-
1
Preheat oven to 375F.
-
2
Rinse capon inside and out and discard any excess fat from cavity.
-
3
Pat capon dry and season cavity with salt and pepper.
-
4
Put in a large roasting pan and let stand at room temperature 20 minutes.
-
5
While capon is standing, stir together butter, zest, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
-
6
Turn capon so neck cavity is nearest you.
-
7
To loosen breast skin, lift neck flap and work your fingers gently between skin and flesh, being careful not to tear skin.
-
8
Slide your fingers down breast and along both sides all the way to thighs.
-
9
Put half of butter mixture evenly under skin of each breast, then rub outside of capon to distribute evenly.
-
10
Place 6 lemon wedges in cavity of bird and tie legs together with string.
-
11
Roast capon in middle of oven, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes, 1 1/2 hours.
-
12
Skim most of fat from pan, then add remaining 10 lemon wedges to pan, tossing with pan juices.
-
13
Continue roasting capon, basting every 15 minutes, until thermometer inserted 2 inches into fleshy part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170F, about 45 minutes more.
-
14
Tilt capon in pan to pour out juices in cavity, then transfer capon and lemon wedges to a carving platter and let stand 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
-
15
Do not clean pan.
-
16
Skim fat from pan juices and straddle roasting pan across 2 burners.
-
17
Add water and jelly and deglaze pan by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute.
-
18
Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes.
-
19
Season sauce with salt and pepper, then pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
-
20
Carve capon and serve with sauce.
