ROASTING A WHOLE CHICKEN

Learn how to Roast a Whole Chicken

A whole roasted chicken is a classic family meal. When Ricky and I were growing up, a lot of families still had a special midday, sit down Sunday dinner. Roasting a whole chicken and serving it with all the fixings was definitely Sunday dinner worthy. Even now with food prices soaring, purchasing a whole chicken for dinner is an economical choice as far as main course options go. The cost of a whole chicken, per pound, is less than chicken wings, as absurd as that is. And there is something special, almost elegant about serving a roasted chicken. It has stood the test of time because it is good!

Roasting a whole chicken is easy

Roasting a chicken is as easy as it gets. It’s almost ready for roasting right out of the wrapping.

Roasting is not for chicken alone

The only difference between a chicken and a turkey, from a cooking standpoint, is the size of the bird. There is a slight difference in taste, but the preparation and cooking technique is exactly the same. The same can be said about roasting other meats. All the principles stay the same. I hope once you see how simple roasting is, you will not be intimidated by it anymore. It’s not uncommon that someone tells me they are terrified as they face cooking their first Thanksgiving turkey. Haven’t we all heard stories of Thanksgiving turkey disasters? Follow these simple steps and you will shine on your very first try.

The tale of three birds

Pretty bird vs Plain Janes

In the course of cooking for this post we used two “plain Jane” small, store brand, whole chickens. They were pretty scruffy and needed some cleaning up, as you will see 🙂.

Our plain Janes were fine for our “how to” pictures but when putting the post together we realized none of our shots were “feature” picture worthy. So we bought a third whole chicken, did some fancy stuff to it and roasted it for our feature shot. I nicknamed our feature picture worthy chicken “pretty bird“.

Pretty bird came cleaned up. It didn’t have quills, or wads of fat, or a lot of loose skin. It had nice color, a meaty breast, it even had a pop-up timer and when roasted it looked just the way I wanted it to for the feature picture. Why the difference between my store brand birds and pretty bird? 💲💵💰. Pretty bird was a brand name. But I lucked out. When I decided we had to buy yet another whole chicken, pretty birds were on sale. We are saving our pretty bird, with the “fancy” things done to show it off, for last. First we are going to show you the real nitty gritty stuff with our plain Janes.

Let’s meet plain Jane

Okay, I know, the first round of close up pictures make this bird look kind of prehistoric. A chicken plucked clean of it’s feathers with loose skin hanging at each end is not a thing of beauty. That excess skin remains from the processing. In this case, the process takes the chicken from the barn yard to the packaging plant. But even though our plain Jane chickens may not be pretty out of the wrapping, they taste the same when they are done as ones that might cost you twice as much. If you buy a less expensive, store brand, whole chicken, these pictures show you what you may see when you unwrap it.

We are going to make this proverbial frog 🐸 into a prince 🤴 in no time.

When you unwrap

In the next picture you are looking at the tail end of the chicken with the breast bone facing up. This bird still has some quills sticking out from the loose skin and the end of it’s legs. A quill is the end piece of a feather. It is hollow and feels almost like a thick fingernail. When feathers were used as writing implements, the quill end was dipped in ink. The narrow point made a nice thin line.

Let’s clean this bird up

Next we are going to cut some excess skin and fat off with kitchen shears.

Inside the cavity there is a small package wrapped up in butcher paper with giblets in it. You take that out. It’s not uncommon for someone to cook a bird without removing the paper wrapped giblets, simply because they didn’t know the package was in there. What’s in that butchers wrap? Internal parts. Many people think they are the best parts. If you are cooking a turkey with larger parts, you will usually find a second package tucked in the cavity on the other end too. I don’t use them so I just throw them away. In the pictures below you can see what the wrapped package looks like.

Prepare for roasting

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

And now we are ready to roast

Now you are ready to roast the chicken. If you have made stuffing that you are going to cook in the bird, fill the cavity with your stuffing before you put it in the oven.

A general rule of thumb for roasting chicken is to roast 20 minutes for each pound. Round the final 20 minutes up or down to match the weight. If you have 2 1/2 pounds, it is 20 X 2=40 minutes plus 10 minutes for the extra 1/2 pound. So, in this case you would roast for 50 minutes, at 350 degrees. Another way to think of it, is to allow one hour of cook time for every three pounds of weight. A six pound bird will take 2 hours, five pounds is 20 minutes less.

There are things to look for to determine if the chicken is done. The skin at the end of the legs shrinks up, and more of the bone is exposed. Also, the leg is “loose”, you can move it easily. The skin will be browned and looks like it has somewhat detached from the meat of the bird. It’s kind of puckered too. You can see what all that looks like in the following pictures.

So let’s get roasting. I will walk you through a couple of different roasting methods with our 2 plain Jane chickens.

