How to cook a whole chicken?

I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat chicken

BUT, living with my parents and brother and dogs (all meat eaters), when I've cooked a chicken in the past, I have done thus:

Make sure the chicken doesn't have any giblets in.

Rubbed the chicken with some olive oil, salt, and or other seasonings (rosemary, thyme, garlic and parsley are ALL great with chicken, but you could spice things up with some cayenne or chilli flakes too, and lemon always goes nicely!)

Baked in a covered roasting pan (either one of the groovy ones that has a lid, or covered with some kitchen foil) for about 1 1/2 hours, on around 175 degrees Centigrade, OR until the juices run clear. That's the most important thing- the juices run clear.

I just did the same thing.
bump for ideas!

Apply heat!

Not done after 2 hours? That's weird. Is your oven heating properly? You can buy an oven thermometer fairly cheaply to make sure that the oven is hitting the temp you set.

Sorry it didn't work out this time, but good for you for trying. A whole chicken can be intimidating if you've never cooked one before.

I put mine in the crockpot! It's the simplest and yummiest!

Rinse it off, take the gizzards out, pat dry. Then use any meat rub, seasoning salt, or your own mix of herbs and rub them ALL over the chicken.

Put the chicken in the crockpot (I don't add water or anything, the chicken's moistness will stay and create broth in the crockpot). Let the chicken cook on low for about 8 hours or high for about 4. After it's cooked the skin is crispy and the meat is SO moist. I make at least one a month and freeze the left overs.

THIS for sure! I screw up whole chickens every single time if I don't do it in the crockpot!

But yeah..the chicken definitely should have been done after 2hrs! I'd check the oven temp for sure

Take all the organs out of the cavity of the chest. Wash the chicken thoroughly with water. It is not necessary to have a 'roasting pan' but it makes it easier. If you have a large rectangular casserole pan, that will work.

I put the chicken breast side up on a small rack to keep it off the bottom of the pan. I add garlic powder and paprika to coat, then I add a sprinkling of allspice and nutmeg. Season with pepper and kosher salt and add a small amount of water to the bottom of the pan. (I add dried thyme and rosemary to the cavity) It is up to you if you cook the organs with the bird. It enhances the flavor of the broth, but I don't eat them.

Bake at 350 until the middle of the breast meat reaches poultry safe zone via a meat thermometer. Let the chicken rest in the pan out of the oven for approx. 15 minutes.

I strain the fat off of the broth in the pan and make rice or a gravy. If you don't want to mess with this on this particular day, do strain the broth anyway, place into a container and pop into the freezer. Next time you want to make a quick veggie soup, you will have broth already handy. I have even put broth in ice cube trays, frozen it and then add to a ziplock freezer baggie. When you are braising or searing meat in a pan it is good to add a cube to help deglaze the pan or add moisture.

If you really want to Martha Stewart it all up....I add chunks of onion, a stalk of celery and a large carrot or two, it makes the broth very tasty. Oh and if you have any fresh herbs...through those in the cavity of the bird when you put it in the oven.

This is really easy and I find that it is mindless cooking as you put it in and walk away from the kitchen. Also great to throw it in a crockpot, set on low for several hours and viola, you have a finished meat with very little prep time.

It was an epic fail.

We decided to just cook steak after 2 hours and it still not being cooked.

:noway: What temp did you set the oven? Perhaps the oven is having some issues?

My favorite whole chicken recipe by far is ...Beer in the Butt Chicken....

Wash the chicken, rub with olive oil, salt and pepper...add some fresh rosemary under the skin. Add 2-3 springs of rosemary to a can of beer and set the chicken on the beer can.

Bake at 350 for about an hour...Moist and SUPER YUMMY!

I take it you open the beer can? Or else you'd be picking bits of chicken out the trees and bushes :drinker:

Preheat oven to 375

Remove the neck and what not from the cavity.
I rinse my chicken and pat it dry with paper towels
Rub it with olive oil
salt and pepper inside and out
Rub it with a dry rub
tuck the tips of the wings in
fill the cavity with whole cloves of garlic and herbs
put in a roasting pan on a rack
put a foil tent over the chicken and pan
put in oven covered for an hour and 15 minutes, drizzling with olive oil around 45 minutes in
take off tent, drizzle with olive oil, and finished uncovered for another 15 to 30 minutes.

(total cook time 1:30 - 1:45 minutes for a 3.5 to 4 lb chicken unstuffed)

I have a showtime rotisserie and I love it!

I peel the skin back off the chicken a little bit and rub it down with pepper, garlic, onion and chili powder! Fold the skin back over it and cook for 45 minutes! It is so good and moist when you take it out! yummmm! I might make a chicken tonight!