Remove Moisture

• If you put wet chicken in the oven, the skin will not crisp. Pat a whole chicken, pieces with the skin or skinless breasts with paper towels before you bake it. Any lingering moisture encourages steaming, rather than browning. In the case of a whole chicken, this steaming means you'll end up with rubbery, rather than crisp, chicken skin. Wet skinless breasts yield pale, chewy pieces.

Add a Little Fat

• Even if you're watching your calories and fat intake, it's best add a little fat to the chicken before you bake it. The fat crisps up the skin on a whole chicken while it prevents skinless breasts from becoming hard and crunchy on top. You don't have to add a lot -- just a spritz of cooking spray or a brush of olive oil will do. The fat also helps the baked chicken develop an appealing golden color, especially if you use butter.

Seasonings

• Seasoning is critical to enhancing the flavor of a baked chicken, whether you're roasting a whole bird or pieces. The seasoning can be as simple as black pepper and coarse salt, or you can get creative and rub it down with dried herbs, such as thyme and sage, or spices, such as cumin and coriander. The flavor profile is up to you, but without seasoning, your bird will be bland.

More Flavor

• Steamed, un-oiled and unseasoned baked chicken won't hurt you -- if you can choke it down. For more flavor, marinade breasts or stuff the cavity of a whole chicken with cloves of garlic and chopped onion. A whole chicken's flavor also benefits from herbs tucked under the skin before baking. Another option is to brine skinless breasts in a mixture of salt, water and seasonings, for a few hours before baking. The brine traps moisture in the chicken, so you have a juicy dinner. Don't forget to pat brined chicken dry before baking though, or it'll steam.