This convection roast whole chicken is a heartwarming meal that can be served at family gatherings, potlucks, or even during the holidays along with some roasted vegetables. This recipe can be made with a variety of different seasonings so you can easily spice things up if you’re feeling creative.
However, its signature feature is the crispy, mouthwatering skin that will make you lose your mind.
Crispy convection roast whole chicken
Roasting a whole chicken in the convection oven until it’s crispy may seem simple, but there are a few easy-to-overlook steps that can sabotage your efforts.
One of the most frequent mistakes I see people make is placing their birds directly on a baking sheet or pan.
This unfortunately sucks some of the juices from the meat and leads to uneven cooking.
Which is the last thing you’d want to do when you’re using a convection oven. For this reason, I like to top my baking pan with a baking rack to allow the hot air to flow freely around my chicken and cook it evenly on all sides.
Anyways, let’s proceed with the ingredients you’ll need to turn this appetizing recipe into a reality.
The Ingredients
The secret to a great roast chicken is utilizing the proper blend of ingredients so the spices can evenly coat the entire bird.
Or in other words, you should choose the right spices and spread them all over the chicken, including under its skin and in its cavity.
- One whole chicken: You can use any kind of chicken you want, but I personally prefer using Capons since they have a higher fat percentage.
This makes their meat more juicy than that of Broilers and Fryers.
Roaster chickens are another great option.
- Herb butter: The herb butter is the star of this recipe. It’s made with rosemary, paprika, salt, black pepper, and unsalted butter. I prefer unsalted to salted butter for baking and roasting since you can easily make a dish too salty with the latter. You can also switch up some of the spices to your liking.
- Lemon: The lemon will give the meat a light, refreshing flavor.
- Garlic: There are a few ingredients that go as well together as garlic and chicken.
The garlic’s earthy flavor will not only enhance the taste of the bird but also elevate the aroma of the spices.
How to slow roast whole chicken in your convection oven
Check out the recipe card at the end of this article for detailed, step-by-step instructions.
Start by preheating your oven to 375℉ (190℃).
If you’re using frozen chicken, take it out of the freezer and let it rest for half an hour.
Make sure you’re informed: How Long Can Raw Whole Chicken Stay in the Fridge Before it Spoils?
Once the chicken reaches room temperature, it will lose some of its moisture which will allow it to cook more evenly.
After the chicken has rested, use a paper towel to soak up the surface moisture from the skin.
This will help with the roasting and it will give the skin a delightfully crunchy texture.
Take the softened unsalted butter and zest one of the lemons over it.
Follow by mixing in the herbs and spices.
You can also melt the butter first and then spread it over the chicken with a brush.
After you’re ready with making the herb and butter mix, spread about half of it underneath the thawed chicken’s skin, and rub some of that inside the cavity.
Once this is done, cut the remaining two lemons in half and stick them inside the cavity along with the garlic.
Use kitchen twine to truss the chicken or skewer its thighs and wings together.
This will let the chicken cook uniformly without any under or overcooked spots.
After that, place a baking rack on top of your baking sheet and lay the chicken over it.
This way, the heat will get underneath the bird without drying it out.
At this point, take the rest of the herb and butter mix and rub it all over the chicken’s skin.
Me personally, I used a spatula to spread the mix you see on the photos and did not melt it beforehand.
You do you.
Finish by throwing the chicken in the convection oven and cooking it until it reaches an internal temperature of 165℉ (74℃).
When you reach the 30-minute mark, baste the chicken in its own juices to prevent it from drying out.
If you’re cooking a standard five-pound chicken, this should take approximately 75 minutes in a convection oven.
For anything larger, simply add 15 minutes per pound of chicken to the cooking time.
Tips and Variations
- Spice things up with Garlic Parmesan Sauce.
BWW’s Garlic and Parmesan cheese Sauce is an excellent condiment for roasted chicken.
Its unique blend of spicy and tart flavors makes your senses dance.
You can check out my recipe for homemade Buffalo Wild Wings’ Garlic Parmesan sauce here.
- Add a sweet spiciness with a hot honey sauce.
I have this one cool recipe for a homemade hot honey sauce which is usally best with wings but it goes great with any type of roasted chicken.
Maybe give it a try if you’re into that.
- Perpare an easy mild buffalo wing sauce as a side dish for dipping.
If you want to offer more taste variety for your chicken dinner without going too hot I recommend checking my super easy mild wing sauce recipe.
This is honestly one of my favorite mild sauces and it goes with anything, not just chicken.
Prepare some in a small glass bowl for dippings and observe the positive feedback from your family members.
- Add more garlic. If I have to be frank, I use way more garlic when I’m making this recipe for myself.
Unfortunately, not everyone shares my garlic passion so I decided to tune down the amount.
So unless you’re a vampire, I don’t see a reason why you can’t add a few more cloves to this recipe.
- Don’t rinse. There’s no need to rinse the chicken with water.
Doing it can actually splatter bacteria all over your kitchen counter and increase the chance of bacterial contamination.
- Don’t discard leftovers. You can use the leftover carcass and bones to make chicken broth.
And if you don’t intend to use it in the near future, you can simply store it in the freezer.
And finally, if you are a fan of crispy chicken skin I recommend cheking out my lazy stove top chicken drumsticks recipe. It’s easy and quick to make.
What’s the difference between convection and conventional whole chicken?
Even though you may not notice it at first, the skin on conventional whole chicken typically has a rubbery texture.
This is due to the way regular ovens distribute heat during cooking.
A standard oven typically produces heat through two heating elements – one positioned at the top and another at the bottom of the oven cavity.
However, using both of these elements at the same time tends to cook foods unevenly since the hot air from the top starts rising up again once it reaches the bottom.
This is why most dishes baked in a regular oven are made using only the bottom heating element.
This however also leads to an uneven heat distribution which becomes noticeable when you’re using multiple racks.
Convection ovens solve this problem by introducing a fan that circulates the hot air and distributes the heat more evenly.
As a result, convection ovens are great for browning, roasting, and crisping, and are often used for multi-rack cooking.
In other words, convection chicken has crispier skin and retains more moisture than a conventional whole chicken. So even though you can roast chicken in a regular oven, it’s better to use a convection oven if you want to get the best results.
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Crispy Convection Oven Roast Whole Chicken
Equipment
- Baking rack
- Baking sheet
- Kitchen twine optional
- Wooden skewers optional
- Cooking thermometer
Ingredients
- 5 lb Capon or Roaster chicken
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 3 lemons
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
- Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 30 minutes. After the chicken has rested, use a paper towel to pat it dry. Try to remove all of the surface moisture from the skin. This will make the chicken extra crispy.
- Zest one of the lemons over the softened butter, then mix in the herbs and spices. Another way you can do this is to melt the butter over the stove top first and then add the rest of the ingredients.
- Start spreading about half of the herb-butter mixture under the skin and inside the cavity.
- Cut the remaining two lemons in halves and stuff them inside the chicken cavity along with the garlic.
- Use kitchen twine to truss the chicken or skewer the thighs and wings together.
- Place the baking rack over the baking sheet, then lay down the whole chicken on top. This will allow the hot air to flow underneath the chicken and cook it evenly on all sides.
- Spread the rest of the herb-butter mixture over the chicken's skin. Use a brush if you're working with melted butter.
- Roast the chicken in the convection oven for 60 to 80 minutes or until the temperature in its thigh reaches 165℉ (74℃). To make the chicken more succulent, baste it with its juices at the 30 minute mark.
Video
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Nutrition
I do my best to provide you with the nutritional information for recipes but I'm not a certified nutritionist. The nutritional information provided should only be treated as an estimate since it will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
