a 5 pound chicken will be lots for 3 1/2 people....just tuck the wings under....and if you do decide to tie it you don't need sterile string....kits string or plumbers cord is good.
Linda c

IMO -

A five-pounder should be good, "especially since DD hardly eats a thing."

I don't know Ina's recipe, but I typically just rub with a bit of S&P, throw some lemon in there (usually half, and I sqeeze the juice in there first) and that's it. No trussing. The lemon definitely adds flavor to the drippings; we like it but you'll have to decide if that's good for you.

My best results seem to be placing it in a small frying pan, convection roast (meaning top element in my particular oven) at 375 and placed on the second to lowest shelf. But ovens vary and everyone's got their own opinion about the actual roasting method.

Good luck!

Sally,
Your chicken sounds like enough for three unless they are big eaters. I don't think you need to worry about tying it. I use a v-shaped rack, cooking the chicken on its side and then turning it half way through, This gets more heat to the thigh and less to the breast, which is good. Thighs should be done to around 180 and breast at least 160-165. I don't think I would like the bacon flavor in my gravy. Use a fat separator to get some of the fat out of the drippings, make a roux of butter and flour, add chicken broth for your gravy. I like to flavor the chicken with poultry seasoning or Italian seasoning, as well as garlic.
Cook around 1 1/2 hours, more or less (use thermometer) at 350 degrees. Just my thoughts on how I do it.

RB

Lol, see how many different answers you will get about the gravy? When I read "garlic, bacon and lemon," my first thought (before I read about your DH's opinion) was about what a great gravy those drippings would make! Well, we put bacon bits on potatoes, and mash them with garlic, and I always add some white wine to my drippings for gravy, the acidity of the lemon would replace that with the added lemon flavor, which would be mellowed by the roasting in any case. Yum!

A trick I use to keep the breast meat from getting too dry...Most chickens have a thick pad of chicken fat just inside the body cavity that most of us discard. I slice that up in fine strips and divide it into two portions. On either side of the breast bone, starting at the cavity, slide a finger along the bone, under the skin towards the neck end of the bird. When your finger reaches the back half of the breast, slide it back and forth a bit, creating a "pocket" between the skin and meat. Then, stuff the slices of chicken fat into the pocket, repeating on the other side of the bone. The fat will melt during roasting, basting the meat from the inside.

If the fat lump is missing, or inadequate, I do the same thing with butter, sometimes mixed with herbs, garlic, lemon or other flavorings.

Thanks, everyone.

DH is a big eater, but DS and DD are medium to tiny eaters, respectively. I'll rethink the bacon.

Sally

Ditto about the size of the bird, 5 lbs should be plenty for 3.

Personally I wouldn't want the taste of lemon if I was making gravy. I'd go with Ina's recipe and just sub onions for the lemon.

Here's Barbara Kafka's recipe for roast chicken from her excellent book 'Roasting'. She uses a 5 to 6 pound bird. Obviously if you aren't going to make chicken stock afterwards, you don't need to save the neck, giblets or trimmings. Toss 'em--we won't tell.

Simplest Roast Chicken

5- to 6-pound chicken, wing tips removed
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Kosher salt, to taste
I lemon, halved 4 whole garlic cloves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)
1 cup liquid for deglazing (optional) : chicken stock, fruit juice, wine, or water
Place rack on second level from bottom of oven. Heat oven to 500°F.
Remove the fat from the tail and crop end of the chicken. Freeze the neck and giblets for chicken stock. Reserve chicken livers for another use.
Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon, garlic, and butter, if using. Season the cavity and skin with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken in a 12 x 8 x 1 1/2-inch roasting pan breast side up. Put in the oven legs first and roast 50 to 60 minutes, or until the juices run clear. After the first 10 minutes, move the chicken with a wooden spatula to keep it from sticking. (Figure it will take a total of about 10 minutes per pound.)
Remove the chicken to a platter by placing a large wooden spoon into the tail end and balancing the chicken with a kitchen spoon pressed against the crop end. As you lift the chicken, tilt it over the roasting pan so that all the juices run out and into the pan.
To make a sauce, pour off or spoon out excess fat from the roasting pan and put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Add the stock or other liquid and bring the contents of the pan to a boil, while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Serve the sauce over the chicken or, for crisp skin, in a sauce boat.
If there is no lemon, garlic, or butter on hand, roast the chicken without them. Or play. Use peeled shallots or a small onion, quartered. Add some leaves from the top of a bunch of celery, a couple of sage leaves, or a Bay leaf. Try a few juice orange or blood orange wedges. Vary the deglazing liquid to change the flavor of the gravy or to match what's in the bird. Basic Chicken Stock-or canned-is the starting point, but use part wine-whatever is left over, red or white-or a little vermouth. Make one third of the liquid orange juice if oranges are in the bird. This is not astrophysics. Have fun.

Rachelellen, I think you and I were posting at the same time. Thanks for your input. It does sound good, but I'm kinda with Sharon, thinking that lemon and potatoes are not necessarily friends. The frustrating thing about DH is that when I told him I was wanting to do the lemon garlic, he said go ahead and do what you (talking to me) wanted to do. Aargh! Since I'm not eating it, I'd rather do it the way he likes.

Sally

Thanks for all the help with the chicken! I ended up using a combination of Barbara Kafka's and Ina Garten's recipes, leaving out the lemon but including the bacon. All the meat eaters loved it, although I almost burned it, thinking it had to heat to 190 degrees. Luckily, my son came to the rescue and pulled it out of the oven before it was burned. It was over 170 degrees at that point, I think, and nicely browned. It turned out there were left overs, because I tend to over do, and had so many sides there were lots of left overs for people to take home with them.

We totally forgot to take pictures until we had finished eating, so I have nothing to show but gratitude for your help.

Sally

Sally, I'm way too late to add input about the chicken, but I would have left the lemon out too, if I wanted gravy. I don't even like the flavor of carrots and celery in my gravy, so I'm sure I wouldn't like lemon.

As you know now, the chicken is pretty easy to roast and a 5 pound bird is plenty big enough. If you didn't send leftovers home, there would be leftovers for hot chicken sandwiches, chicken pot pie, chicken noodle soup or chicken enchiladas. Roast chicken is a good thing if you WANT to have leftovers.

Annie