I don't use a roasting rack..you can place the chicken on a bed of veggies...eat them or not...they flavor the juices great to start a good stock...

I had one of the adjustable V racks for a while. I liked using it, but it had some type of presumably non-stick coating that was a bear to clean (so much for non-stick) & then the coating starting peeling off so I tossed it. I'd buy another if it wasn't coated & didn't cost a fortune. The last chicken I cooked, I used a small, round cake cooling rack in the roasting pan which worked reasonably well, but the racks that cradle are the easiest for removing the bird from the pan.

I have one of those adjustable V shaped racks in stainless or chrome or something...not non-stick.
I rarely use it...maybe for duck or perhaps a pork roast.
But for chicken I just plop it in the pan...
If you want you can make a little criss cross like a Tic-Tac-Toe grid out of celery stalks and lay the chicken on that.....works very well and makes flavorful gravy.
Linda c

I have one of those V-racks and rarely use it. It makes the bottom of the bird V shaped too, then it sits funny for carving. Phooey.
Do what Terri and Linda said...veggies. And I'd eat 'em, but that's just me.
You can season the bottom of the bird and roast it for a bit "bottom up", then flip it and season the top to finish cooking. It seals the bottom too and keeps the juices in!

PITA, but it works!!

Deanna

Bobby, I don't use a rack either. If you don't want the chicken sticking to the pan, just give it a shake after it has been in the oven for 15 minutes. That will loosen it and should take care of the problem.

Ann

I always use a rack for birds or roasts. I am roasting, not frying in its own fat nor am I braising it. The thought of a chicken swimming in the fat is just nasty to me.

Hey Bobby can you use the rack from your toaster oven? Just spray it with Pam, put it in the pan and sit the chicken on that.

I use the roasting rack from my toaster oven, and it fits perfectly in a 9x13 pan. We roasted a chicken yesterday, and Kevin almost burned it because our barbeque gets hotter here than it did in Venice, possibly because we get better breezes here. Part of the problem was that the thermometer that we have inside the BBQ no longer works, and so the temp must have gotten above 600°. Fortunately, Kevin was basting every 15 minutes (using a new silicon basting brush that our sister gave us), and so it was not dried out. I used my Algerian roasted chicken recipe, which has seasoned butter shoved under the skin.

The rack makes it easier for basting, I think, and the bottom gets browned nicely.

Lars

Lars, did you have your house warming party yet?

I'm another person who uses a rack to roast a chicken, and definitely to roast a duck. I don't use the v-rack I have because it only fits in the big roaster pan and I almost never use that, I just use my 9x11 cake pan with a cake rack in the bottom of it, but I don't like the bird sitting it the fat. Since I raise my own, they tend to be juicier than commercial chicken, so it kind of steams instead of roasting if I don't put something there, at least some onions and celery if I don't use the rack.

Pork roasts I do in an even smaller square cake pan and I don't have a rack for that so those get a bed of vegetables, as LindaC and others mentioned. Like Deanna, I eat the vegetables, so there's nearly always potatoes in there.

Unlike some others, I don't like the vegetable flvor this gives the drippings, so I think that compromises the gravy, unfortunately.

Annie

I use two regular cooling racks, arranged in the bottom of my roaster to form a V.

One side of each is on the bottom of the roaster, the other side of each hangs on the side of the pan.

I also spray the heck out of them with Pam.

Annie, I feel the same way you do about some vegetables compromising the flavour of the gravy. Especially carrots. The last thing I want is for gravy or sauce to taste like carrots.

I've never found that my roast chicken braises or fries when I roast without a rack. Probably because of the high heat method. I usually end up with just enough chicken fat to make the roux and lots of brown bits to flavour the gravy.

I always use a rack for chicken if the cooking temperatures are moderate. For sticky chicken I don't use one nor for high heat chicken which I rarely do because I would grill instead.
I have several roasting racks and use them all for different things. The rack I use most often for chicken resembles a toaster oven rack and works fine, stores easily and goes in the dishwasher.
I like broiling pans because the fat stays covered - v racks for even browning and turkeys, and small racks to fit inside a 13 x 9 pan.

Roasting pans w/racks of all sizes can be found quite cheaply around the holidays so if you want to buy one, I would wait until November. You could get one for under $10 them.

I see new broiling pans at Good Will all the time too.

I don't like to use vegetables as a rack because I'm cheap!

Not anymore --

At least not for chicken, ever since I read Melissa Clark's column a few months ago and learned to put slices of sturdy bread (preferably at least a day old) on the bottom of the pan and put the chicken right on top of it.

OMG

that bread is SO GOOD when it's all done. We can't keep our hands out of it. I break up the crunchy parts that aren't under the bird for croutons. MMMM

Now, you won't have much liquid for gravy, but I don't bother with a roast chicken anyway. And don't tell your cardiologist.

That stale bread idea sounds like a good one - I'll have to give that a try - nothing to lose except stale bread!

Annie, we did have our open house party August 1, and I posted a link to a video that our BIL made of the house. It's a bit lame, but we have other better videos that I'll post later on a different thread, along with photos.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Initial house tour

Lars, it's lovely. I can't believe how much you all have done in such a short time to make it an inviting home. Well done!

BOBBY

I'm guessing iVillage email doesn't work again and I lost your email address.

Cathy

I agree, Cathy, it's very peaceful and nice, I like it a lot.

Lars, I'll be looking forward to seeing more videos, so I can see the color schemes you've used. I do hope you are enjoying your new place and especially your new kitchen. I want to see more pictures of that too.

Annie

Thanks everyone. I think I will be fine without a rack and just do the bed of veggies thing. Of course I will not eat the vegetables! Then I will not have another thing I have to keep track of and wash.

Cathy, my gardenweb e-mail goes to an account that I only check about once a month. I've kind of designated it as my spam account... I tried to update my e-mail address on here but it didn't work. I'll go see if your mail is there!

I use foil. When I'm not saving drippings, I lay down a sheet of foil, then use 2 other pieces and roll/scrunch up about the size of carrots and lay the chicken on them. Easy peasy clean up too.