Chicken / How to cook chicken in oven

Baking chicken in the oven is an easy and very rewarding task. Chicken dinner made by cooking a whole chicken has several advantages. The preparation time for the chicken is approximately 10 minutes with a cooking time average of approximately 1 1/4 hour. This gives you time to make side dishes or a salad. Chicken is high in protein and low in calorie and fat as well as being possibly the most versatile of the available meats.

You can bake a whole chicken and season it any way you like, although we prefer using Knox's Dry Rubs. Leave the skin on during cooking to retain the natural succulence of the chicken meat and to prevent dry or tough cooked chicken, even if you decide to throw it away after chicken has cooked.

How to cook chicken in oven: Basically

1 chicken, whole, 2.5 to 5 lbs.
Olive oil, butter or vegetable oil
Knox's Chipotle BBQ, Cracked Pepper or Jamaican Jerk dry rub

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

After cleaning the chicken under tap water, dry and rub with oil. Thoroughly rub inside and out with Knox's dry rub of choice.

Place a whole chicken in a roasting pan. You can use an oven proof pan you already have or purchase an aluminum pan at your local grocery.

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.

Photos submitted by Jeanette

Beer Can Chicken

Beer can chicken is a method of cooking chicken in the oven that allows the chicken to stand up on end by propping it up on a beer can. There are several advantages to this method of cooking a chicken in your oven. You can put water, wine, beer and aromatic herbs in the can to flavor and retain moisture. Also the chicken does not cook in the grease that melts into the roasting pan and it cooks and browns evenly. Although this can be achieved with a beer can we recommend purchasing a stand. One we use and love is found at http://www.beercanchickenroaster.com. This effective yet simple device easily holds a beer can and stabilizes the chicken securely in the middle of a roasting pan. We have used small glass jars when a can was not available.

Baked beer can chicken

When you make chicken this way you can flavor the liquid in the can any way you like. The image to the right is chicken rubbed with Jamaican Jerk dry rub and the jar is about 1/2 full of chicken stock and fresh thyme. This has a nice aroma and keeps moisture inside the chicken. The pan is 1/4 full of water.

You can find excellent recipes for beer can chicken all over the web but suggest taking a look at "Beer Can Chicken" by Steven Raichlen at http://www.thekitchenstore.com.