Recipe: whole lemon-garlic chicken from the Airfryer

Looking for the ultimate juicy, crispy chicken? With this recipe, you’ll give the chicken an irresistible crust and a flavourful lemon-garlic butter to melt into. The secret? A little preparation and patience. By letting the chicken dry in the refrigerator for a while, the skin becomes extra crispy and every piece gets a delicious bite.

• Pat the chicken dry with some kitchen paper. In a bowl, mix the baking powder, fine salt, black pepper and lemon zest together with your fingers.
• Rub the outside of the chicken all over with this mixture. Place a cookie rack in a suitable baking tray and put the chicken on it. Refrigerate the chicken uncovered for 1–2 days. This ensures that the skin dries out and becomes crispier later. For a quicker preparation, you can skip this step.
• Bring the chicken to room temperature. Make shallow cuts in the fattier parts of the chicken, which are the legs. I also like to cut into the underside of the chicken (not the breast side), because it gets slightly less heat than the top.
• Also check whether there is anything left inside the chicken. Some butchers leave some offal inside. Remove it (and discard it). Place the lemon quarters and garlic halves inside the chicken.

• Cook the chicken for 50 minutes at 160 °C until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, for the lemon-garlic butter, melt the butter with the garlic in a saucepan over low heat; do not let it brown. Turn off the heat and immediately stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice and finely chopped parsley.
• Remove the chicken from the Airfryer and place it on a clean cutting board. Brush half of the melted lemon-garlic butter over it. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes and repeat this step. Serve immediately.