2tablespoonsbutter(4 tablespoons for whole recipe)
2cloves garlicchopped (4 cloves all together for whole recipe)
½teaspoonrosemary dried
¼teaspoonblack pepperground
½teaspoonsaltsee notes
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450°F or 425°F if using convection (or roast feature with fan.)
Take the chicken out of the fridge and remove the giblets from cavity. Rinse the chicken in cool water, rinse inside and outside of the chicken. Pat dry with a paper towel and place in a baking dish (we prefer the glass.) I tuck the tips of the wings under the body to cook the wings evenly (they don't dry out on the ends.)
Gently push small butter pieces (from the 2 tablespoons) under the skin above the breast meat. Be sure that the skin remains flapped over the meat, do not remove it.
Cut lime in half. Using your hand, gently squeeze the lime juice from one of the halves over the skin of the chicken. Try to spread it evenly over the top of the chicken - the breasts, legs and thighs. Hand squeeze the juice from the other half into a small prep bowl.
Place both halves of the lime (after squeezing the juice) and the 2 cloves of garlic that were quartered inside the cavity under the breast.
Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Add water to bottom of the baking dish along with the chicken.
In a small saucepan add the 2 tablespoons butter (from the seasoning ingredients), the chopped garlic and rosemary. Cook over medium low heat until butter is melted. Cook for another 30 seconds before removing from heat.Pour into a prep bowl with the lime juice. Add salt and pepper, stir well.
Using a basting brush, coat the butter mix all over the outside of the chicken. Butter will solidify in this step due to temperature difference but do your best to evenly coat it.
Bake at 450°F (for conventional) or 425°F (for convection) for 10 minutes before lowering the oven temperature to 350°F for conventional or 325°F for convection. Continue to bake for about 10-15 minutes per pound. Check the temperature of the chicken, it should read 165 in the thickest part of the thigh and be sure not to touch a bone with the thermometer.
If your chicken is getting too brown without being done, loosely cover with foil to continue cooking without any further browning.
Notes
Nutritional values are estimated and so are serving sizes.About the salt: If using salted butter, you may decide to use less salt or keep the amount the same. We use salted butter and the amount of salt listed without it being too salty, but you may choose to use less. The salt is strictly for flavor and will not affect the recipe if you add less.Important note: I never stuff my chicken, I make the stuffing separate and to give it some of the chicken flavor, use broth to make it. By stuffing the chicken you are messing with the cook time and you are more likely to have dried chicken breast meat. If you stuff it please make sure your stuffing is cooked to 165 along with the whole chicken or it is unsafe to eat.