Roasted Barbecue Chicken

Take the giblets and neck out of the thawed chicken, rinse the inside and outside of the chicken with cold water. Pat dry.

Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper and place lemon halves inside the cavity of the chicken. Place the bird in a roasting pan with an oven rack (if you don’t have a rack, place onions, celery, carrots at the bottom of the pan and let the chicken rest on that). You don’t want the chicken sitting in its own juices.

Rub the top of the chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 450ºF and cook the whole chicken for 10-15 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 350ºF and roast for 20 minutes per pound. For me it was an 1 hours 30 minutes. Temperature needs to register 165ºF to be done.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking, brush on the barbecue sauce.

Once chicken is done, place aluminum foil over the top and let it rest about 20 minutes.