General Rules for Roasting a Chicken

Dear Readers,

Many of us love chicken especially the white meat. It's a lean protein and has a mild taste that goes well with many sides dishes. I actually love cooking a whole chicken on a Sunday afternoon because I can cut up the meat for many meals throughout the week. I can use it in sandwiches, fajitas, and soups. Have you ever wanted to cook an entire chicken but was alittle overwhelmed and had no idea how long to cook it for or basically what to do?

Here is a simple step by step guide:

Cleaning a chicken:

1- Make sure you work on a very clean surface and wash your hands before touching the chicken.

2- Make sure the chicken is at room temperature. I like fresh whole chickens and not frozen ones.

3- Take the chicken out of the wrapper and throw away the packaging. Also get rid of the inside package that usually is inside the chest cavity. Trust me it's ok to touch the package it's not going to hurt you.

4- Rinse the entire chicken with cold water in the sink inside and out. Make sure the water is running clear.

5- Place the chicken on a paper towel and pat the entire chicken with paper towels. Throw away all used towels and place the bird chest up in a baking dish. Make sure the legs are tucked in.

6- Clean any area where the bird was with soap and hot water and wash your hands.

7- Now its time to dress up your chicken any way you like. I will post an easy recipe on how I like to flavor my chicken.

Below is basic cooking instructions:

Roasting temperatures and times
First of all you will need to preheat the oven to a temperature of 350ºF (176ºC).

Roasting a chicken does not take quite so long as roasting a turkey (see section on roasting a turkey), however a large chicken could still take over 2 hours to roast.

As a general rule, calculate a cooking time of 20 minutes per pound of meat plus an additional 10 - 20 minutes at a temperature of 350ºF (176ºC). Therefore, a 5 lb chicken will need to be roasting in the oven for at least 1h 50 mins. A 5 lb bird will serve between 4 - 5 people.

Some people prefer to set the oven temperature to 450ºF (230ºC) and roast the bird at this high temperature for the first 10 - 15 minutes or the last 10 - 15 minutes. The rest of the time the chicken should be roasted at 350ºF (176ºC). The surge of heat will result in a really crispy and brown skin and deliciously succulent meat.

The table below is a guideline for roasting times for a chicken at 350ºF (176ºC).

Chicken Roasting times (unstuffed)
2½ - 3 lbs - 1 - 1 3/4 hrs
3½ - 4 lbs - 1.5 - 1 3/4 hrs
4½ - 5 lbs - 1.2 - 2 hrs
5 - 6 lbs - 1 3/4 - 2.5 hrs

Chicken Roasting times (stuffed)
2½ - 3 lbs - 1.5 to 2 hrs
3½ - 4 lbs - 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 hrs
4½ - 5 lbs - 2 to 2.5 hrs
5 - 6 lbs - 2 1/4 hrs to 2 3/4 hrs