Chicken / Chicken Cooking: Whole

Cooking a whole chicken is easy and impressive to guests. Below we will outline cooking a whole chicken and some techniques to make your whole chicken succulent and tasty.

Dry Rubbed Whole Chicken. Picture sent from Waynesboro, Va.

Basic Baked Chicken Recipe:

• 1 chicken, whole, 2.5 to 5 lbs.
• Salt and black pepper or Knox's All Natural dry rubs
• Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the inside of the chicken by rubbing with salt and black pepper. Rub the outside with olive oil and rub salt and pepper to season. The better quality salt and pepper the better flavor, as with any ingredients. You may also use herbs and spices at your discretion. Thyme, sage and rosemary compliment chicken nicely. You would apply them the same as you would the salt and pepper or Knox's All Natural dry rub.

Place a whole chicken in a roasting pan.
 
Cook the chicken for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 180 for thighs (taking the reading in the thickest part). If you do not have a meat thermometer you can test for doneness by cutting into the deepest part of the thigh. If the meat is no longer pink and juices run clear, it's done. This should be done later in the process so the juices do not run out of your chicken while it still has a lot of time to cook.
 
You will want the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes before carving to let the juices and heat redistribute.

See Beer Can Chicken>