Help! I've never roasted a chicken...

[Vebrithien]

How do I go about it??? I'll qualify this by adding that I'm vegetarian, but DH and DD are not.

We're going through a bit of a lean patch at the moment, and whilst toddler DD will eat some pulses, frankly I can't stand any more wind from DH! And so, I thought roasting a whole chicken might be the way to go, bearing in mind the tales of the Mumsnet Chicken.

So, what do I do, how do I tell if it is cooked, and what sort of frugal dinners can I make from one?
Thanks!

in its very simplest form, take it out of the packet, put it on tray loosely wrapped in foil and set the timer for the amount of time specified on the packaging.

Shiny side up or down for the foil?

I use the foil shiny side up. You can use the meat hot or cold, we never have much left after hot roast dinner and sandwiches, have heard some people use the carcass to make soup with veg, a google search would tell you how.

It's really really easy. Remove any giblets if there are any (they'll be in a bag inside the chicken), cover it in tin foil and pop it in the oven at 180. The packaging should tell you how long for. About half an hour before it's ready take the foil off so that the skin crisps up. When it's done, lift it up and pour the juices out into the roasting pan. If there's any blood in the juices then it's not ready.

Other meals you can make:
Curry
Pie
Risotto
Pasta dishes
Soup (you can use the scraps left after making another meal for this)
Chicken lasagne (there's a good recipe in Jamie's money saving meals)
Stew

Good luck!

To add to complication, I never use foil. I just open it, put it in a roasting tin and bung in oven for about an hour and a half. No foil as we like it crispy. You can tell when it's done if the juices are clear when you stick a skewer in its thigh.

If you are veggie, I'd suggest getting prepared cook in the bag one, and just follow the instructions - sling it in the oven, and cut out the top for the last half hour, iirc.

Stretching it means more cooking with usually - turning into pie or stir fry. Are you ok handling meat?

no foil here.
place bird on baking tray.
rub on (or sprinkle on) a stock cube and/herbs.

20 min per 500g (weight is on the packet) + one extra 20 min at 170.
baste a couple of times (spoon over the liquid that runs out of the meat over the neat)

take out the oven, leave for 10 min then serve

I always buy the roast in the bag chickens! They're so easy and require no prep! I realise you probably already have your chicken but just for future reference

DunesOfSand thanks, but I am okay handling meat. I cook off the bone meat already, and have to do dissections (bio teacher!). Wasn't goings to servebmuch as just roast slices, but was hoping to pull it to pieces, and use it in other dishes. Do supermarket chickens normally have the gibblets in them?
Lovely suggestions for meals, thanks! I'd probably use foil, don't want it too crispy.
Is pulled chicken a thing?

no giblets usually in supermarket chicken. they are usually ready to roast.

Most supermarkets do roast in the bag chickens now. Bugbear of mine but would work for you. But chicken, heat oven, bing whole thing in the oven for the time in the pack. Job done.

I use roasting bags (pack of 10 is about 1.99 from b&m, supermarkets) then chuck herbs etc in - keeps it really moist. Or you could do it in a slow cooker.

I never use foil. Cut and discard the string holding the legs together so that the bird cooks evenly. I usually put sliced onion or a few garlic cloves or some herbs into the cavity.
Drizzle some oil over the bird and pop in the oven, the packaging will give you an indication of cooking time and temperature.

Things you can do with left over chicken include risotto, chicken pie, chicken in white sauce with rice, pasta Alfredo. Mushrooms go well with chicken and will help stretch the leftovers out.

If you are going to use it in other things then you'd be better to poach it, or do it in the slowcooker if you have one.

for poaching I'd slice an onion into quarters, snap a carrot or two and a couple of celery sticks, sit the chicken on top in a pan large enough to almost cover the chicken with water
If you have parsley throw some stalks in, plenty of S&P, and then I put the lid on, bring to the boil and then turn the heat right down and leave it alone for about 40-60 minutes

The leg should practically fall off a done chicken if you nudge it.

Lift the chicken out, and let it cool and you can pick all the meat off.

The water in the pan is now chicken stock, if you strain out the veg, and set it in the fridge overnight all the fat will rise to the top and you can skim it off, and the stock should be slightly jellied

Add fresh parsley, broken pasta, and some shredded chicken to this and you have Chicken Noodle soup which is a miracle cure for almost anything in this house!

Oooohhhh, MsHomeSlice slow cooker sounds like it could be the way! How long would you cook it for roughly, and on high or low?

If you poach the chicken or make stock from the carcass, use some of the stock to cook the risotto, make the white sauce for the pie etc, to add flavour to the dishes. Then you can make soup with the remaining stock.

Ok on the dealing with meat then . Just thinking about the eggie i know who wont touch the stuff, raw or cooked!

Slow cooker is about 8hr on low, or 4-5 on high. Thickly slice an onion to make a "table" for the chicken to sit on.

Also, consider meals you can just add the chicken to after cooking - so make a green veg risotto, serve yours, then stir chicken through for the others.

Dunes has it...veg, chicken, lid on, 8 hours! ..I put a little water into the dish , just for fear of any bowl cracking incidents, but the chicken makes its own juices!

Wonderful, thanks! Will give the slow cooker chicken a go, and see what happens...!