Dry roasting

Dry roasting is a conventional roasting method. One of our plain Jane chickens is being dry roasted. The cavity has been stuffed with a stuffing prepared in advance.

It’s best to use a rack when you are dry roasting, rather than just putting the chicken on the bottom of the baking pan. A rack allows the heat to circulate around the chicken to cook more evenly and it keeps the meat from burning to the bottom. Put the rack in a pan with shallow sides. The pan should be large enough to catch all the drippings and allow for plenty of room around the chicken for heat to flow.

Whole roasted chicken with stuffing

Chicken is a little less forgiving when it comes to doneness than some other meats. It is important that the internal temperature is hot enough to have killed common bacteria that can be found in poultry. But, if it is cooked too long, the meat becomes dry and stringy.

If you use a meat thermometer, you want a temperature of about 165 at the thickest part of the breast meat, but not too close to the bone. Or you can buy an internal thermometer, as found in some roasters you buy, and insert it yourself. I don’t use a thermometer when roasting poultry. I am able to determine if it is done by looking for the signs I listed above. Check for doneness during the last half hour or so. Not all ovens stay at a steady accurate heat. Your chicken could take longer to cook or be done ahead of time.

And just look at the meal we made with this plain Jane

But maybe you don’t want to stick to conventional methods

Here’s another way to roast a whole chicken

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Roast on a bed of vegetables instead of using a rack

When I am roasting a whole chicken or turkey I usually make a bed of vegetables in a baking pan rather than use a wire rack. The vegetables keep the chicken off the bottom of the pan. I add a couple of pieces of the vegetables to the cavity of the bird too. This method keeps the meat moist and the gravy made from the drippings is different and really delicious.

Get creative with the vegetables, fruits and herbs you choose

I used onion and celery to make the bed for the chicken in these pictures, and added my homegrown dried thyme. But I have used many other combinations that have been really good, like apples and onions with dried rosemary. Fresh rosemary is great with lemon and onion especially in the summer. The flavor of the gravy changes depending on what combination you use. And when the bird is done, the vegetables are great to serve on the side. If you don’t want to make a gravy, the drippings from the pan can be poured over the carved meat instead.

Finally add a splash of …

I add about 1/4 cup liquid to the bottom of the baking dish, to help the vegetables melt down. Without the liquid, the vegetables would brown on the bottom. Browning would give the gravy a deeper flavor. But I like the fresh flavor of the vegetables and or fruits and herbs in the gravy.

For the liquid, I usually use a splash of dry vermouth. I started experimenting with using wine because I generally really like dishes in restaurants that are cooked with white wine.

Years ago I heard that dry vermouth is a good substitute for dry white wine in cooking. I don’t know all that much about wines, and don’t usually have a bottle of white wine sitting around, so dry vermouth is my “go to” for cooking. It is relatively inexpensive, has a twist top cap, and can be stored in your kitchen cabinet for a long time. I use it enough in my cooking to have it on hand as a staple. Nothing makes you feel the thrill of creative, flamboyant abandon in the kitchen, more than adding a splash of dry vermouth.

But if you are not ready to pounce into the world of cooking with wine, chicken broth or stock is good or you can just add water.

Here is how it all comes together

This small plain Jane has a unique pose. It has one of it’s legs thrust forward, so it didn’t sit straight and it was kind of wobbly and cockeyed. It looked like it may have been throwing a punch 😂.

The vegetables are cut into big chunks because we want them to hold the chicken off the bottom of the baking dish.

Ta Da …..

Whole roasted chicken with vegetables and drippings

This plain Jane is looking great on the plate 😋

And now .. as promised .. all about pretty bird

Pretty bird is a name brand bird, not a store brand like the others in this post. It came right out of the wrapper ready to go. All excess fat had already been removed and there certainly were no long quills sticking out for us to remove. She’s a beauty to behold. Cream of the crop.

Give it a body massage with oil and herbs

First wipe the cavity with a strong paper towel until the cavity is dry. Then liberally salt the cavity and the outside of the chicken. Next we are going to give pretty bird a rub of oil and herbs, inside and out. In this herb mix we are adding a couple of teaspoons of dried thyme and a teaspoon of dried sage to some oil We crushed the herbs and put them into about 1/4 cup unflavored oil, we used canola oil. You can use any herbs and oil you like.

Tie the legs for even cooking

Now we are going to tie the legs together. On the smaller birds, I don’t usually tie the legs up. The purpose of tying is to let the leg meat and the narrower section of breast meat cook evenly, by tucking it all together and holding it there with string.

Don’t make more of this than it is. This is how I tie up the legs, you can accomplish the same end result any way you want.

We are dry roasting on a rack placed in a baking dish, the same as we used for the dry roast earlier in the post. Also like our other roasters, we are roasting at 350 degrees for 20 minutes per pound.

It tells you when it is done!

When the chicken is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Ready to Serve