Roast
                                                          Chicken

Cast Iron, Oven Roasted Chicken

Oh my God this is good!  Cast iron roasting is a great way to cook a chicken and brining it makes it very moist.  There are a few steps and it takes about 3 hours, but it's worth it.


½ cup sugar
½ cup
salt
1
3 to 4 lb fryer
1 tsp
salt
1 tsp
black pepper
2 oz
butter
1 tbl
chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbl minced garlic

First rinse the chicken and get rid of the gizzards, heart, etc.  Now spatchcock the chicken making sure you remove the keel bone.  If you don't know how to spatchcock the bird, there are plenty of how to videos on Youtube.  Now make a brine by pouring the 2 quarts of room temp water in a bowl large enough to submerge the chicken and dissolving the half cups of sugar and salt.  Submerge the chicken in the brine and put it in the fridge for 2 hours.  An hour and a half into the brining, put a large cast iron frying pan in the oven, turn the oven to 450°, and let the pan get sizzling hot while the bird finishes brining.

After the bird has brined for two hours, take it out and dry it off.  Rub some canola oil over the bird and sprinkle the teaspoons of salt and pepper over it.  Take the frying pan out of the oven and put it on a good hot plate.  Put the chicken breast side down in the frying pan, and return the pan to the oven for 30 minutes.  It may smoke a bit but just leave it alone in the oven.

While the chicken cooks, melt the butter.  When the butter melts, add the rosemary and garlic and turn the heat off.  After the chicken has spent 30 minutes in the oven, take it out and turn the oven temp down to 375°.   Use a brush to paint the chicken with the spiced butter, then flip the bird breast side up and paint the breast side with the rest of the butter.  Put the chicken back in the oven for 15 more minutes.  Take the frying pan out of the oven and put the bird on a cutting board breast side up.  Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes uncovered then cut it into serving pieces.  Serve.

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