Roast chicken

The basics of brining. They have you mix the salt & sugar in cold water. That can take forever. The stuff dissolves better in hot water. You can use hot tap water, or even boil it. Problem with that is, you then have to wait for the water to cool. I usually dissolve the stuff in half of the water, very hot, then add ice to cool it down.

You can also flavor brine. This old post of mine has an elaborate brine for turkey.

For pieces of chicken, you can increase the amount of salt, and brine for no more than an hour.

Great, thanks nutrax! (I only have coarse sea salt, not kosher salt, but I imagine they're fairly interchangeable?)

put some honey mustard sauce over it - that is how I do mine

I'm excited that tonight I'm going to try out my new cast-iron roasting pan - woohoo

Sounds good. I bought a new cast iron skillet a couple of weeks ago. Great little piece of kit - too.

A little water on the outside chicken skin, then rub on sea salt and cracked pepper.... Nothing else.
No tin foil in sight.
Turn up to a high heat for the last 15 minutes of cooking .... Crispy - just like pork crackling.
Yummy Scrummy.
The end.

I gotta say, I'm always amazed when people start talking about meat thermometers. I've never used one and probably won't ever use one - just because it's easier just to judge it by feel or look. Anyway, just saying.

My roast chook involves a few herbs and a lemon in the cavity - tie the legs together. Chop some herbs, mix with butter, slide under the breast skin and spread/massage till even. Stick it in a pan, slosh in a good cup or so of wine and the same of water. Salt and pepper.

Put it in a 180 degree oven for around 1.5 hours, basting it once or twice and placing some foil on the breast if it starts to get a bit brown.

Perfectly moist chicken at the end. I sometimes reduce the juices or sometimes just use as is.

I gotta say, I'm always amazed when people start talking about meat thermometers. I've never used one and probably won't ever use one - just because it's easier just to judge it by feel or look.

I don't really need the thermometer now, although I use it to reassure Mr_S; but when I first started cooking chicken I was at a loss. I read many times that "when the juices run clear" it was good, but I didn't know how to judge that. I didn't know what it was supposed to 'feel' like, either, until I'd done it several times.

I gotta say, I'm always amazed when people start talking about meat thermometers. I've never used one and probably won't ever use one

Perhaps they're just experienced in professional kitchens.
Here in The UK - it's mandatory to have probes for hot, cold and frozen foods in restaurant kitchens.
If the local Jobsworth cronies turn up for an unannounced inspection - and you haven't got one, it's trouble.

Although I once was part owner of a bar-restaurnt, I've never been a professional cook. The only thing I ever did in the kitchen was pitch in & wash dishes when the dishwasher was a no-show. I have always used a meat thermometer for roast beef, pork, lamb, etc, because my parents did and because you really can't tell be look & feel.

I used to judge chickens by look & feel, but now find a thermometer much more accurate. And it's hard to pick up a turkey to see if the juices run clear. I found that the "legs feel loose" test failed with turnkey more often than not.

You don't need a thermometer in a professional kitchen in Australia, nor did you need one when I lived in the UK (so things have obviously changed).

Perhaps I'd use one for a turkey if I ever cooked one.