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then uncovered in the refrigerator, 3–24 hours

chicken + salt + black pepper, rubbed over the skin and inside the cavity, then set on a rack and left uncovered in the cold — salt draws moisture out, the moisture dissolves the salt, and it walks back in seasoned; meanwhile the fridge's dry air dehydrates the skin, and dry skin is the whole precondition for crisp skin. Skip this and the bird spends its first twenty minutes in the oven boiling off surface water instead of browning.