Have I cooked it properly?

[crazydazy]

For the first time ever I bought a whole chicken, a small one for a family of 4 and cooked it myself. It said on the packet to cook for an hour but after an hour I knew it was no where near read. I finally brought it out of the oven after 1 hour and 45 minutes, it had just browned a little on the breast and legs but not much.

Anyway whilst it was cooking I forgot to empty the juices from the tin so as a result it was quite watery. DP then wouldn't eat his as he said it was not dry enough for him but think he wasn't too sure

I am now sat here worrying as the kids and myself ate quite a lot of the breast.

Does anyone think I could have food poisoned them? Am not the best cook but always ensure things are cooked properly but now he has set me off worrying I may have food poisoned my kids.

Please set my mind at rest someone?

if the chicken was not pink/red and the juices clear then it was cooked IMO

Message withdrawn

Hard to say but I did the juices run clear? In particular, you should check the juices from around the leg (stab with sharp knife) and if there is any pinkness, it needs a bit longer.

Have you had problems with your cooker? The instructions on the packet are usually right? Did you pre-heat the oven? Sorry if you know all this! I think food poisoning like this would come on pretty quickly so you should be in the clear soon - though someone else will know more about that than me so don't take my word for it!

Amazed that your DP likes dry chicken! I think it should be moist myself!

Ooh you have all made me feel better already am just so scared with food, especially when the children eat it too, if it had just been myself and DP I wouldn't worry too much. The juices definitely ran clear but then when I took the carcass off the plate it was on the juices were a little bit pinkish so that scared me a little, but it tasted really lovely.

We threw the legs away as there was a little bit of pinkish meat on them but the breast was totally white.

Was a bit fed up as bought a whole chicken and only ate the top of the breast really, was too scared to take any chances. I am such a crap cook though. Will buy a ready made one next time like I normally do.

DP doesn't trust my cooking at all but I never [touch wood] food poisoned anyone yet.

Oh crazydazy, please please don't be put off trying again!!!! It all sounds fine and you used your common sense, which is great: the leg meat is pink after cooking, only the leg meat is white. Your chicken will have seemed a little watery if you had a pan without a rack in the bottom, so all the juices covered the chicken.It sounds as though your oven wasn't too hot, so here goes with a failsafe method:

Go to Poundstretcher or anywhere that does basic cookware and buy an enamel roaster, which will be a white round or oval metal dish with a lid. This doesn't need a rack, and cooks chicken really well.
Buy your chicken (about 1.6K for four - 5 people) and take it home, and take the wrapper off. When you are ready to cook it, put it in the roasting dish and cut the string holding the legs. Put a little butter or marg on the skin, pepper if you like, and if you want to be fancy 1/2 a lemon inside it. Add a small amount of water to the tin, or wine if you have it. Put the lid on and put it in a hot oven for 45 mins for wach kilo + a bit over, so for a 1.6k bird I would cook for roughly 90 mins. Halfway through cooking, take it out of the oven and spoon some of the juices back over it, and use a sharp knife to slit the skin betwen the legs and the breast. Put the lid on and it back in the oven to finish. The advantage of a lid is that it will cook the chicken more evenly and keep the oven cleaner.

Keep the leftover chicken and pull all the leftover meat from the bones. I either put that in white sauce and make a pie the next day, or I biol the carcase, strain the stock and make chicken broth with a few veggies. You should be proud to have done so well the first time, I shudder to think about some of my disasters, but I could cook for a living now.

Sorry for not proofreading, I meant only the breast is white. Duh!

Oh thank you so much Callmemadam, I really could have done with your words of wisdom yesterday afternoon. I really do want to start cooking more for my family, I just love sunday dinners and both my children ate every single bit of their dinner yesterday which is so unlike them but I think it was because they were so hungry because the chicken took so long to cook, not because it was so great. I have printed out this message to help me next time. I think I will have another go as there are things I didn't do which I realise would have helped i.e the tin I cooked it in, stabbing the chicken to let the juices run (thats probably why it was so wet) and I didn't put any butter on so no wonder it didn't brown on the top.

Not sure I am adventurous enough to make a stock but hopefully next time won't have to throw half the chicken away. Tried a little bit of the leg and thought it tasted fine but was worried that it was too pink inside though, but as you say the legs can be a little pink but I don't think I would let the kids eat it the way it was yesterday.

Anyway we all lived to tell the tale, but thanks again for your advice