Roasting Chicken Recipe. Simple and Short Version

The super short version for a roasting chicken:  Dutch oven at 250 degrees for 1 hour per pound.  Season as you see fit. It's done when the breasts are tender and juicy and the meat comes off the bone fairly easily.  Try not to overcook or the breasts will get dry. 

The short version of our favorite way of making a roasting chicken is:  Thaw either in a bowl/bucket of warm water or out on the counter.  Into a cast iron Dutch oven with about 1/4 inch of water.  Season as you see fit.  Salt and pepper alone are just fine. Into the oven at 250 degrees for hour per pound. Done when the breasts are tender and juicy. The meat should come off the bones fairly easily. Overcooking tends to make the breasts dry and tough. 

Weight of of a usual chicken from us averages 4.6 lbs. They can be as large as 6 or even up to 8 lbs. 

As the chicken gets bigger, the timing gets longer.  Also as the chicken gets less thawed the timing gets wonky.  You could probably start with a frozen chicken but that would make it kind of dicey as to timing.  You would need to be opening the oven and checking your chicken a lot. 

Some other notes: 

Dark meat is harder to overcook. 

Bigger chicken doesn't mean lesser quality.  It does mean more leftovers though. 

Save the back, bones and leftovers for soup if you want to.  We quite often give ours to the dog. 

If you don't have a Dutch Oven, wrap the bird in foil and bake on a pan. 

Glazes of all kinds can be used.  Rock or large gain salt on the exterior can be done. 

High temp for a short time in a dry oven will give you a crispy outside but you need to watch out for drying the bird out if you do that. 

Practice and trying different stuff makes perfect. 

What you want is: Do this enough times so you make your own recipe and you are sure your way is the best way and all others are but pale imitations.