The Best Part Of The Oven For Quickly Roasting Chicken

One of the most unfortunate urban myths spread among first-time cooks is that roasting a whole chicken requires a great deal of skill. It takes a seasoned cook to develop a roast chicken recipe, but executing it is usually far less complicated. That's why all poultry enthusiasts with access to a home kitchen should give it a go. 

There are countless recipes to choose from, but Ina Garten's myriad of roast chicken recipes is a great starting-off point for beginners, thanks to the food celeb's eternal vow to keep things simple in the kitchen. In her "Barefoot Contessa" video for "perfect" roast chicken, Garten even shows viewers how to carve the bird. 

Speaking of Ina Garten (we're not obsessed, you are), she swears that roasting small chickens is the way to go. They're more flavorful, and they're easier to handle than larger birds. And speaking of small chickens, they could be ready for dinner in less than 20 minutes. 

The secret to a quick-cooking roast chicken? Roast it on the lowest part of your oven.

Ned Baldwin, who owns New York City restaurant Houseman and has authored several cookbooks, shared his secret for speedily roasting a chicken with Epicurous. Rather than par-cooking a bunch of chickens and blasting them in the oven upon orders, which Baldwin finds unappetizing, the chef cranks the heat to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and places the raw bird in a heavy skillet in the hottest part of the oven: its lowest tier. "When the pan is sitting on the floor of the oven, it gets this extra push," he says. Plus, the moisture on the raw bird evaporates quicker than it would on the center rack, yielding extra-crispy skin. (According to Tamarkin, this method requires a little extra cleanup, too — you've been warned.)

With Baldwin's method, your unannounced dinner guests could be served in a mere 18 minutes, as opposed to the standard hour-and-a-half it takes in other recipes (like Ina Garten's). But roasting your chicken at high heat at the bottom of the oven isn't the only step. In his cookbook "How to Dress An Egg," Baldwin lists a few more tricks for speeding up the process. 

Inundating a small chicken with heat is a necessary part of getting it on the table in a zippy manner, but it's only part of the journey. First, according to Ned Baldwin's recipe in "How to Dress An Egg," you'll want to remove as many bones as you can. 

As Epicurious relays, the more deboned the bird, the faster it will cook. First and foremost, you'll want to spatchcock the chicken by removing its backbone. 

The method, which is said to have originated in Ireland in the 18th century, allows the chicken to lay flat on its roasting surface. This not only speeds up the cooking time, but it also makes for even browning, crispier skin, and less post-roast carving time. If you go a step further and cut out the breast bone, Baldwin says your bird will be done in as little as 12 minutes. If removing two major bones sounds like too much work, leave the breast bone in. You'll still have dinner on the table in around 18 minutes.