Master Recipe 
Ask twenty cooks how they roast a chicken and you are likely to get twenty different answers. Brine it, marinate it, salt it days before, don’t season it at all before cooking, turn it, don’t turn it, season it after cooking, let it rest, start it in a cold oven, roast at very high heat, and so on, and so on. For decades, I have been very happy with the method shared with me by chef Joël Robuchon when we were working on the book Simply French.
Tips
Here are some of Joël Robuchon’s tips, keeping in mind that the most important tip is top-quality free-range poultry, the best you can find:
• Roast in a fairly hot oven, 425°F (220°C). Any hotter, and the chicken could dry out. Any cooler, and the skin may not crisp up properly.
• Just before roasting, rub the skin with butter, then season inside and out with salt and pepper. (Chef Robuchon did say it was even better to salt and pepper after about 10 minutes in the oven—when the skin was beginning to seize and brown and thus would most benefit from seasoning—but admitted that most cooks would forget to do this!)
• Truss the bird so it roasts evenly. Trussing makes for a moister bird.
• Begin roasting the chicken on one side for 20 minutes, turn to the other side for 20 minutes, then roast breast side up for the final 20 minutes. This ensures an evenly moist bird.
• Remove the finished bird from the oven and let it rest upside down, with its tail in the air. This lets the flavorful juices flow back into the chicken.
4 TO 6 SERVINGS
EQUIPMENT: Kitchen twine; an oval roasting pan, just slightly larger than the chicken (about 9 × 13 inches/23 × 33 cm) fitted with a roasting rack; a fine-mesh sieve; an ovenproof platter; a warmed platter.
1 chicken (about 5 pounds/2.5 kg), with giblets, free-range
Fine sea salt
Coarse, freshly ground black pepper
2 organic lemons, scrubbed, dried, and quartered lengthwise
A bunch of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 onions, halved (do not peel)
1. Center a rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Generously season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the gizzard in the cavity. (Reserve the heart and liver for Seared Chicken Hearts and Livers with Fresh Thyme.) Squeeze the lemons, adding the juice and the squeezed rinds to the cavity. Add the thyme to the cavity as well. Truss the bird with kitchen twine (see sidebar). Rub the skin of the chicken with the butter. Season all over with salt and pepper.
3. Place the onions, cut side down, in the roasting pan.
4. Insert the roasting rack into the pan over the onions, arranging the chicken on its side on the rack. Pour 1 cup (250 ml) water into the bottom of the pan to help create a rich and pleasing sauce. (Check the pan from time to time during cooking and replenish the water if it begins to dry out.)
5. Place the pan in the oven and roast, uncovered, for a total of about 1 hour, 15 minutes. During this time, rotate the chicken at 20-minute intervals, first turning the chicken onto its other side, then breast side up. By this time, the skin should be a deep golden color.
6. After 1 hour of total cooking time, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and roast until the juices run clear when you pierce a thigh with a skewer, or an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching the bone reads 165°F (74°C), about 15 minutes more.
7. Remove the chicken from the oven and generously season it with salt and pepper. Transfer it to an ovenproof platter and arrange at an angle against the edge of an inverted shallow bowl, with its head down and tail in the air, to let the juices flow toward the breast meat, giving a more juicy and flavorful result. Tent loosely with aluminum foil. Turn off the oven and place the overproof platter in the oven with the door open. Let rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes. The chicken will continue to cook during this resting time.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: Place the roasting pan over medium heat, scraping up any bits that cling to the bottom. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping and stirring until the liquid is almost caramelized, but do not let it burn. Spoon off and discard any excess fat. Add several tablespoons cold water to deglaze (hot water will cloud the sauce). Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
9. After the chicken has rested and the sauce is cooking, snip away the kitchen twine with scissors and remove the lemons from the cavity. Carve the chicken into serving pieces and transfer to the warmed platter. Squeeze the remaining juice from the lemons over the pieces of poultry, extracting as much juice as possible.
10. Strain the pan sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and pour half over the platter of chicken. Pour the rest into a sauceboat for serving. Serve immediately.
Trussing Poultry 
I find that students are always amazed and intrigued as I demonstrate the art of trussing poultry. The fact that most of our farm-fresh chickens in France come with the head and feet intact also shocks most. Keeping the head and feet intact assures the freshness of the poultry, and though the head has no culinary appeal, carefully manicured feet (I give them a pedicure) have a great deal of gelatin and help make delicious, gelatinous stocks.
All that aside, the art of trussing is simple, and once mastered, will ensure that your roasted birds cook evenly, and that the meat, breast meat especially, remains moist and does not dry out. To me, even more important is that a trussed bird simply has greater visual appeal over an untrussed bird that looks as though its legs are flailing in the air.
There are many trussing methods, and here is mine:
1. Clear a counter space and set it up with the utensils you will need: a piece of kitchen twine about 5 feet (150 cm) long, salt, pepper, and any ingredients needed for stuffing the bird. Season and stuff the bird as directed in the recipe.
2. Place the bird on the counter with the legs facing you. Tuck the wings behind the bird’s back.
3. Bring the bird’s legs together and, using the center of the twine, wrap the twine twice around the bird’s ankles, binding them tightly.
4. Drape the ends of the twine over the bird where the thighs meet the breast. Flip the bird over and crisscross the twine on the bird’s back, tying the wings. Make a double knot and cut off any excess string. Flip the bird again and continue with the recipe.