Trussing and Roasting Chicken

Position the chicken so that its cavity faces you. Place the center of a 2-foot-long piece of butcher’s string beneath the chicken’s tail, the little triangle at the bottom of the cavity. Lift the string up outside each leg and pull it down between the legs, reversing the direction of each end so that they cross. Pull the string over the thighs (the drumsticks should squeeze together at this point) and the wings. Maintaining tension on the string, turn the chicken on its side, wind the ends of the string over the neck, and tie securely.