To many of my friends that love to cook, there is no such thing as the perfect roast chicken recipe. The infinite flavor combinations make ‘roast chicken’ one of those recipes that is truly subjective when it comes to the best way the prepare and enjoy it.

To buttress this point, here are a few pretty phenomenal roast chicken recipes I use regularly, similar in cooking methods, but completely different when it comes to their flavor profiles:

Food Network’s ‘Perfect Roast Chicken’

Ina Garten is one of my favorite celebrity chefs. I’ve been recreating her dishes for over fifteen years and her recipes and techniques never fail to impress. In fact, I do have to admit that this particular roast chicken recipe is perfect when you only have a couple of hours to put a meal together. Done in approximately 2 hours (including prep work), it’s definitely a recipe I recommend adding to one’s repertoire.

Garlic and Herb Butter Roast Chicken

Roasted with rosemary, parsley, lemon, garlic butter and white wine, this recipe is great to prepare on those days when you’re inspired by farm-fresh French cuisine. Pro tip: pare this roast chicken recipe with a medley of seasonal vegetables for a stellar meal.

New York Times’ Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken

This dish is as deeply flavorful as it is texturally stimulating. The marinade has a honey base and is spiked with chili and citrus juice, and when paired with the texture provided by the dates, carrots and pistachio nuts in the accompanying sauce, this roast chicken recipe is sure to impress anyone, particularly on a date night.

As you can clearly see above, in terms of flavour, there are a thousand and one ways to prepare a pretty decent roast chicken meal. However, about a decade ago, I discovered that the perfect roast chicken has less to do with flavor and more to do with how you treat the actual molecular structure of the meat itself. Why is this important? Because it determines 1) how much of your seasoning will be absorbed by the chicken (read: flavor-town!), and 2) how much moisture the chicken will retain during the cooking process.

For me the Perfect Roast Chicken must have the following:

• crispy skin
• moist meat, especially the breast meat (achieved through the brining process)
• must be roasted in its own fat and juices.

The best roast chicken recipe I’ve ever prepared (and consistently gives unbelievable results) is Heston Blumenthal’s Perfect Crispy Roast Chicken recipe. I am not going to lie to you: this recipe is work! It includes brining the chicken, drying the chicken in the fridge overnight (a similar process used to make the crispy skin on Peking Duck), as well as an incredibly low cooking temperature that more than doubles the cooking time.

However, all this being said, I have never eaten a more delicious roast chicken cooked in a home kitchen. After watching the videos below, I know it may feel a little intimidating to even try embark on this somewhat complication recipe, but trust me, you can do it.

Personally, I’m a firm believer in putting effort into everything that enters my body. If it’s helping keep me alive and kicking, then I want the best — and sometimes, that requires a bit more effort. So even though I don’t prepare this recipe often, I do make the effort on special occasions. Trust me, it’s worth it.

For more, including educational videos of Heston Blumenthal using this method to prepare a roast chicken, click here.