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. You will be surprised how easy it is to bake a whole chicken and also the variety of herbs and spices you can put in a chicken to enhance the flavor.

You can bake a whole chicken and season it any way you like, although we prefer dry rub or a marinade. 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.

Basic Baked Chicken Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the inside of the chicken by rubbing with salt and 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.

Place a whole chicken in a roasting pan but sitting on a roasting rack.
 
Cook the chicken for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 170 for thighs (taking the reading in the thickest part). Once it is done it is a good idea to remove from the oven, cover in foil, and let rest for 10 minutes or so. This is called resting and allows the temperature to equalize and the juices to redistribute. When you carve the chicken the meat should no longer be pink and juices will run clear.

Better, some would say yummy, baked chicken recipe:

Yummy Chicken $5.75

• 1 chicken, whole
• Knox's Yummy Chicken dry rub seasoning
• Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the inside and outside of the chicken by rubbing with Knox's Yummy Chicken seasoning.

Place a whole chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up.
 
Cook the chicken for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature is 170 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh or breast. Once it is done remove from the oven, cover in foil, and let *rest for 15 minutes or more. When you carving the meat should no longer be pink and juices will run clear.

*Resting a chicken or any larg piece of meat after cooking allows the juices to redistribute and the temperature to equalize.