A question about a recipe: Wishbone Roast Chicken with Herb Butter

I'm looking forward to trying this. Thanks for the advice!

I never roast with this method using both pieces of the tube pan. The beauty of the method is that the entire chicken is exposed to the oven heat, thereby cooking more quickly, ensuring moist breast meat. If you use the tall sides of the pan, you create a barrier that prevents the high heat from circulating as effectively. I just sit the chicken on the bottom/inner tube portion of the pan inside a large pie plate and occasionally add a bit of water or white wine to the base, if it seems to be drying out. (Good organic chickens that have been air dried when processed release very little water when roasted.) I recommend an earthenware or metal pie plate, not a glass one, for this. ;o)

Yes, this recipe definitely helps, especially if your tube pan has a tight seal on the bottom. If not, wrap it in foil and set it on a baking sheet because this will contain any of the fat that leaks out of the pan.

If you air dry the chicken and remove as much visible fat as you can, there really isn't that much splattering inside the oven. At least that's been my experience. Also, if you set it in a large pie plate, most of the juices go under the base of the tube pan base. I love this method. What I really like about it is that you can allow the chicken to rest on the tube pan itself, in the pie plate, pouring off the juices first, to reduce to make a sauce if you like. (I don't make this with the herb butter.) I don't even remove the bird to carve it. The meat is so tender and moist, I just gently remove the breast meat from the carcass with my fingers, and then slice it on a cutting board. That's where the real reduction in mess occurs, not to mention that any drippings released while carving are caught in the pie plate. I included some detailed photos of this method in my "Beg, Borrow and Steal" tamarind chicken recipe, complete with a photo of teenage son's hand going after the slightly hardened drippings on the base of the tube pan. ;o)