BUNDT-PAN CHICKEN SUPPERS

There’s a cool gadget called a vertical roaster that makes a fine roast chicken: It lifts the chicken skin out of the juices, allowing air to circulate around the bird and crisping the skin. But you don’t need a fancy tool. A 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan is a vertical roaster in the making. Better yet, the high sides can hold vegetables or sides right under the chicken, allowing them to baste in the juices and turning this once-in-a-while cake pan into an everyday kitchen tool.

Test Kitchen Notes

• Remove any visible excess fat from the chicken before roasting for cleaner flavors.

• Removing the small “flippers” from the last joint of the chicken wings exposes more surface area of the skin, and yields better crispness.

• Don’t use an angel-food cake pan, or any pan with a removable bottom. The hot juices will leak out.

• Even so, you must put the Bundt pan on a lipped baking sheet to catch the juices that drop through the center hole of the pan.

• The easiest way to remove a hot chicken from the Bundt pan is to pick it up using silicone baking gloves.