DH put a full chicken in a cold oven

[Pinkkahori]

Our oven is old, it takes a while to heat up. DH just told me that he forgot to preheat the oven today so he put the chicken in to a cold oven. He didn't allow any additional cooking time.
I didn't eat it but he and the kids did.
I'm worried about the possibility of food poisoning.
Does everyone preheat their oven?
Is it likely to be a problem?

I worked 2 days a week whilst DH cooked on one day this was a roast. All I would hear was I don’t know how you know when anything is cooked. I replied practice. We have a fan oven, so don’t usually pre heat and if I do it’s only for a couple of minutes. I never complained because he did try and after a while my DC started saying Dad’s roasts are better than yours. My MIL used to leave FIL detailed instructions on when and how to do everything, but he was so forgetful he needed it. On my other work day we would have fish and chips.

My mother had a thing for underdone meat, this was in the 1970s when meat was normally cooked until it was grey all the way through.

Underdone beef and lamb is all the rage now and apparently ok.

But she used to half the cooking time for a chicken, it was always rubbery and dripping with red juices.

None of us took ill.

I agree that chicken, especially, must be thoroughly cooked, but I don’t necessarily agree on the pre-heating. It’s not required on most modern ovens.

I agree that chicken, especially, must be thoroughly cooked, but I don’t necessarily agree on the pre-heating. It’s not required on most modern ovens.

i disagree. Preheating an oven before putting a chicken in is a safety issue. Raw poultry is contaminated with bacteria and a hot oven blasts it and destroys the bacteria. A cold/slowly warming oven poses a risk of encouraging the bacteria to multiply. The risk is there whether it’s a fan oven or not.

My aunt always did this! I am not brave enough though!

Err, nope. It’s safe and perfectly acceptable as long as you ensure it’s thoroughly cooked through first. In fact it can be safer since you’re not leaving it sitting around at the danger low temperatures which is when bacteria can start to multiply. It’s more risky to do this in a slow cooker due to the length of time the meat is sitting thawed but at a low temperature.

obviously it takes longer to cook chicken from frozen than it does from thawed. But as long as you check it thoroughly with a meat thermometer and ensure there is no pinkness left around (which would generally be around the bones) then it’s fine.

You just allow a longer cooking time. It’s no big deal. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Preheating an oven before putting a chicken in is a safety issue. Raw poultry is contaminated with bacteria and a hot oven blasts it and destroys the bacteria.

That's completely wrong!

Ovens that don't need to be preheated (ie fab ovens) will reach the set temperature nearly immediately - within a minute or so. That's why you don't need to preheat beyond turning it on as you're prepping the chicken.

Cooking a chicken will kill any bacteria yes, but the 'hot oven blasting' bit is nonsense. Once the oven has reached the temperature needed (which fan ovens do quickly) it'll just cook the chicken as needed.

You only need to preheat the oven when the cooking time is short or you can be like me and add 10 mins to good with short cooking time. (Under 30 mins)

You can cook a whole chicken from frozen but you should do so for longer, and at a lower temperature than usual.

It is safe but will be more risky as some people won't properly check the centre of the chicken is cooked.

Is he doing shit on purpose to get out of doing it and doesn't care he looks like a thick twat or is he just a thick twat?

Pre heating doesn't really matter that much but cooking it properly does. Wasting a big chicken like that would make me properly cross.

The oven needs to be hot to start destroying the bacteria as soon as the chicken is put in.

@Scrambler4

Yes - but as has been explained, modern ovens (usually fan) will heat up in a few minutes so preheating is not necessary as it makes no difference.

Absolutely if it was an older oven that took some time to preheat - my last oven used to beep when it was heated & that took 7 - 10 minutes, completely different to my new oven.

Beef and lamb have always been cooked pink, if cooked properly. That isn't new.

With beef and lamb, the big issue is the bacteria on the outside. The parts the air touches. So that's cooked but they've always been cooked pink if being done properly.

Chicken is a totally different thing and needs to be cooked through completely.

Nothing risky about it. You add 50% to the cooking time and dont need to reduce the heat. It'll be cooked through.

I’ve never preheated an oven or checked cooking weights/times.

Mostly because I’m an adult and I know how to tell when something is cooked. For big chunks of meat I have a thermometer to check the middle.

I cook frozen chicken in my pressure cooker all the time, it comes out great.

Learned helplessness is a common thing, and it's a thing I think your husband has. Whether he conciously does it or not.

This is just stupid.

Look, if you dont know something then keep quiet. Dont tell people who actually know what they're talking about that they're wrong. It makes you look stupid.

You can cook any joint from frozen. Whole chicken, leg of lamb, beef, whatever.

Rule of thumb is to add 50% to the cooking time. There is no risk of food poisoning. It ends up fully cooked the exact same way as meat which wasnt frozen.

This comes up on mumsnet a lot and people respond in hysterics like you, saying that you absolutely cannot cook a whole chicken from frozen. You're talking nonsense. You can. It isnt at all dangerous.

Nothing risky about it. You add 50% to the cooking time and dont need to reduce the heat. It'll be cooked through.

Did you read my post?

It is risky if people don't properly check the centre is cooked which is much more likely that if it's cooked from raw (a raw chicken cooked for long enough at the right temp will be cooked, in the case of a frozen chicken you must check).

It's not just 50% longer - it's also at a lower temp so that you don't overcook / burn the outside before the inside is cooked.

I would say the bigger issue is not the fact that it went into a cold oven, but that he took the cooking time on the packet so literally, and did not check it was cooked through before serving. In an old oven, it might not even be cooked through after 1 hour 20 minutes, even with pre-heating.

Honestly who still wastes time and electric (especially in the financial climate) pre-heating ovens?

Only person I know that does that is my DH and it drives me insane, just a total waste and neither I nor the children have ever been sick from just using it from switch on until the end of the cooking time listed.

And this is nonsense as well. Where do people get this stuff?

Old ovens which take 10 minutes to come to temperate should be pre-heated or you need to add the extra 10 minutes into the cooking time. Fan ovens which heat in a couple of minutes dont need to he preheated.

The time the chicken spends in the danger zone temperature whilst the oven heats up is nothing. Any bacteria which is produced is then promptly killed off once the oven reaches the right temperature and the food is cooked through during it's roasting time.

The amount of people who just dont understand cooking is a worry actually. How someone could have written that comment and been serious is a mystery.

I agree. I was married to a man like this. Initially he just couldn't cook at all ( not can I buy i don't feed kids raw chicken...) Then, he was more interested in scoring a point than 'helping'.
The Divorce papers are ready for signing this week. Sadly, it's not realky about the chicken. He's a spiteful fool.

Well between two grown adults they can't cook a chicken, mainly because one of them can't cook a chicken (and did ) and the other can cook a chicken but didn't this time. Its pretty simple stuff really.

Instead of arguing the toss over what's best- cooking from frozen, cooking from chilled, hot oven, cold oven etc

Buy a meat thermometer!

It takes all the guesswork out of it.

Stab the chicken in the thickest part - usually the legs where they meet the breast - and read the temp.

All thermometers come with a guide as to what temp is needed for safety.

There is a danger is cooking from frozen because the outside will often burn and the inside will not be hot enough to kill bacteria.
Half the cooking time (at least) will be to thaw the chicken, then it's got to be brought up to a high temp.