How do I roast a whole chicken?

[99redballoons]

As in \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=4&threadid=163747&stamp=060413223642\this thread} I have just bought an organic chicken and I want to use it up in as many ways as possible to get the most for the money. BUT I have never cooked a whole chicken before!! Please can someone start from the basics,
eg. how do I know if it needs cleaning out inside and how do I do this?
do I wash it, inside and out?
how long do I cook it for, weight to number of mins?
what can I garnish it with and how do I do that (ie. in the bottom of the pan, on the top, slit it, etc)?
how do I make gravy with the juices, do I need to strain it or something to get rid of the fat?
how do you cook the carcass to make stock?
should I invest in some roasting bags?

Thank you so much for the help. :)

I can't help with all the questions but I roast a whole chicken most weeks so I can tell you the temperature and timings etc. Heat oven to 190 degrees celsius and roast for 20 minutes per pound plus an extra 20 mins. You will know when it is cooked as the juices run clear when you tip the bird up. You then let the bid rest for a few minutes before carving.

I don't buy organic but I have never heard of cleaning the bird first.

I have never used a roasting bag. I have a thing called a broiler which is a tin with a slotted tin above. I put the bird on top and the fat and juices run down to the tray underneath. I never do anything to my bird and it always comes out with a delicious crispy skin.

I shall watch this with interest as I have never cooked a whole chicken either

Bung in tray. Stick some butter on top. Bung tray in oven at 200C. Weight in KG multiplied by 45 minutes, plus 15 minutes, plus another 10 if you didn't preheat the oven. Take out of oven. Stick a knife in, if the juices are clear its done.

Have never washed a chicken.

Gravy comes in tubs of granules here. I'm looking forward to finding out how to make it properly!

Stock; remove the skin and fatty bits. Stick carcass in a big pot with about 4 pints of water and some veg and herbs and salt/pepper. Simmer for hours and hours till the stock looks ok and you can't stand the smell any more. Throw away the solid stuff. Skim fat off top. Freeze stock.

Hi sandyballs, I know, I'm 33 and have never done it!

Dumbledoresgirl, thanks for the info, completely forgot about temp! Does the oven have to be upto temp or can you put it in whilst it's heating up? Also, what I mean by cleaning is that I remember my mum pulling out giblets from inside.. do all chickens have them or are they removed before packaging (don't want to open my packaging until ready to cook so can't check). I think I know what you mean by a broiler. May go out and buy one.

Thanks fruitful!

Gravy. When chicken is done, drain off the juices into roasting tin and remove the bird to stand for 10 mins. Add a couple of glasses of wine (red/white, it doesn't matter) to what's left in the roasting tin and put tin on hob, scraping away at the sticky bits on the bottom so they loosen and add to the mix. You don't have to skim off the fat, that's the good bit. Cook at a furious boil for a few mins. If you've cooked garlic in the bird you can mash these into the juices for extra loveliness.

Wash it inside and out and pat dry with tissue paper.

salt it inside and out.

Put your thumbs just under the skin of the breast and very gently make a cavity here.

Slice deeply three times into the thigh and leg on either side.

Stuff herbs into the cavity you made between the breast and the skin and in the slices you cut.

Spread olive oil inside the breast and all over the chicken.

Pepper well.

Put it in a roasting dish with some garlic and onions and roast it uncovered on a high heat (gas 7) for 5 minutes on its back.

After 5 mins turn it over onto its front.

After a further 5 mins flip it again and turn the heat down to gas 6.

Roast for an hour/hour and a half.

The skin will be crispy and lovely and the chicken well cooked and juicy.

I make a pie with the leftovers.

To make it taste even more yum:

Slice up an orange into 8
slice up a thumb size bit of ginger in half cm pieces
smash 8 garlic gloves (don't peel)
bunch of thyme

shove the whole lot in the bird

when it has cooked, take out stuffing bits, put in pan with 400 ml of stock (or water) and reduce down.

Sieve (press down with masher to get all flavour out). Sometimes it needs a bit of cornflour to thicken.

Voila! Gravy extraordinaire.

excellent basic advice from DG there

You could just rinse it under a running tap inside and out and dry it on kitchen paper, but you will have to mop up and wipe down well as you don't want raw chicken water on your sink or surfaces.

Put in on a rack so it sits off the roasting pan base and get a Tablespoon of butter at room temperature ready. Sprinkle some salt and white pepper over the bird and a bit inside and rub it in to the skin, then smear it with butter on the breast and thighs (madame).

You could put some sprigs of thyme in the cavity, or a whole lemon, washed and pricked with a fork but if you do this you will have to pin the flaps ( I say Matron) together with a toothpick or two.

