Roast Chicken in a Cast Iron Bundt Cake Pan
This one started out when I looked for a recipe on how cook a chicken that tastes like the deli rotisserie chicken we buy at the supermarket. Now, that's a very tasty chicken and I've eaten many of those, but sometimes it seems as though you're paying seven, eight or nine dollars for what amounts to a rotisserie Cornish hen. In fact, there are two major drawbacks to supermarket rotisserie chicken: First, the maximum size of this chicken seems to be three pounds. That's probably the largest size chicken that can fit onto a commercial rotisserie. Second, and even more important: these deli counter rotisserie chickens are almost always overcooked! This is why the chicken can easily be pulled apart, and the dark meat falls off the bone...which is good because I especially love the dark meat. However, the breast meat is almost always dried out. When I'm really hungry and I tear into a deli rotisserie chicken, I'll gobble down the dark meat and eat every scrap I can get...but I can't finish the white meat, because it's almost always dry and bland. You can dip the white meat in sauce or gravy, and that helps; but it's better to have a chicken with juicy white meat that doesn't flake apart.
And as of April of 2025, I'm completely won over by preparing a roast chicken in a cast iron bundt cake pan! The real secret to a great roast chicken is to stick a blazing hot hunk of metal inside the chicken cavity, so it will roast the chicken on the inside as well as the outside. The end result is a chicken that has everything you could possibly want: crisp skin, white meat bursting with juices and not dried out...and dark meat that is so tender and juicy, it pulls apart...even though the chicken isn't overcooked!
Pans needed: A cast iron bundt pan (or "fluted cake pan") to roast the chicken. A 10-inch (#8 size) cast iron skillet. Finally, don't forget to use a probe thermometer or other cooking thermometer. This is important, to ensure the chicken is properly cooked and not dried out -- especially the breast meat.
Although this is optional and not absolutely necessary, I certainly recommend dry-brining the chicken to give it a crisp skin. To do this, generously sprinkle kosher salt over both sides of the chicken, set it into a rack (or just onto a plate), and place it in the refrigerator for several hours.
While the chicken is in the refrigerator, prepare a spice rub by mixing together thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
Before the chicken comes out of the refrigerator, take a large cast iron skillet and the bundt pan, place them both into the oven, and heat the oven to only 375 degrees Fahrenheit. That's all we need to give the chicken a crisp skin without burning it.
Remove the chicken from the fridge, and place it into a large bowl. Coat the top and bottom of the chicken with olive oil, including the wings and drumsticks. Rub the spice rub all over the chicken, top and bottom. Be generous with the spice rub, and be sure to use as much of it as possible.
When the oven is at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, use heavy gloves or potholders and place the hot bundt pan onto a rack or trivet. Leave the cast iron skillet in the oven; you don't have to take it out. Open the bottom cavity of the chicken, and carefully mount the chicken onto the center of the bundt pan, breast side down. We have to position the chicken with the breast side down, because of the shape of the chicken. It will immediately sizzle as it hits the hot iron!
Insert a probe thermometer into the breast.
Open the oven and place the hot bundt pan with the chicken into the cast iron skillet The skillet will catch any juices that drip out of the bundt pan, especially the center.. Roast at 375 degrees until the breast temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. For a four to five pound chicken, this usually takes about an hour and a half (90 minutes). A larger roasting chicken, six or seven pounds in size, may take up to two hours. Regardless of the time, be sure to roast the chicken to the right temperature. If it reaches 160 degrees sooner, the chicken is done.
Because the hot, heavy iron pan is placed inside the chicken, it thoroughly roasts the chicken both inside and out! The outside is surrounded by the thick iron, and this crisps the skin as well as cooking the white meat; while the center piece inside the cavity roasts the dark meat, much more than a thin nonstick bundt pan.
When the breast meat has reached 160 degrees, remove the bundt pan from the oven, and place the chicken onto a platter or a plate to rest for 10 minutes.
And while the chicken is resting, you can use the juices to prepare a gravy for the chicken. Even though a little bit of the chicken juices dripped through the center piece onto the iron pan below, the great majority of the juices will remain in the bundt pan -- anywhere from half to three-quarters of a cup of chicken fat and juices.
The chicken is so well done, it simply pulls apart. But the white meat is bursting with juices and it's not dried out. I can easily eat this chicken just like this, without having to prepare gravy...but if you you do make a gravy, it really takes this chicken over the top. Top the chicken with the gravy, and you'll have a roast chicken to be proud of.
