how to roast a whole chicken?

rosy

The last time I did a chicken, I did it this way and it was so moist and juicy and tasty I've been told by OH to do it like this all the time from now on:

Stick of celery, half a lemon, couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary stuck up it ( sounds a bit rude that). Then on the outside of the chicken, sprinkle with dried oregano, pepper, salt. Sit it in roasting tin, pour in about half an inch boiling water and another half an inch of white wine. Cover with foil. Roast at 200 degrees C for the usual time ( depends on chicken size probably but I gave it about 1 hour 15 minutes). Baste the chicken with the juices in the pan three or four times while it's cooking. Then take foil off, let it colour up for about 15 - 20 minutes, take it out of the oven, let it sit for 15 - 20 minutes then eat it. The juices can just be poured into a pan and boiled to reduce them and they make a really gorgeous gravy without any palaver.

gerretl

Three bits of advice I can give.
1) If its just for two of you, cut the chicken in half lengthways, and cut of the wing from one side. Roast this as if it were an entire chicken. Cut the breast , wing and leg off the other half. Cut the leg on half at the joint, and bag up with the wings. You now have enough meat for a future meal, such as cajun fried chicken, plus some bits of carcass. Take the skin off the chicken breast, and put the breast in the freezer. You now have enough meat for another future meal, such as a chicken curry. Put all the skin, bits of carcass etc in a pot, and boil to make a stock. You now have the base for a third meal, such as a risotto. Hey presto, four meals from one chicken. I did this last week from a Tesco chicken that was mispriced, so I got the R and R. (four meals for nowt). The half roast chicken tastes as good as a complete one, and you don't feel guilty about the left overs.
2) Roast Potatoes. I do them as follows. Use red potatoes, and parboil them. Drain the water off, and add enough flour to cover them. Put some oil in a roasting tray, and put in the oven to heat up. Once the oil is smoking hot, add the potatoes. Perfect.
3) When you do the veg, use the water the veg was cooked in as the basisi for the gravy.

pavlovs_dog

nice to see this thread again

ti1980

...for the first time!:eek:

I am so scared of undercooking chicken that I very rarely buy it or when I do then its already in strips (not at all money saving I know:o )

I have read some threads about (rubber) chicken on here and I saw the chicken on offer when I was shopping at M&S today and I thought at the price I might as well give it a go.

I got the smallest one I could find. It was £2.34.

On the packaging it says that it will take 1 hour and 15 mins to cook. Is that really all it will take? I remember it taking hours when my mum used to make chicken and it was tasty as anything.
It also says that you need 40 mins/kg on the back. Each chicken on the shelf had different cooking times according to the weight.

Not sure when I'm going to cook it, the instructions are easy enough, says I just need to season with salt and pepper, anything else that you would suggest?
I plan to roast it as per the instructions then use a Texan Barbeque sauce on it and have with rice.
I don't think I will attempt the whole stock thing this time but if I don't poison myself then I might try it again while the chickens are still cheap.:j

Thanks for reading me ramble on!:o

gerretl

How many people are eating it?
If its only two, cut the chicken on half lengthwise, and roat half it now, and half on another date

mandy_moo_1

mmmm i love roast chicken!!

its dead easy

just rinse the chicken once you've taken the packaging off, dab it dry with some kitchen roll, stick it in a roasting tray.sprinkle a bit of salt on it, then stick it in the oven at 180 for the time it says

oh and just spoon some of the juices over it about half way thru

when its cooked, leave it to stand for 10mins before carving ....delicious & dead easy

Pink.

Hi ti190,

If those are the instructions and you need to eat it now, then go with them. We have a few threads on cooking chicken for the first time, but I can't get my hands on them now because the search is playing up.

What I do with chicken is:

Cook covered in tin foil at 190 degrees for 20 minutes per pound (if you are having stuffing in the bird, then include that in the weight).

Remove the foil and cook (baste regularly with the juices) for a further 15- 20 minutes until the skin looks brown and crispy.

Take the chicken out of the oven and leave it to rest for 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

Pink

ti1980

Thanks for your replies.:)

It is just for me!:o There isn't the space to freeze half of it really, I want to do it all at once or I know it would just get thrown away.

It looks easy enough on the pack. The instructions are:

Remove film, preheat oven. Place tray onto a baking tray and place onto oven shelf. Season with salt and pepper.

Check product is thoroughly cooked before serving.

It says on the pack that it needs to stand for 10 mins before carving. Thanks for that.

furndire

If you turn it breast side down when cooking, the breast is much juicier. Celery salt is a brilliant flavour to sprinkle on the skin.
Don't forget to use the carcase to make stock after you have taken all the meat off.
Just cover the bones with cold water, and simmer for an hour or so ~ you can throw in stuff like a bay leaf, or bits of carrot etc., but I don't bother ~ just use the basic liquid, then add to it when I decide to make soup etc. Then drain off the liquid into another pan, and discard the bones ~ not the liquid as someone I know once did. You can reduce this down (by simmering) to save space, and freeze until you want to use it.

Pink.

ti1980,

Good luck with cooking it, let us know how you get on.

Don't be afraid of making stock with what you have left. Just chuck the lot (including any left over veg and spuds) into a pot, bring to the boil and then simmer for a few hours on low. Sieve the bones and rubbish out and you'll be left with a fantastic base for any soup you fancy.

Pink