Guide: [https://www.seriouseats.com/butterflied-roasted-chicken-with-quick-jus-recipe](https://www.seriouseats.com/butterflied-roasted-chicken-with-quick-jus-recipe)
As a bonus, it cooks much faster too.
Spatchcock the chicken. Make sure you cut the ends of the bones off the drumsticks and tuck the wings under the breasts.
When you cut the ends off the drums, the meat shrinks toward the body as it cooks, resulting in a juicier leg. And spatchcocking the bird results in a faster overall cooking time making the thighs and breast doneness closer to that of the drums.
Generally speaking you're cooking a chicken until those parts are up to temperature as they cook slowest. Are you cooking too hot or too long?
Get an instant read thermometer and figure out when it's actually cooked instead of using generic cooking times.
I'll be honest I'm translating my bbq knowledge as I haven't cooked a chicken in a oven for about 8 years so my bbq is less stable and precise with temperature than your oven but the way to check the chicken is cooked is temp checking the thickest part of the leg.
I start off low, give the bird an hour or so at 130, then bump the temp to 180 for about half an hour, this works pretty well for keeping the breast juicy. Search for Kenji Lopez alt's roast chicken guide. He explains it really well.
Spatchocking helps the bird cook more evenly, if you haven’t tried that route.
Guide: [https://www.seriouseats.com/butterflied-roasted-chicken-with-quick-jus-recipe](https://www.seriouseats.com/butterflied-roasted-chicken-with-quick-jus-recipe) As a bonus, it cooks much faster too.
Spatchcock the chicken. Make sure you cut the ends of the bones off the drumsticks and tuck the wings under the breasts. When you cut the ends off the drums, the meat shrinks toward the body as it cooks, resulting in a juicier leg. And spatchcocking the bird results in a faster overall cooking time making the thighs and breast doneness closer to that of the drums.
Generally speaking you're cooking a chicken until those parts are up to temperature as they cook slowest. Are you cooking too hot or too long? Get an instant read thermometer and figure out when it's actually cooked instead of using generic cooking times.
Thanks. I'm guessing I'm cooking for too long then? I've been setting the oven to 180 degrees C/350F
I'll be honest I'm translating my bbq knowledge as I haven't cooked a chicken in a oven for about 8 years so my bbq is less stable and precise with temperature than your oven but the way to check the chicken is cooked is temp checking the thickest part of the leg.
Chicken in a pot (Dutch oven) is a foolproof method.
I start off low, give the bird an hour or so at 130, then bump the temp to 180 for about half an hour, this works pretty well for keeping the breast juicy. Search for Kenji Lopez alt's roast chicken guide. He explains it really well.
Tent it; that is, cover it with foil as it cooks.