Back to the original question, and how to get roasted chicken to taste more like, well, in this case "chicken", but ensure its "very juicy"...I thgink we are all agreed on the brining process being that which is universally successful at keeping the meat as moist as possible with a single method of cooking...
If you read back through the past pages on this segment, you'll catch our discussions on "beer-butting" (amusingly, Audeo calls it "tamponing") chicken...
Where done with a brined bird, the results get spectacular...
So, "in brief" you take a beer can, or soup can, and, in keeping with your desire for "just chicken" taste, fill the can 3/4 full with say, vegetable or chicken stock (there are any number of alternatives! onion soup, beer, dark beer, wine, cranberry juices...okay I'll stop there! and additives such as garlic, spices, you name it (but DO try fresh parsley, at least, if not some Bay Leaves!)...and trust me I've tried all of these!) and stick it into the chicken's abdominal cavity, put your roaster rack on the lowest part of the oven (so this will fit!) and set the chicken on it "seated on the can", so to speak, with the wings twisted behind the nape of its neck...note here that I invariably use a soup can, that I've stripped of the label and washed in a dishwasher...I prefer the steel can to aluminum, as my FIL died of Alzheimer's and I'm suspicious af any link there may be with aluminum as a result...likewise the paint and print on the can, though I'm fairly "ambivolant" (sp?) about drinking canned beer...(maybe I should just say "fond"?)
You don't mention spices, or preference on how the skin comes out, but I feel sure you know how to rub spices, use butter (or not!) to your own taste...or "paint it" with BBQ spice late in the process...your dinner, your choice!
My friend Goodweed has made two very important points, that I'll try to requote...the first being to start the bird in a preheated 450 degree oven, and reduce heat to 325 after 10 minutes of that full heat...this technique is in fact a "killer" method on roasting meat generally, and you can use it a lot more broadly than just poultry!
Second and perhaps most importantly, get yourself a digital meat probe...here Goodweed and I differ slightly, in that he prefers one that you stick in the carcass and cook, and I'm enslaved to my digital probe that reads out the temperature when I think the bird is starting to get done...
I think it was "Jennyma" (forgive my spelling/typing) that explained about whatever bug that only gets killed off at approximately 138 degrees F, and is of peculiar threat with poultry, in that all parts of the bird, including my beloved "internal stuffing" must be heated to or you are in danger of grief...
Meat probes usually have what somebody called "lawyer safe" tempy's of what is "done", and you might, as Goodweed and I do, "dare" to stop cooking a little early, as follows...
"White meat" in poultry needs to reach 160 degrees, where "dark meat" needs to reach 180...but in heating the carcass in the oven, it tends to "go on cooking" itself, even after you take it out...usually at least 5, if not 10 degrees...10 degrees is attainable if you pull it out, "tent it" with tinfoil (shiney side IN) and leave it sit on the counter about 20 minutes (or longer, longer making carving easier) on the roasting pan, which, of course is hot and adds to the heat transfer, as well as catching the juices the bird sheds for your gravy...
So, when the thigh meat "reads 170 degrees plus, AND the breast meat reads 150 degrees plus, you can pull it out and tent it...(you could then leave my digital probe in to watch the internal temp rise!)
Gently remove the soup or beer can from the chicken, reserving the contents for your gravy, and carve...
The meat will "leak" like Billy be...so you'll want to preserve those juices too, for your gravy (so don't make the gravy until the very last!), and the meat will also be incredibly tender....its a good bit more effort in the "prep time" to "brine" and "beercan" a bird, but the rewards are literally "OUTSTANDING", and if cooking isn't showing your "love" for yourself and the eaters, what is?
Again, sort of an after thought, if you are really in a hurry, and have a thawed chicken that you want to roast and haven't had time to brine, and lack a beer/soup can, and/or stock, or whatever...an incredibly unique result can be achieved by stuffing the bird solid with umpteen peeled garlic cloves (ie peel each one, if you don't have a container filled with garlic, already peeled, in olive oil, giving your EVOO that enhancement (I am giving away one of my deep, dark secrets here, and who knbows what other spices I may add?)...
Garlic is quite bitter when raw, but after prolonged cooking, comes out kind of "sweet", and the time it takes to cook a chicken, well, its long enough to be "sweet"...naturally, you discard all this "stuffing", but its a unique and delicious result in your "bird", and in no way impairs the "juiciness" goal...
It might be a tad late for your bird this weekend, but its a credible thought for future dinners, and I believe you might enjoy some of these concepts/techniques/ideas, when you decide to give them a try...
My wishes for "good cooking" and "GREAT eating"!
Lifter