How long to boil a chicken?

michellen34

Hi everyone,

I'm new to to the OS boards but have been reading them the last couple of days, there's some great recipes out there which I'm going to try!

What I wanted to ask is does anyone know how long it takes to boil a 2kg chicken please? I've never boiled one before so have no idea?
I'm going to look through some of the recipes and use the stock for a soup and the chicken for some freezer meals.
Looking forward to starting this :T as money is very tight at the minute.

Thanks in advance

Michelle.

greenbee

I use Nigel Slater's instructions for this - they're in Appetite, and are actually instructions for making broth, with the boiled chicken as a by-product!

I chuck a couple of celery sticks, a whole onion, the green tops from leeks, parsley stalks, a bay leave, some peppercorns and maybe a tomato past its best and a handful of thyme if I can be bothered to go outside in with the chicken, cover it with water, bring to the boil, then simmer very gently (I do this in the oven if I've got other things in there). It takes about a hour, and then you'll have a couple of pints of stock too! You may need to turn it or top up the water, so keep an eye on it.

Don't peel or chop the veg, just wash.

Don't forget to make stock from the bones afterwards too!

You can also do this in the slow cooker

michellen34

Thanks Greenbee it's cooked now and I'm just waiting to skim the fat off when its cooled,

Thanks again,

Michelle.

competitionscafe

You don't want to boil it you want to poach it - a very, very gentle simmer. I even have one recipe where you cover the chicken with water bring to the boil with a lid on then switch off the heat and leave it for an hour. Apparently the chicken will be perfectly cooked although I haven't tried the recipe yet.

michellen34

Hiya Thanks, I'll know that for next time. I did boil it and the breast meat was a little dry, but hopefully it will be ok in a sauce. Made 3 main meals to serve 5 and going to make a soup now aswell, Yey! :T all out of one chicken lol

Thanks

Michelle.

EssexHebridean

Thanks for this thread- I've just had my first go at this too! My stockpot isn't very big so I stripped off the legs and wings and did the body first - have just taken that out and added the "limbs" to the stockpot. The meat will make a big pot of curry and probably some aside for a risotto and soup and the stock will go into pots for freezing, apart from one for soup on wednesday.