# Help!  Roasting a whole chicken .....



## ShellyCooks (Feb 22, 2015)

How do you roast a whole chicken?  I have no problem roasting chicken parts, but when it comes to a whole chicken, I just can't get it right.  Tonight the chicken is back in the oven for the third time.  When I cut into the thigh, it was still pink around the bone.  I have followed several recipes, but I still have problems.  Tonight, I roasted a 4 pound chicken on a rack at 350 degrees F for 
1 1/2 hours.  Before I roasted it, I let it sit out to come to room temperature as one recipe suggested.   I've checked my oven and the temperature is accurate.  I am about to give up and just stick to chicken parts!  Any help would be appreciated.


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## Selkie (Feb 22, 2015)

Try this:

Baked Chicken Dinner Recipe : Food Network Kitchen : Food Network


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## Andy M. (Feb 22, 2015)

...or, try this.

Barbara Kafka's Simplest Roast Chicken recipe on Food52.com


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## Kayelle (Feb 22, 2015)

Or try beer butt chicken in a standing position in the oven. The dark meat cooks hotter than the white meat in both the oven or on a grill. As far as I'm concerned it's the most efficient way to roast chicken. You don't have to use beer, you can use wine or nothing at all with a standing rack for your chicken.


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## Bookbrat (Feb 23, 2015)

I pre-salt our chickens with 3/4 tsp. kosher salt per pound...salt inside and out, using Judy Rodger's Zuni Cafe method.  Stick it in the fridge for a day (I often salt it early in the morning for that night's dinner). You can stuff herbs under the skin, but I don't bother. Mostly I just roast it plain. Then roast as per Barbara Kafka (although I use 450F until thigh registers 160F on a meat thermometer...it doesn't take much longer...500F scares me, lol). It always comes out moist and perfect. Here's the recipe (I sort of) follow: Thibeault's Table The Recipe Collection: Simplest Roast Chicken. 

I've done it this way using my pottery beer butt chicken cooker, too. With wine and herbs in the "can" part.


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 23, 2015)

Kayelle said:


> Or try beer butt chicken in a standing position in the oven. The dark meat cooks hotter than the white meat in both the oven or on a grill. As far as I'm concerned it's the most efficient way to roast chicken. You don't have to use beer, you can use wine or nothing at all with a standing rack for your chicken.



Absolutely!

Beer/soda can is the way to go!

I just love the all over tan and even cooking.

I use an empty can (wrapped in aluminum foil) and roast at 350 for approx. 20 minutes per pound.


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2015)

Use a meat thermometer


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## puffin3 (Feb 23, 2015)

Preheat oven to 200 F. Yes 200 F. NO higher.
Rub a slurry of Kosher salt and white vinegar all over the bird. Stick a halved lemon in the cavity with a sprig of fresh thyme. Into roasting pan. Middle rack in oven. Check deep internal temp. When the temp. reaches 155 F, which will take a couple of hours more or less depending on the type of bird/size remove from the oven. Lightly tent for about 15 minutes. 
Crank up your broiler setting to screaming hot.
Apply another slurry of Kosher salt/white vinegar to the bird. The bird will at this point look pretty anemic.
Bird into oven with the oven light on. Watch as the skin turns a nice golden brown in a couple of minutes. 
Remove bird. Lightly tent. Rest for 30 or so minutes. Carve.
 This is referred to as the 'low and slow' method. 
Ever had a chicken that has basically the texture of shoe leather on the surface? Yes?
That's b/c all protein strands basically turn into rubber bands when they are heated over 212 F. Same with fried eggs.
It takes some people a long time to try the 'low and slow' method but I have never met one person who has tried the method who would ever go back to using high heat to cook any bird.
Your problem is the high heat is roasting the exterior of the bird and leaving the interior uncooked.


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2015)

Cooking chicken at 200 can give you food poisoning.  

Commercial poultry is already laden with bacteria and cooking it at such a low temperature encourages the bacteria to grow exponentially.

