I think it’s safe to say Samin Nosrat completely changed the way I cook. It sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s true. Up until I read her cookbook, “Salt Fat Acid Heat,” I was a good cook, but I lacked confidence. I was the type of person who followed a recipe to the letter, thinking that if I even went a toe print astray, my work would go up in flames.

Then an old coworker of mine told me about “Salt Fat Acid Heat.” I saved up for a while and bought the cookbook. It’s very large and thick, which makes it seem somewhat intimidating, but it’s actually the opposite. It has advice and tips that guide you every step of the way, from how to salt food (spoiler: use more salt), to how to cook meat and poultry.

Which brings to this buttermilk roast chicken. I made this recipe from the cookbook several years ago for myself and my now ex, and I’ve never stopped thinking about it. The piece of advice that stood out the most for me was salting a chicken. It may seem like common sense, but a lot of people skip this step. I get it: Who wants to massage salt onto slimy, disgusting chicken skin that literally feels like guts between your hands. It’s not pleasant, but it’s necessary. The salt tenderizes the bird and creates a more moist, delicate end product. Don’t take my word for it: Take Samin’s.

Samin advocates for salting a chicken as soon as you unwrap it from the plastic (or I guess, paper, depending on where you get it). I would tend to agree. The sooner you get salt on the bird, the better.

Aside from that, there’s not too much to this roast chicken. After you get done dousing it in salt, you throw it in a plastic bag with a buttermilk salt mixture, seal the bag, and move the chicken all around so the buttermilk gets into every nook and cranny. Saying that last part made me feel like a British grandmother, but it’s true.

Then, you let the bird sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Samin recommends putting the bagged chicken on a plate in the fridge, and again, I would agree: Even though a well-sealed bag will probably be safe, there’s always the possibility that buttermilk or chicken juice could come out, and no one wants to deal with that mess.

If you have time during the 24 hours the chicken is marinating, turn the bag so the buttermilk mixture distributes more evenly. You can even pat the mixture into the bird if you want. I usually wouldn’t have time for this because I’d be at work all day on a Monday, but luckily I was working from home today, so I could pat away.

Another key to this recipe is letting the chicken come to room temperature before you roast it. This is another step where you’re probably thinking, why should I bother doing this? The answer is similar to the salt quandary: Letting the chicken come to room temperature will create a softer, more delicate end product. No one wants dry, rubbery chicken.

Finally, my last chicken roasting tip actually comes from a different chef, Ludo Lefebvre. Way back in 2018, I was watching his episode on the PBS series Mind of a Chef about roasting chicken. Ludo said when you’re roasting chicken, you don’t go get your nails done or read a magazine. “You stay with your bird,” he said. That tip has stuck with me to this day. I treat my chicken like a parent would a toddler on a playground: I let it do its thing, but I keep a close eye on it to make sure it’s doing okay. I’m never far away.

Well, that kind of attention paid off tonight. I took the chicken out of the oven when the skin was perfectly crispy and golden brown. I waited 10 painstaking minutes to cut into it, per Samin’s instructions. I started by cutting the thighs off, because dark meat isn’t my favorite. Then, I snuck a taste of the white meat, which actually led to me getting into the dark meat underneath. Soon, I was eating torn pieces with my hands like an animal. I cried silently. Am I ashamed?…No.

Eating the chicken skin took me back to my childhood. I would have rotisserie chicken for dinner, and the skin was always my favorite part. I guess it had the most flavor. Nothing could beat tonight’s skin, though, which was perfectly crisp, salty, and tender. I honestly feel like crying again just thinking about it.

Lucky for me, I have plenty of leftovers to last me a few days. Until then, I’ll leave you with this song, which pretty much sums up how I feel about this roast chicken.