Butter It Up

• If you'd like to use butter or oil for a crispy skin, brush melted butter or oil on the skin of the chicken before roasting. Or, lift up the skin and slide pats of butter under the skin and put them on the flesh or brush the oil on the flesh. Don't remove the skin, just lift it up.

Herbs and Seasonings

• Season the chicken while you butter or oil it. Mash the butter with fresh or dried herbs. Take your pick from tarragon, chervil, basil or rosemary. If you use oil, combine the herbs with the oil and let them infuse for a while so the oil takes on the flavor of the herbs. Another option is to brush the chicken with the oil and then sprinkle on chopped herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Use less salt if you used salted butter as the rub.

No Butter, No Problem

• Keep the chicken moist by basting it with chicken broth, white wine or fruit juice instead of using butter. The moisture keeps the chicken tender and adds to the drippings in the pan. Another option is slicing citrus fruit, such as oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit, thinly and sliding the slices under the skin of the chicken.

Under a Tent

• Give the chicken a steam bath by enclosing it in a tent of aluminum foil for most of the roasting time. Add 1 cup of water or wine to the roasting pan to create steam. This helps keep the chicken moist and tender. Remove the foil for the last 20 minutes of roasting so the chicken skin takes on a golden glow.

The Best Temperature

• Butter and olive oil have a low smoking point and will burn at higher temperatures, so don't use them when you're roasting the chicken above 400 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 25 F below the ideal temperature of 425 F for roasting chicken with crisp skin and moist, tender meat.