The Habitat chicken brick is back – but what’s the best way to roast a bird?

For my part, I have a near-pathological fear of chicken skin that’s not crisp, and I can’t see how the bird could emerge from such a coffin without this being so, whatever aficionados might claim. But even if I’m not rushing to buy one, the history of this object fascinates me. How much chicken did people eat in 1964, and what did it taste like? Even in my childhood, it was something we had relatively rarely, and memory tells me that it tasted stronger – richer and gamier – than it does now. How did the chicken brick fit with this? Was it the 60s equivalent of an air fryer, pushed to the back of a cupboard because only rarely used? Or was it useful, a way of tenderising chicken that was – what’s the word? – meatier than it is now?