If one must cook chicken at a low temp, the chicken should start in a very hot oven to kill surface bacteria before turning the oven down.

I've always had great success with Barbara Kafka's high heat method.  Never turns to shoe
leather.  Also the Zuni chicken recipe is a bit fussier but always comes out great.


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## puffin3 (Feb 23, 2015)

jennyema said:


> Cooking chicken at 200 can give you food poisoning.
> 
> Commercial poultry is already laden with bacteria and cooking it at such a low temperature encourages the bacteria to grow exponentially.
> 
> ...


Tell that to the tens of thousands of 'Sous Vide' fans.
The recommended cooking temp. of chicken for dark meat is 167 F.
You need to do some research on what temps. and times are used to kill bacteria.
Sous Vide Time and Temperature Guide | Science | ChefSteps


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## CraigC (Feb 23, 2015)

puffin3 said:


> Tell that to the tens of thousands of 'Sous Vide' fans.
> The recommended cooking temp. of chicken for dark meat is 167 F.
> You need to do some research on what temps. and times are used to kill bacteria.
> Sous Vide Time and Temperature Guide | Science | ChefSteps



If you smoke a chuckie and want it to pull like pork, it will need to go between 210 and 215. It certainly will not be like rubber bands.


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## puffin3 (Feb 23, 2015)

CraigC said:


> If you smoke a chuckie and want it to pull like pork, it will need to go between 210 and 215. It certainly will not be like rubber bands.


And now you are going to address the issue of Sous Vide temps. visa vi chicken and bacteria .....right?


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2015)

puffin3 said:


> Tell that to the tens of thousands of 'Sous Vide' fans.
> The recommended cooking temp. of chicken for dark meat is 167 F.
> You need to do some research on what temps. and times are used to kill bacteria.
> Sous Vide Time and Temperature Guide | Science | ChefSteps


 

Sous Vide is an entirely different technique than oven roasting.  You are comparing apples and oranges.

For a whole lot of us, the recommended cooking temperature for dark meat is 170 or higher.  Below that temp the ample connective tissue in dark meat hasn't softened and the collagen hasn't dissolved so the meat has a texture that many people find very unappetizing.


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## Katie H (Feb 23, 2015)

I've never really had any challenge roasting a whole chicken and have a number of recipes I use that I like, all for different reasons.  However, last year I stumbled across a _Better Homes & Gardens_ magazine recipe at the doctor's office that really intrigued me.  I've made it several times, all with 100% success and all delicious.

You might be curious enough to try it.  Check out this link for Classic Roast Chicken.


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## RPCookin (Feb 23, 2015)

I've never had a problem with roasting a whole chicken.  I don't do anything fancy.  Oven at 350° F.  Coat chicken with whatever herb and spices you like.  You can put herb or spiced butter under the skin for more flavor if you like.  It also works well to brine the bird for a day before cooking, although I rarely bother.

I roasted a nice sized bird (nearly 5 pounds) last night just using rosemary, thyme and marjoram mixed into a melted butter basting sauce.  It took about 1 hour 45 minutes to get the thigh to about 165° (measured with my Thermapen starting at about one hour), basting 3 times during the cooking.  I then remove it from the oven and tent it with foil and let it rest for 1/2 hour to finish cooking wile I get the rest of the meal ready.  Came out quite nice, tender and full of flavor.  We have 2/3 of it left for something else tonight and at least one other meal after that.  As soon as the weather cooperates, I'll be doing it on my grill with some smoke to add even more flavor.


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## salt and pepper (Feb 23, 2015)

Here is some that I use, you can also use a "V" shaped roasting rack. The large is used for turkey on an outdoor stove and cooked on top of the burner!


