Slow Roasted Sticky Chicken
This is my favorite way to cook a whole chicken - or any bird. To heck with those who claim slow roasting dries out the meat (you know who you are, Alton). The chicken comes out incredibly moist and flavorful and even reheats as good as it was freshly roasted. Below is the first dry rub that was adapted from a recipe by Mimi Hiller. I've found that the technique is the important part and have used a variety of spices and aromatics over the years. Slow roasting is without doubt the key.
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 large roasting chicken, as big as you can find (about 5 pounds)
1 cup chopped onion
I'm going to suggest brining the chicken in vegetable stock for about a hour per pound prior to the dry rub. That's my addition and takes this chicken even further over the top.
In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours. After the first hour, baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. I know it's tempting to take the chicken out before the 5 hours are up. Resist that temptation. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.
Pan juices make incredible gravy or soup stock. Recipe works equally well with any fowl. Cornish Game Hens take about an hour to hour and a half. Turkeys take about 10 hours. Roughly an hour per pound, so if you get a 3 pound chicken, plan on 3-4 hours rather than 5.
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