Jamie Oliver's Oven Rack Hack For Delicious Roast Chicken

We've heard of roasting a whole chicken upside down to maximize the juiciness of the breast meat, and we've even seen influencers bake a bird upright while it's wedged on an open beer can. But have you seen Jamie Oliver's genius oven rack hack for making the most delicious roast chicken? This popular British chef recommends hanging chicken legs off the metal grates of an oven rack to mimic the effect of a rotisserie in a conventional oven.

Showcased in a YouTube clip from Australia's breakfast show Sunrise, Oliver begins by marinating his chicken (along with chunks of potato, onion, and halved lemons) in a seasoned herby olive oil. Once steeped in the aromatic flavors he hangs the legs vertically on the bars of his oven rack by squeezing the knuckle of each portion of chicken up through the gap so each one is suspended (he advises bending the bars open slightly to push the knuckles through). The result is several well-spaced out chicken legs that are soundly hanging from the rack, which can then be positioned in the oven with a tray of accompanying taters stationed underneath.

This technique is so brilliant because it allows the chicken legs to crisp up all the way around. Rather than laying them flat on a baking tray, where the underside remains soft, this method guarantees that the entire surface area gets golden, crisp, and craggy. Furthermore, it transforms an economical piece of chicken into a juicy delicacy, much like a well-roasted chick-rotis.

The other perk of roasting your chicken legs upright is that the flavorful fat released by the skin as it crisps up, drips down into the tray of veggies baking below it. This lends the roast potatoes a rich savory quality and the lemons an almost jammy consistency. Plus, the fat coats the veggies, helping them to develop a golden color and fried flavor, while any juicy drippings end up in the base of the pan, ready to be transformed into a gravy if preferred. All you need to do is remove the veggies from the dish and deglaze the pan to release all the sticky chicken-y juices before thickening it with a cornstarch slurry over a low heat. Alternatively, skip all that and simply spoon any umami juices over your veggies and crispy chicken.

This oven rack trick will only work with the parts of a chicken that have a bone and knuckle (like a drumstick) where they can hang from. However, these cuts of dark meat are juicier and more flavorful than breast meat anyway because they contain more fat. True rotisserie chicken is so hard to make at home, unless you've got a proper rotisserie spit made for the job, but this technique makes it a whole lot easier.