AIBU to cook a 1KG chicken for 5 people at Christmas?

[ChickenChristmasDinner]

Our family have voted to have chicken at Christmas this year. We normally have a 1KG chicken for 4 people. Two people have a breast and the other two have a leg each.

However, at Christmas, there will be 5 of us at the table. I was thinking that as there will be starters, sides and a pudding at the feast , then our usual 1KG chicken might stretch to 5 people?

Am I being over optimistic?

It's not even a cook in the bag chicken though, it's a pre-roasted chicken in a bag 😬

Oh goodness me, that will be far too much, a MN chicken will feed 25 for five weeks. You will be absolutely fine.

on a serious note, in this house home made pigs in blankets are the preferred main meat in this house so being a bit tight on the bird is fine.

I’ve literally just (an hour ago) bought the Sainsbury’s cooked chicken, it is indeed about 1kg (the one I got was 1.12kg). I’m not a nay-sayer about it, it’s a perfectly okay chicken, better than some freshly roast chickens I’ve had, it’s moist and tasty enough, but it’s what we call a pickin’ chicken, DH and I keep one in the fridge and just pick bits off it over a couple of days when we fancy a snack. Yes, it might “do” as a meal if everyone is careful to only take a small piece of meat and not want any seconds - but it’s Christmas, nobody wants to be looking at the single little chicken and cautiously rationing what they take because they’re aware if they don’t there won’t be enough to go around.

This is also a lovely idea. Thighs are the lushest part.

A reheated, pre cooked chicken. Between 5. At Christmas. This has to be a wind up?!

golly can you still get capons? I thought caponisation was illegal now?

Eh? Chicken breast has half the flavour of the leg, is chewier and drier. Give me a leg any day.

Notwithstanding that, a 1KG chicken for five people on Christmas Day is far too parsimonious. I didn’t even know a 1Kg chicken was even available. We have a 1.5Kg chicken for three on a normal day and that doesn’t leave a major amount of leftovers. Unless budget is extraordinarily tight, buy a 2Kg chicken, or two 1.2-1.5Kg chickens, and have a little bit of leftover meat if nobody wants seconds.

Where are you getting a 1kg chicken? Most of the supermarket ones are normally in the 1.4 sort of range at least?

That chicken should feed you all easily, for at least a week.

Yes, they're just imported.

Last weekend I cooked a 2 kg chicken. Loads for 6, and lots left over. Dh and I have since had 2 meals from it, plus of course in true MN fashion I’ve boiled the carcass up for stock.

You’d be surprised what butchers seem to get away with. If you go to e.g. Rye Lane in Peckham, you’ll see capon, as well as whole sheep and goat heads for sale - and they are absolutely not supposed to be available in the U.K., but somehow they fly under the radar.

There's nothing wrong with chicken legs. Lots of people prefer it to chicken breast.

That's nowhere near enough. Cook two chickens, or chicken and some other meat - pork goes well with chicken. A 1kg chicken used to do me and late DH for one proper meal (breast and leg each) and the makings of soup. Presumably you eke out the chicken with lots of potatoes and veg, though.

Yep. It's only the process of capon-ing that's illegal in the UK. Importing and selling them is fine.

I usually get two meals for four of us out of one of those (roast and then something like curry), but one of my DDs isn’t that keen on meat, so doesn’t eat a huge amount of it. Surely you slice the breast rather than giving a whole one to one person? I’d have thought with stuffing, sausages etc that would go round five? Especially if you’re having a starter and a pudding.

I live alone and buy a 1.2 kg chicken to get three main meals out of it plus stock from the bones. If the budget its tight, I'd do something different, as people have said someone is going to get scrat and bits.

Nope. That's less than 200g of meat per person. A very large chicken might just about do 4 if you had lots of pigs in blankets and meat stuffing. But there is absolutely no way a small chicken is going to feed 5 people.

It depends how much everyone eats - it could be enough if you have lots of pigs in blankets with it too, but I would probably do two to be on the safe side if everyone definitely wants this particular type of chicken. You don't want to be scrimping and scraping and might want some left over sandwiches for tea later.

yes and I just looked at the prices why would you even?

You're not describing anything illegal though.

Capon is allowed to be sold in the UK, it just needs to be imported.

Sheep and goat heads can also be sold as long as they were born, reared and slaughtered in Australia or New Zealand.

My bad - I hadn't followed her link. I assumed it was one of the roast in the bag ones, which I absolutely love and they make doing a roast so easy, for anyone who is a bit sketchy about cooking meat (like me).

OP, I have to say, while I enjoy those pre roasted chickens on a picnic when we are in the camper van, for example, even I wouldn't serve one for Christmas! (And I am pretty much as low rent as you get). They are tasty but they are more nice to have with baguettes and salads and so on - they don't give the joy of a freshly roast bird straight out of the oven, with potatoes and all that jazz....

Seriously, if you feel nervous about the timings etc just get a roast in the bag one - you just have to follow the instructions to the letter - they are so simple and delicious!

(Or, is there anyone else in your group of 5 who could take charge of the cooking of the meat, if you don't like to do it? I am in no way trying to suggest it should be solely your issue).

Same reason as people spend stupid amounts on any meat, really?

I’ve just checked the weight of the chicken I’ve bought for Sunday lunch. It’s 1.8kg and I would expect it to feed two of us tomorrow with maybe enough left over for us both to have a sandwich on Monday, and some little bits for the cat.

I mean, if this is genuinely the chicken you and your family love, I suppose just get two if that won't hurt the family budget.

But are you certain they will even be available? Those are only nice enough for a celebratory dinner if they are freshly roasted. Are people going to be roasting them on actual Christmas day, and delivering them to you?. Surely that will cost a fucking fortune?

I feel inexplicably stressed just thinking about it! 🤣