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## puffin3 (Feb 23, 2015)

jennyema said:


> Sous Vide is an entirely different technique than oven roasting.  You are comparing apples and oranges.
> 
> For a whole lot of us, the recommended cooking temperature for dark meat is 170 or higher.  Below that temp the ample connective tissue in dark meat hasn't softened and the collagen hasn't dissolved so the meat has a texture that many people find very unappetizing.


Yes it's a different technique but 167 F is 167 F any way you cook something. This was supposed to be about 'safe' cooking temperature.
Boiled/fried/roasted/grilled/ SV it's all the same basic principle.
Actually it's about how long a certain temp. is maintained to kill specific pathogens. There are thousands of sites explaining this on Google.


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## CraigC (Feb 23, 2015)

puffin3 said:


> And now you are going to address the issue of Sous Vide temps. visa vi chicken and bacteria .....right?



You have no clue what a chuckie is in low and slow smoking ....right?


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 23, 2015)

salt and pepper said:


> Here is some that I use, you can also use a "V" shaped roasting rack. The large is used for turkey on an outdoor stove and cooked on top of the burner!



I like the looks of your turkey roasting pan!

Last Thanksgiving I did my turkey in the oven using a Foster's oil can and it was sort of unstable.  I wonder if I could use the insert from an angel food cake pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Hmm...


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## Kayelle (Feb 23, 2015)

Aunt Bea said:


> I like the looks of your turkey roasting pan!
> 
> Last Thanksgiving I did my turkey in the oven using a Foster's oil can and it was sort of unstable.*  I wonder if I could use the insert from an angel food cake pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Hmm...*



I don't know why not AB. You'll likely never be able to use it again for Angel Food cake though. I hardly ever bake and I have one I've used maybe five times in the last 40 years to bake an AF cake, so I'm definitely going to use your idea on my next turkey!


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 23, 2015)

Kayelle said:


> I don't know why not AB. You'll likely never be able to use it again for Angel Food cake though. I hardly ever bake and I have one I've used maybe five times in the last 40 years to bake an AF cake, so I'm definitely going to use your idea on my next turkey!



I will cheerfully sacrifice mine to the cause!


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## Mad Cook (Feb 23, 2015)

ShellyCooks said:


> How do you roast a whole chicken? I have no problem roasting chicken parts, but when it comes to a whole chicken, I just can't get it right. Tonight the chicken is back in the oven for the third time. When I cut into the thigh, it was still pink around the bone. I have followed several recipes, but I still have problems. Tonight, I roasted a 4 pound chicken on a rack at 350 degrees F for
> 1 1/2 hours. Before I roasted it, I let it sit out to come to room temperature as one recipe suggested. I've checked my oven and the temperature is accurate. I am about to give up and just stick to chicken parts! Any help would be appreciated.


The standard recommendation over here is 20 minutes to the pound plus 20 minutes at 400 degrees F so it sounds as though your oven was too cool and not enough time. Also, did you put stuffing in the body cavity? If so did you weigh it after the stuffing went in or before? It's the total weight of bird plus stuffing if used that counts towards the timing.

Having said that, if the chicken was very young(and most commercially raised birds are) there is often pinkness on the bone itself due to youth. However, if the juices ran pink when you cut into it then _always _err on the side of caution as undercooked chicken can make you very ill indeed. Sometimes the chicken decides it doesn't want to be ready after the calculated time just to spite the cook and needs as much as 15 minutes longer in the oven. 

Just an after thought and probably not relevant here - like other meats chicken needs to stand for a while after it comes out of the oven so the juices are, for want of a better word, sucked back into the flesh.


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## Mad Cook (Feb 23, 2015)

puffin3 said:


> Tell that to the tens of thousands of 'Sous Vide' fans.
> The recommended cooking temp. of chicken for dark meat is 167 F.
> You need to do some research on what temps. and times are used to kill bacteria.
> Sous Vide Time and Temperature Guide | Science | ChefSteps


 Don't confuse the OP with "sous vide" information when she is clearly asking about cooking in normal oven - unless you want to kill her. Some of us can read between the lines and realise that you mean the temperature of the bird when cooked properly but even I initially read your comment as meaning the temperature of the _oven_ would be sufficient at 167 degrees F. 167Degs F in a normal oven would barely warm the beast.


