Lone cuts of chicken like breasts and wings often need a sauce or breading to stand alone as a good meal, but a good roast chicken only needs salt and pepper to become a delicious centerpiece. A properly roasted chicken has an unmatched juiciness and satisfying savory flavor, which can be credited to two important qualities.

The two qualities that make a whole roast chicken great are its high fat content, which adds moisture and flavor, and the bones, which conduct heat evenly and slow the process that dries the meat out. Most of the fat is under the chicken’s skin, making it crispy while basting the meat for juiciness, while the bones promote even cooking.

Even skin-on pieces of chicken don't have the same amount of fat as a whole bird, and smaller bones in bone-in wings or thighs don't have the same insulting properties as those found in a roast chicken. While all that skin and bone can make roasting a whole bird a challenge, it adds up to the best-tasting chicken you can make.