David's Roast Chicken in Half

OK, so chicken is probably the most common meat in the world. But who can cook a roast chicken correctly everytime? Here is how to cook roast a chicken in under 1.5 hours.

Here is how...

What You Need:
A baking tray or roasting tin which fits in your oven

Ingredients:
One whole chicken (thawed) from the fridge,
Salt and pepper.
Cooking oil or butter- YES that's all you need.


Serve With:
A Salad, Some Bread, or just eat it on its own

Method:
Turn on your oven to 400F or 200C
Wash your hands.
Wash chicken in water, if it there is anything inside the cavity take it out and throw it away. (We will deal with the inside bits of a chicken in another blog).
Cut the chicken in half with a very sharp knife or good scissors, from the front to the back, along the back bone and breast.
Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 of pepper all over the chicken pieces
Pour 1 spoon of oil on the chicken, rub all these into the skin with your hands. Put the chicken skin side up in the baking tray.
Wash your hands.
Place the tray in the middle of the oven and close the door.
GO DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR 45 MINUTES!
I MEAN IT, GO AWAY.

So 45 minutes have gone by. OK you can take a peak! But only a quick one.
Is the skin looking crispy and golden? Good - Now turn your oven down to 300F or 150C - and go away for 15 minutes. If not, leave for 10 more minutes before turning down the heat. Then, sneak another quick peak. And do as above if golden brown.
(If it is still not golden brown, What have you done? - Have you really followed the instructions? this is near impossible to F##k up, so wait 10 more minutes and have one last look, and check if your oven is at the correct temperature with a thermometre.... otherwise, open a bag of chips and e-mail us, and tell us what you did)

So it has been an hour or so in the oven now. Open the oven and take out the chicken on the tin (with gloves). With a sharp knife or fork, push it through the skin and into the flesh. Do juices come out? Are they clear juices?
If they are, well done! Wait 5 minutes to let the chicken cool a bit and then eat it.
If not place the chicken back in the oven for another 15 minutes and then repeat.
If no juices come out, dig deeper, there should be juices.

Don't forget to turn off the oven!