# How long to cook chicken crown???



## Lou_michelle

Hi,

I will be cooking my first ever Christmas dinner this year and I have decided to get a crown instead of a full bird, we got chicken instead of turkey though.

I have been trying to find out how long I need to cook this for.

The only times I can find is either for full birds or for turkey, I have no idea of these cooking times would be right for a chicken crown.

Please help! 

I think the butcher said it was 8lbs... can anyone please give me an idea of how long and what temp to cook it for???

Thank you


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## Wyogal

Is that a breast?
cooking 8lb chicken breast - Google Search


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## Andy M.

OK, I'll bite, what's a chicken crown?


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## Selkie

The only thing I was able to gleen was:

"Roasted Cooked *Chicken* Crown on the breast bone teams the  succulence of *chicken* cooked on the bone with the convenience of an  all-but boneless product.         New from Fairway Foodservice, the lean, firm and tender 225g-312g  breasts are fully cooked products made from EU ..."


And I'm still confused! 

My advice would be to use a thermometer and cook until the thickest part reached 165 degrees.


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## Alix

If I'm not mistaken the "crown" is the same as the "keel". Its the breast with the wishbone still attached I think.


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## Andy M.

So it's an unsplit, bone-in breast with skin.  Hard to imagine how big a chicken has an 8 pound one.


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## jennyema

Alix said:


> If I'm not mistaken the "crown" is the same as the "keel". Its the breast with the wishbone still attached I think.


 
I think the keel is technically the bone itself.  When I worked at KFC many years ago, they called their breasts "keels" so no one would have to say a dirty word.

I have no idea what a crown is either but if it's a whole breast I agree with Andy, that would have to be some freakishly large chicken to have an 8 pounder.


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## Andy M.

Hmmm.  "She's even-keeled!"  "I hope she doesn't keel over!"

Not to mention, "Jack fell down and broke his crown..."


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## Michael in FtW

We need to hire a British to American translator! 

Two references to crown of chicken that I could find make it seem like it is more than just the breast.

The Good Food Channel website doesn't give a great definition, under ingredients it just simply says: _chicken crowns (legs and wings removed)_

And a recipe for roast chicken crown on Cooking It - Channel 4 includes the instructions: _Spread the breast with half the butter and place a few thyme sprigs in the body cavity_ ... and under Recipe Tips the #1 tip says: _Ask your butcher to make the chicken crown if you like. Alternatively, remove the legs, wings and breast bone from a whole chicken yourself._

I _assume_ that by breast bone they mean the keel bone, not the ribs under the breast since later in the recipe, after the chicken is first roasted, it says: _Remove the chicken from the oven and place on a board. Using a sharp knife, carefully take the breasts off the bone_ ... 

Now, considering that a large _roasting_ hen can run 6-8+ lbs, an 8-lb chicken minus wings and legs (I _assume_ the leg includes the thigh) is a little more imaginable.

At 325°F (170°C - Gas Mark 3) I'm guessing 2 1/2 - 3 hours since we don't have to worry about the dark meat?


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## Lou_michelle

A crown is where all the meat is taken off the then stuffed with whatever you want to use and all put together,tied up in a crown shape.

Ours is stuffed with sausage meat, which is why its quite heavy.

It's just all meat though,no hassle with the bones and everything else.

But I am obviously no good at remembering what the butcher said, I've weighed it just now and it's *slightly over 3lbs*.... bit more realistic. 8lbs, is more like an ostrich than a chicken!!

Thanks for all your help xx


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## Bigjim68

My advice for this cut and any other large cuts of meat is to use a thermometer.


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## Andy M.

Lou_michelle said:


> A crown is where all the meat is taken off the then stuffed with whatever you want to use and all put together,tied up in a crown shape.
> 
> Ours is stuffed with sausage meat, which is why its quite heavy.
> 
> It's just all meat though,no hassle with the bones and everything else.
> 
> But I am obviously no good at remembering what the butcher said, I've weighed it just now and it's *slightly over 3lbs*.... bit more realistic. 8lbs, is more like an ostrich than a chicken!!
> 
> Thanks for all your help xx




This makes it very important that you ensure the interior is fully cooked.  You don't want to end up with a cooked piece of chicken with raw sausage in the center.  

The best way is to use an instant read thermometer to ensure the center of the roast reaches a safe temperature - 165 F.


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## Jeff G.

Andy M. said:


> So it's an unsplit, bone-in breast with skin.  Hard to imagine how big a chicken has an 8 pound one.


That's would be a *big* chicken!


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## Michael in FtW

Ok, so it's basically a boneless stuffed chicken, right? For 3-4lbs, at 350°F (180°C - Gas Mark 4) it should take somewhere between 1 1/2 - 2 1/4 hours (depends on how dense the stuffing is). As Andy said, the only way to know when it is done is to check the temperature in the center of the stuffing.

Hope this helps.


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