A couple weeks ago, Palena’s $10 burger caused some debate as to whether a $10 burger was worth it. With that in mind, a couple DCists dropped in to Palena’s café a few weeks ago to try their roast organic chicken and see how it compared to the roast chicken we prepare at home. And we were blown away. The skin was perfectly crispy, while miraculously adhering to the flesh of the bird. The meat it self was a study in smoky succulence, every bite as good as the last. Say what you will about the thought of a $10 cheeseburger; the $10 roasted chicken at Palena is worth the 45 minutes you have to wait.

While we may not feel confident enough to challenge Palena formally, we are relatively certain that the technique we’ve come up with produces the finest roast chicken we have ever had in our own home. The only problem is that it’s fairly labor intensive and requires the use of equipment not commonly indigenous to most D.C. kitchens. That’s not to say excellent roast chicken can’t be achieved through other means — but to create a chicken with a succulence close to Frank Ruta’s version requires pulling out all the stops.