Years of trial and error result in foolproof roasted chicken

More than 15 years ago, a cookbook titled "365 Ways to Cook Chicken" appeared. It seems, due to its popularity, the author followed it with "365 More Ways to Cook Chicken." Who knew there were 730 ways to cook chicken?

Over the years, I've tried different ways to make great chicken, defined as big-flavored, moist breast meat and tender, nearly fall-off-the-bone leg and thigh meat with crisp skin.

My story begins over 30 years ago with a vertical roasting pan, similar to beer can chicken, a method meant to produce perfectly cooked meat and crispy skin. It worked pretty well.

Next up, brining a chicken, a method I still use. Brine adds moisture, especially to the breast meat, and, as a bonus, brine tenderizes chicken by denaturing the proteins. All sorts of additions to the brine, like sugar or herbs and spices, boost the flavor. For years, brining poultry was my favorite "go-to."

A picture of chicken oven-roasted in a cast-iron skillet got me thinking that combining a butterflied (spatchcocked) chicken and a skillet had strong possibilities.

A cast-iron skillet, once heated, would hold the steady heat right to the end of roasting. Spatchcocking, removing a chicken's back, makes it possible to lay a whole chicken flat in the pan, helping to cook the light and dark meat evenly. The accumulated pan juices could be saved for soup or turned into velvety gravy.

All my methods worked well. Just as a good cup of coffee relies on good quality beans, a delicious roast chicken, no matter how it's prepared, depends on starting with a good-quality, healthy chicken.

I'm fortunate that I have an excellent source from which I get farm-raised chickens that scratch for their food, just as they've done for centuries, and are supplemented with organic feed when necessary.

Years ago, when I was not so fortunate, I purchased store-bought chickens chilled in cold water before packaging. Sometimes, those chickens had a slight chlorine odor due to the legally accepted use of chlorine to sanitize the water - no more for me.

Today, I own a razor-sharp carbon steel knife (a gift from the man who made it), and I use it to take a whole chicken apart. That makes my chicken more cost-effective than buying it in parts.

Watching a few YouTube videos showed me how to do that with a sharp knife and poultry shears.

Another plus to cutting a chicken into serving pieces is not having to carve a hot chicken once it's roasted.

Accidentally coming across a low-carb recipe for kid-friendly roasted chicken drumsticks (thatlowcarblife.com) led me to use some of the seasoning and a similar method for a whole chicken.

I tweaked several things in the recipe, such as using roasted garlic powder instead of plain garlic powder, which produced a big, nuanced flavor with a crisp skin. Forty minutes at 425 degrees makes for a perfectly roasted chicken.

After all these years, this roast chicken may be my best yet.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.

Skillet-Roasted Chicken

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon dried parsley

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons roasted garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

4½-pound whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Add olive oil, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to a medium-large bowl and stir together until combined. Add chicken pieces to the bowl and, using clean hands, mix the marinade with the chicken until the pieces are evenly coated. Set aside for 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

Place the oven rack in the center position and begin heating the oven to 425 degrees.

Transfer and arrange the chicken pieces in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Roast for 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 160 degrees. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes.

Serves 4

Nutrition values per serving: 307 calories (41.6% from fat), 14.2 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat), 0 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugars, 0 g fiber, 42 g protein, 130 mg cholesterol, 707 mg sodium.