roast, adjust oven rack to top position. If using a roasting stand or a wire rack set in a sheet pan, adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to [f 170] or lowest-possible setting, with fan on if using a convection oven.

Insert probe thermometer into thickest part of breast, taking care not to puncture skin.

Suspend chicken from top rack in center of oven; place 1/4 sheet pan underneath chicken to catch any drips.

Cook until breast registers [f 150] on probe thermometer, 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes.

Slow low-temp roast for juicy meat

If you have access to a Rational oven or a Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro, we recorded the settings we use.

If you are using a Rational oven:
Temperature: [f 170]
Fan: 3/5
Setting: Dry 100%
Cook time: Cook 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes

Insert a wire rack into top slots. Using a meat hook, hang trussed chicken from wire rack, making sure there is 3 inches of space around chicken.

NOTE: One interesting thing we found during development in a Rational oven is that cooking multiple chickens at once actually speeds up the cooking time significantly, due to increased humidity introduced to the oven from the birds. One chicken takes about 3 hours 30 minutes, 2 chickens take 2 hours 30 minutes, and 5 chickens takes as little as 1 hour 20 minutes to come up to [f 140].

If you are using a Joule Oven Air Fry Pro:
You cannot stand the chicken up in a Joule Oven, so you have to roast the chicken on a wire rack set in a 1/4 sheet pan, positioning the bird so the legs are pointing toward the fan on the right side and rotating the pan 180 degrees every 15 minutes.

Using a Rational or countertop oven?

Using a meat hook, hang chicken at room temperature over 1/4 sheet pan and let rest until breast registers [f 100], about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Alternatively, let chicken rest on clothes hanger roasting stand or a wire rack set in 1/4 sheet pan.

Rest chicken

The final high-temperature roast is crucial for crisping the skin, but it also creates a lot of smoke, because any drippings that hit the oven floor will scorch and smoke.

To cut down on smoke, we recommend filling a drip pan underneath the chicken with a thin layer of salt. The salt absorbs drippings, preventing them from smoking out your kitchen.

Don’t smoke out your kitchen

At least 30 minutes before chicken finishes resting, increase oven temperature to [f 480] with fan on if using convection oven, or [f 500] if using a conventional oven. See instructions in tip below if using a Rational oven.
 
Remove probe thermometer from chicken breast. Using a meat hook, suspend chicken from top rack in center of oven; place 1/4 sheet pan filled with salt underneath to catch any drips. If using a roasting stand or a wire rack set in a sheet pan, transfer sheet pan to middle rack of oven.
 
Roast until skin is golden brown and crispy, 7 to 10 minutes.
 
Using a meat hook, hang chicken over 1/4 sheet pan and let rest 5 to 10 minutes. If using clothes hanger roasting stand or a wire rack set in a 1/4 sheet pan, transfer sheet pan to heatproof surface and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.

NOTE: If using a conventional oven, the cooking time will need to be extended slightly to get the skin golden brown and crispy.

Fast high-temp roast for crispy skin

If using a Rational oven:
Temperature: [f 570]
Fan: 3/5
Setting: Dry 100%
Cook time: Cook 6 to 7 minutes

If using a Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro:
Brush the chicken with a thin layer of neutral oil before high-heat roast. Cook, rotating sheet pan 180 degrees every 5 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes total.

Transfer chicken to cutting board and carve into pieces. Separate legs into thighs and drumsticks, and slice breasts as desired. Make sure remove and serve crispy skin from back of chicken. Transfer to serving platter and serve.

Carve and serve

Roast chicken is best enjoyed immediately.

Chicken can be brined and air-dried in refrigerator for up to 5 days before roasting.

Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Make-ahead and storage

This is roast chicken, perfected. It’s what every other roast chicken recipe in the world promises but doesn’t deliver: a beautifully browned bird with actually crispy skin and super tender, super juicy, perfectly cooked meat.The process isn’t quick, but it’s worth it: Inject the bird with brine, let it air-dry for three to five days to dry out the skin, then use a two-step cooking process with a long rest in the middle to slowly bring the internal temp up, and then blast the exterior to get that crispy skin without drying out the meat.EDITORS’ NOTE: We retested and updated this recipe to streamline the process. We found the poaching step before air-drying the bird to be unnecessary and found that the air-drying step could be reduced to three to five days. We also offer alternatives for people who can’t (or don’t want to) hang a chicken in their fridge or oven, and we’ve included settings and directions for using a professional Rational oven and a home countertop oven.