Once cooked take the bird and its rack out of the roasting pan and set over a board and leave to rest. Then you make your gravy. Scrape the roasting juices into a saucepan and heat gently, meanwhile dissolve a stock cube - veg or chicken - in cup of boiling water and stir into the juices, stirring well to combine. Put a teaspoon of cornflour in to the cup you had the stock in and get a teaspoon of the gravy from the pan and mix the cornflour to a smooth paste, you may need three teaspoons of gravy to do this. Add the cornflour paste to the gravy pan and stir well for one minute.
You could dress up your gravy with some oyster sauce, some sherry, some white wine some herbs.
Strain the gravy through a sieve in to a jug, You can use it now but it will be oily or you could leave it to stand for 15 minutes during which time the oil will rise to the surface and you can tip it off and warm the gravy in the microwave.

You can make stock with the carcass very easily; Pick it clean then put it in a big pan and cover with water. And one small onion cut in half, one carrot halved, the tops of some celery stalks, some parsely and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil slowly and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and deal with the oil as with the gravy.

I always preheat the oven, just to ensure I get the timing right.

You can usually see if there are giblets inside. It either says on the packet, or if you are buying at a farmer's market, etc, you can ask them. If there are giblets, you take them out. You can roast them next to the bird or use them in the stock.

Hi there 99, jsut started my own thread about making chicken soup from the carcass!! I have to admit to buying ready packed chickens, which these days have the amount of time to cook on the label, so can't help there, but I usually just pour a small amount of oil over, to get the skin crispy, then sprinkle with a little bit of salt and paprika.

Gravy is really easy. Once you have taken the chicken out of the roasting tin to "rest" for ten minutes (not sure why, but I always follow instructions!) just put the roasting tin on the hob, on a medium heat. Once the fat/juices start bubbling I add the cooking water from the vegetables & potatoes, sit it all well then boil that up. Then mix some cornflour and water in a small cup, and slowly add that to the tin, to thicken. I also add a dash of gravy browning, put that's just for the look - it's quite pale otherwise. I then turn it down a simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, while I get everything else dished up, and voila! easy peasy gravy! Added bonus is that this also helps to clean the roasting tin by lifting all the crusty bits off it. you could strain it - I never bother cos I love gravy with bits in.

Cooking the carcass is equally easy. bung all the bones, leftover skin etc in a pan, add some peppercorns, a bayleaf or two and cover with water. Bring to the boil, and then simmer for a couple of hours. I also usually add some roughly chopped carrot, and maybe some celery (my mum always did that!) Check on it every now and again, and add a bit more water if you're worried about it boiling dry. The carcass I'm boiling now also has a few left over cooked sugar snap peas added - I don't like waste!

By the way, I only cooked my first roast chicken about 6 weeks ago, and it's so easy I have done about 5 since then!!

at Suzy and her stock cube/cornflour advice

Is my gravy perhaps more of a jus?

Rhubarb - did you know that it is recommended not to clean a chicken unless you take exceptional care. It is actually known to cause a higher risk by spreading any bacteria around.

If the chicken is correctly cooked, bacteria will be killed.

And toothpicks! FGS Suzy!

notice suzy subbed my orange for her lemon.....

I never wash it either

god, lots of lovely ideas, if only I could bring myself to eat the foul fowl, it's the beady eyes and scaley feet that turn my blood cold, but I enjoy cooking it for the family - must get one for Sunday and try these ideas

We too have roast chicken most weeks and I make stock and use it and any leftover chicken for rissotto the next day ....god I sound smug ,don't I.
I just put olive oil ,salt and pepper rub into bird,bung in oven 200c for about an hour or until juices run clear when you peirce the meat.

I have a friend who is an enviromental health thingy and she says you shouldn't wash chickens as they will most likely have campylobacteria and it will be spread all over the kitchen by water splashing.The bacteria is killed by cooking alone so no need to wash.I haven't seen giblets in chickens for a while so that's npt a problem,just yank them out,I guess?

Easy ,cheap meal imo,but I don't run to homemade gravy I'm afraid.

also turn the chicken at least once during cooking, the breast meat will be much more tender. and resting after cooked is essential

Yes but they still need you OO to spread all over the chicken!

Oliveoil is much better than butter for this sort of thing!

Is this thread making anyone else hungry? I don't do any of the fancy things suggested here, (although I would love to taste the results!) just cook the bird plain, but it is so delicious even like that, that I am loathe to buy any other joints to roast instead. I always sit there after the meal, picking off all the last bits of crispy skin - yum!

My speciality is bread sauce.

I don't want 99 to run before she can walk her bundle

HAM RECIPE PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE!

give me your thighs and breasts ladies, form an orderly queue

fnar fnar ooooooerrrrrr

from Food Standards Agency website:

Some people think they should wash raw chicken and meat, but there is no need to do this because any germs will be killed if you cook it thoroughly. If you do wash raw chicken or meat, take care because you could splash germs onto the sink, worktop, dishes, food, or anything else nearby.

sorry bp got you mixed up with that other North Londoner whose name begins with B,that's because my kids are clamouring for their Findus frozen Littel Fishes.