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## Andy M. (Feb 23, 2015)

Mad Cook said:


> Don't confuse the OP with "sous vide" information when she is clearly asking about cooking in normal oven - unless you want to kill her. Some of us can read between the lines and realise that you mean the temperature of the bird when cooked properly but even I initially read your comment as meaning the temperature of the _oven_ would be sufficient at 167 degrees F. 167Degs F in a normal oven would barely warm the beast.



I believe the 167º refers to internal temperature of the chicken.


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## Mad Cook (Feb 23, 2015)

Andy M. said:


> I believe the 167º refers to internal temperature of the chicken.


Yes Andy, I realise that but Puffin's post was misleading in its wording. I pointed out that I *INITIALLY* misunderstood his reference to the internal temperature of the meat and interpreted it as meaning the temperature of the oven.

If I was confused after 50 years of chicken roasting, an inexperienced cook cold run into serious difficulties.


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## Bigjim68 (Feb 23, 2015)

puffin3 said:


> Tell that to the tens of thousands of 'Sous Vide' fans.
> The recommended cooking temp. of chicken for dark meat is 167 F.
> You need to do some research on what temps. and times are used to kill bacteria.
> Sous Vide Time and Temperature Guide | Science | ChefSteps


 
I think you are correct.  It doesn't matter what the cooking temperature as long as the end result is over 170.  A lower temperature results in a more even temp at the end.  

I like the vertical roasting method.  And a thermometer.


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## ShellyCooks (Feb 23, 2015)

Thanks so much to all of you!  I have enough recipes to roast a chicken correctly next week!!  Wow!  You guys  and gals are great!!  I think, however, I'll skip the "sous vide" method for now.  AND ... I do have a vertical  roasting rack for chicken or turkey --- forgot all about it!!  Thanks, again, everyone!!


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## Kayelle (Feb 23, 2015)

You are so welcome Shelly, and thanks for your thanks. It's so rewarding to know the OP has read everything offered. Good luck, and happy cooking!


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## medtran49 (Feb 24, 2015)

For the sake of easy clean-up, I usually use a "rack" made out of a long piece of foil folded in half, then half again, then kind of crumpled up and bent into a zig-zag to hold the chicken.  

For the actual chicken, I roast at 375-400 depending on how fast I want it to get done.  I make a butter with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning, push some under the breast skin and in the thigh area, then rub the skin, saving the rest to baste later.  Usually put in some rosemary and lemon pieces if I have.  Then, I always start roasting it breast side down for about 30 minutes, then flip it over so the breast will brown and baste.  I base the time on the weight of the chicken because the sizes vary greatly depending on whether we buy it at the grocery or the butcher/wholesale places we buy from.  I do let it sit for at least 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven though.

And my chicken comes out tender and juicy, not dry or rubbery even though I cook it at higher heat.


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## Addie (Feb 24, 2015)

Well, this turned out to be the perfect thread. For what its worth, I too thought the member was referring to the temperature of the oven at 165ºF. Very confusing to the OP. And OP was kind enough to respond. Lots of information that seemed to be correct and that the OP can use. This is the kind of thread that should be sticky note for reference only to the question of How to Roast A Chicken.


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## RPCookin (Feb 24, 2015)

Bigjim68 said:


> I think you are correct.  It doesn't matter what the cooking temperature as long as the end result is over 170.  A lower temperature results in a more even temp at the end.
> 
> I like the vertical roasting method.  And a thermometer.



Regardless of method, a dependable thermometer is an essential kitchen tool if you want consistency.  Without one, my tendency was to overcook everything to be on the safe side.  Now that I have both a Chef Alarm probe and my instant read Thermapen, I rarely miss on the internal temperature that I'm seeking.


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