I have to admit, I have only recently begun cooking whole chickens. It seems to be a bit cheaper, if you don’t mind the time and effort of getting all that chicken off the bone. And it tastes SO MUCH BETTER. If I can buy the bone-in chicken breasts I do, but they’re hard to find, and pretty pricey. A free-range, drug-free whole chicken cost around $7. For $9 I could have gotten two Tyson whole chickens. And I could buy a no-name brand of frozen boneless chicken breasts for about $6. In a perfect world I’d have the best quality non-mutant chicken every time. Sometimes I buy whole chickens on Sunday and then a bag of cheaper frozen chicken to pop in the freezer until the end of the week when I’m out of food and don’t want to run to the grocery store again (That lesser quality chicken I usually cook in the crock pot or marinade all day in the fridge while it thaws). Mostly, I buy the best quality of what’s on sale, but not past the bought-by-date. I am one of those that won’t even try milk from my fridge if it’s past the store-bought date. It’s a Seinfeld-type fear of mine, but if it’s before the magic date – its’ on!
If you’re not cooking up a truck load of chicken to eat on all week, and you want to try, here’s some simple instructions. Fail proof. I even accidentally cooked a chicken upside down once. It still tasted great.
http://allrecipes.com/howto/roasting-chicken/
Roasting Methods
Regular method:
•Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
•Roast whole (thawed) chickens for 20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes.
High heat method (this creates a crispy, darker skin):
•Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) and cook whole (thawed) chicken for 10-15 minutes.
•Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and roast for 20 minutes per pound. (Do not add the extra 15 minutes to the cooking time as with the regular method.)
If you like lemon, try sticking some fork holes in one and sticking it in the cavity while it cooks. Then, squeeze the lemon over the chicken when it's done. It's from Ruth Reichl's recipe. Simply delicious. -- http://www.food.com/recipe/ruth-reichls-roast-chicken-with-potatoes-onions-208020
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