I know my chicken, you got to know your chicken*

Brine That Chicken!
Take a 3.5-ish pound chicken, remove giblets and whatever else the meat packer people decided to stuff in the cavity, and rinse that bad boy. Let it hang out in the sink while you do the following:
Bring 2-ish cups of water to a boil. Pour in 1/2 cup salt, and like 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar. I scooped it out of the canister with my (clean) fingers, so I'm not sure about the measure. I suggest 1/4 cup. Stir until that's all dissolved. Dump in some peppercorns, like 1 tablespoon or so, and a bay leaf or two, plus whatever herbs you like. I'm always partial to rosemary so I snipped off a couple sprigs and also dumped in about a tablespoon of dried thyme. Stick your head over the water and smell it. This is what your chicken will taste like, so if you don't like it, start over with the water, salt, and sugar.
Dump a bunch of ice in a big stock pot, or a bowl that's big enough for the chicken to hang out in completely submerged. Pour the hot brining liquid over it, and stir it around so it cools off completely. The recipes all say you should refrigerate this so it's totally chilled before you put the bird in, but I see no reason to wait if it's chilled down so much that the ice cubes won't melt anymore.
Submerge the chicken in the brine, and set it in the fridge for at least an hour, and up to 4 or 5 hours. I think we went just over 4 hours, and that was enough.
Preheat oven to 425 F (200-215 C).
After all that's done, take the chicken out and rinse it off well to get all the bits of herb off of it. Dry it off completely or the skin won't crisp and get brown, and stuff it with a quartered onion, and maybe some garlic too if you're into that sort of thing. I like to cut little slits in that flabby skin that hangs around the cavity, criss-cross the legs, and tuck the ends into the slits so it stays sort of trussed up in its own anatomy, and bend the wing tips behind its shoulders. Slather some olive oil on the skin, and throw on some ground pepper.
Set it in the roasting pan of your choice, and let it go for an hour or so, or until the meaty part of the thigh registers 170 F (75 C). Take it out of the oven and let it sit around for 15 minutes or so, then carve away.
It's just too good.

*Title courtesy Cibo Matto, song still stuck in my head from ten years ago...