Roast chicken

I've often read that the true test of a cook is a roast chicken.  It's so easy to overcook one part and undercook another, rendering the entire bird inedible.   There are a couple of school's of thought that exist to avoid this problem, both relying on the fact that the breast cooks faster.

1. Bring the bird up to room temperature (by leaving it out of the fridge for half an hour) but tape/strap a bag of frozen peas onto the breast portion to ensure it is colder when the bird goes in the oven. 
2. Preheat the oven with a cast iron roasting pan inside.  When you have seasoned the bird, grab the hot roasting pan out of the oven and put the bird in thigh side down.

I did not use either technique and am not entirely sure which recipe I followed - I think it was from Delicious, and I will find it if I ever need to replicate it by looking for the stuffing recipe (mushroom and delicious).