how to roast a whole chicken?

The_Bride

I've never washed a chicken, seems a bit pointless. In regards to roasting, I always follow St Delia's method of roasting it for an 45 on Gas Mark 8 and then let it rest while covering it in foil for another 20-30 mins. This is based on a chicken around 1.3kg.

The key is letting it rest so the juices are let back into the meat.


This is the link.
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/fast-roast-chicken-with-lemon-and-tarragon,1369,RC.html

Pink.

Hi pavlovs_dog

Roasting your first chicken always feels more daunting than it actually is.

Remove all packaging and don't forget to remove the giblets if there are any. Rinse the chicken (particularly the inside) under cold running water, and put a little water into the roasting tray with it to create the steam. Cover in tinfoil and preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Cook for 20 minutes per pound. Baste if you feel like it, but I never do. For the last 20 minutes, remove the foil, turn the oven up a bit and allow the skin to crisp up. To check if it's cooked properly, pierce the thigh with a skewer.......if the juices run clear, it's ready. Leave to rest in a warm kitchen for 15-20 minutes before serving.

I drain off the juices a couple of times during cooking.......leave them in a cool place and skim off any fat to use for the roast potatoes, use the rest of the juice to make the gravy. I love stuffing, but on your first attempt, it might be easier not to bother.

Here are some older threads that might help:

how to roast a whole chicken?

Crispy roast potatoes

Decent gravy please.

And last, but not least......with pictures: Sunday roast cook off


Pink

Alfietinker

[QUOTE=Pink-wingedTo_check_if_it's_cooked_properly,_pierce_the_thigh_with_a_skewer.......if_the_juices_run_clear,_it's_ready._Leave_to_rest_in_a_warm_kitchen_for_15-20_minutes_before_serving._[/QUOTE]

Can I join in? I've only ever cooked one roast chicken, about 2 years ago for the in-laws. I'd love to know how to make it go further. : Got to use up the storecupboard before splurging on a chicken though.

Thriftlady: I got a chicken a few weeks back with giblets. I wanted a free range one from the butchers to try a casserole with. He only had a frozen one that wouldn't fit in the ice box at work so he sawed it into quarters. Along with the giblet bag! I had to not look when I defrosted it. :eek:

My question is about telling when it's cooked, I am a little paranoid with chicken and am forever stabbing my knife in and cutting it up to check, even with a stir fry. When I cooked a turkey crown last Christmas I did the skewer test, and even got mother in law to confirm the juices were clear. The next day when I was cutting up the cold meat some of the breast, right in the 'middle' was still pink. That's why I'm a little paranoid. I don't want to poison anybody.

Pink.

Alfietinker wrote:

My question is about telling when it's cooked, I am a little paranoid with chicken and am forever stabbing my knife in and cutting it up to check, even with a stir fry. When I cooked a turkey crown last Christmas I did the skewer test, and even got mother in law to confirm the juices were clear. The next day when I was cutting up the cold meat some of the breast, right in the 'middle' was still pink. That's why I'm a little paranoid. I don't want to poison anybody.

Another way I check it, just to make sure, is to tip it up and the look carefully at any juice that runs out of the hole (I'm sure there must be a proper word for this but I don't know what it is?). The juice should be brown and if there's even the slightest hint of pink, it needs a bit longer.

Pink

pavlovs_dog

better safe than sorry alfie :beer:

thanks to all for the advice :beer:

luckylukey

Hi

I think roast chicken is the easiest roast to do - good luck!

I am roasting one at the moment. It did have the giblets in it, but they were in a bag which I threw away as not in the mood to deal with them today!

this is how i do it:

Heat the oven with the tray in
pour a little oil on the hot tray and place the bird, breast side down
stick in the oven and baste about every 20 minutes. twenty minutes before the end, turn over the bird over, baste and leave for twenty more minutes

I pierce the bird in the thickest part and in the drum stick to make sure juices run clear.

Potatoes - par boil them and then shake them around in a colander to fluff them up and then stick in the tray for about an hour - i just place them around the bird

I am not using any herbs/spices on this bird as I am making other meals out of it.

Alfietinker

Thanks Pink-winged. I think I need a little more practise too, I hardly ever use the oven, (which is gas and a little tempramental) and we so rarely eat things like roasts that I'm not used to it. We really, really need to start cutting our expenses over the next few months though that I'm going to really try to be more OS.

pavlovs_dog

can i stick the tatties in the tray with water to roast them? i'd have thought that i would have to use fat

pavlovs_dog

me again ive just unpacked the chuck. now ive read it, the label does actually state no jiblets, and no need to wash *insert relieved smilie*

much to the amusement of my observing OH, i have cut the string that it was trussed up with, and peered inside. i spied what looked like lungs. i was amazed, oh very surprised that i wasnt totally grossed out must admit, raw white meat is proving infinately easier to handle than raw red meat - probably because it looks less like flesh :eek:

right then, time for my next question..chicken weighs in at 2.014kg. the instructions say 45 mins per kilo, plus an extra 20-30 mins. this would give a cooking time of 1hr 40-2 hrs? do i keep it a the recommended cooking temp of 190c/375F throughout (doing the cover with foil thing for the first part, and then leave to brown for the last 30 mins or so?)

and do i sit this chicken on its bum, or do i put it upside down, breast side down into the pan? ive read so many things, and each one tells you something different :eek: whats a girl to do?!

snoozer

Sorry for being a bit OT but I remember 20 odd years ago my DH (then BF) shared a house with a lad from Bombay. His mother came across and they had a wonderful two weeks being pampered with all the lovely meals she prepared. She spent hours cooking really elaborate food.

Then one day I was there and was cooking a roast chicken and she came in to the kitchen saying she wanted to watch the English method of preparing a chicken. Her face when I put it in a roasting tin and slammed it into the oven was an absolute picture!