The man behind the Chefs Warehouse Group, Liam Tomlin, knows a thing or two about perfecting cooking techniques. Here’s his guide to flawlessly roasting and carving your free-range bird.

1. Buy a free-range or organic chicken, if possible.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Remove the giblets from the chicken and wipe out the cavity. Season the cavity of the chicken generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Roughly chop a head of garlic and place it inside the cavity with a lemon cut in half and a good sprig of fresh thyme.
4. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil or butter, and season again with salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Place the chicken on a roasting tray, breast-side up, and cook for 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of the bird).
6. Turn the bird every 15 minutes and baste it regularly with the cooking juices. To check if your chicken is properly cooked, twist the drumstick bone. It should come away easily; if not, return the bird to the oven for 5-10 minutes before testing again.
7. When it’s cooked, transfer the chicken to a large plate and cover it with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.

How to carve a chicken
1. Remove the wings and the legs.
2. Cut the legs into thighs and drumsticks.
3. Run the tip of a sharp knife along the backbone of the bird, from the tip to the wing, to remove the breasts.
4. Remove the fillets from the breasts before carving them into two or three pieces each (depending on their size).
5. Turn the carcass over and remove the oysters from under the chicken.
6. Remove the garlic and lemon from the cavity and squeeze over the chicken. Lightly season again with salt and freshly ground pepper, and serve.

By Liam Tomlin

Want to hone your cooking skills? Check out Liam’s book, Lessons with Liam, or try this recipe for barbeque pork.