Roasted my first ever chicken.

SillyMangoX

Today I made my first ever roast chicken for the family for dinner. It was always my dad who did the roasts for the family but since he passed away just over a month ago I decided to take up the helm and have a go.
I followed a recipe I found online, stuffed it with lemons and thyme, put butter under the skin and on top.
I put it in the over for 1.5 hours and tested it, the juices ran clear. Took it out and let it rest. But when it came to carving it, the legs were still under done.
The breast was beautiful and juicy, and I feel like if I had left it in longer to cook the legs more it would have completely dried out the breast.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get it all cooked perfectly??

wobbles-grogan

Depends on the size of the chicken, but for the last 30 mins or so of cooking time, you can make a deep cut where the leg meets the breast, separate them out a bit to give them room and you're good to go.

Alternatively you can put it in a Dutch oven for the whole cooking time, and cook it a bit longer. As it's enclosed it won't dry out as much.

fishy_fishy

I've always used the 20 minutes per lb and 20 over rule.

After first 30 minutes I baste every 15mins or so. Works every time, always juicy and tender but also fully cooked. My own oven isn't very hot despite being a fan oven so would normally roast around 180/190ish.

topnotch

Well done there is only one way to learn and that is to lash into it. As wobbles was saying a good cut between the legs and the breast goes along way. Also if you cover the breast with tin foil while leaving the legs exposed for some of the cooking that will also help prevent drying out.

whiskeyman

Perhaps the legs were just slightly discoloured and appeared underdone?
I would have thought 1.5 hrs should be enough even for a large chicken.

is_that_so

I tend to cover it with foil for 40-45 minutes first, baste as required then and it comes out juicy but tender. Well done OP BTW!

Heroditas

I make a few slashes in the legs with a knife before putting it in the oven and find it all cooks fine

Hoboo

Stick a beer can up it's arse, literally. Plenty of recipes online.........beer can chicken. Savage.

osarusan

You mentioned a cooking time (90 minutes), but didn't mention a temperature, so what was it?

I usually roast a chicken at 170 degrees for 90 minutes, and it's never been underdone. And that's with the oven being opened 3 or 4 times to throw in some chopped potatoes, carrots, onions. I'll stab the deepest meat in the chicken with a fork when doing this to drain some of the the juices and allow the vegetable cook in the chicken fat.

To deal with dryness, I usually put the chicken in breast down for the first 45 minutes, the turn it over when i put in the first vegetables (potato).

Just oil the baking tray so the chicken skin doesn't stick to it.

the beer revolu

whiskeyman wrote: »

Perhaps the legs were just slightly discoloured and appeared underdone?
I would have thought 1.5 hrs should be enough even for a large chicken.

This.

Perhaps the legs weren't actually underdone, if the juices ran clear. Is it possible that you were being a little paranoid?

I've never found the need to slash or stab my chicken to cook it through.

I sometimes put some foil over the breast if the skin is browning too quickly.

Probably the best way to be sure is to get a meat thermometer and check thickest part of thigh is 75°c.

Dizzyblonde

Well done, I bet the family loved it. When I roast a chicken I mix the following and rub it all over the skin:

The zest and juice of half a lemon
A tablespoon of olive oil
A large clove of garlic, crushed
Salt and black pepper

It makes for a lovely succulent chicken.

Muahahaha

Would spatchcocking a chicken ensure it cooks more evenly? Also on basting, every recipe recommends it but surely opening the oven door so frequently effects the temperature a lot?

Day Lewin

Chipping in...as veteran that has roasted hundreds of chickens when cooking for large family.

The temperature needs to be quite high for that crisp, golden "roasted" effect and also, so that the heat penetrates into the thicker parts.

If you cover with foil at any stage, that part of the chicken will get less heat; and also, there can be a sort of squelchy "steamed" effect which doesn't appeal to everyone;

It's damn rare to find a chicken that needs much more than an hour-and-a-half of oven time; Maybe a very large one might approach two hours.
I usually preheat the over to 200C, shove in my chicken on a tin (pretty much as-is, from the shop, with just a dollop of oil or butter) and roast for about 50 mins, then check: if the legs are getting spiky and the top skin is brown, I turn heat down to maybe 170C and leave for another half hour, but keep checking.

Delicately insert a skewer into breast near thigh joint, juices should be clear or almost clear - certainly not cloudy red or pink.
If they are, leave a bit longer! (you could turn oven heat down even more at this point, if needed)

In the end, take chicken out and turn oven off: cover chicken loosely at this stage and let it stand a while - the heat continues to cook the meat without any further scorching effect: it is during this time that I make the gravy from the rich juices in the roasting tin.

A note: putting stuff inside the cavity, such as stuffing or lemons, (tasty though it might be) will tend to slow down the cooking because there is more "solid" to be penetrated by heat. (and it is very important to cook stuffing right through or it may turn into a warm soggy squish of half-cooked chicken juice, really quite dangerous)

Sneaky hint: to speed up cooking, you can lay some thick metal cutlery like knives, spoons etc into the cavity - it conducts the heat into the interior.

.......

What temperature was it at, did you cover all or any of it with tin foil for any length?

I usually cook a large chicken at about 180, in a tray covered with tin foil and after 1.5 hours I take off the tin foil and baste in juices a couple of time for about another 10 minutes (or more as visually necessary).

SillyMangoX

Thanks for all the replies, it’s given me some food for thought, excuse the pun
I had it in at gas mark 6, preheated for about a half hour. Covered it in foil for the first hour ish then left off for the rest of it. I might go easy on the foil next time and just cover it at the end if it’s getting too browned!
The leftovers made a fab chicken curry yesterday though, that’s always the best part of a roast for me!

pinksoir

osarusan wrote: »

.

To deal with dryness, I usually put the chicken in breast down for the first 45 minutes, the turn it over when i put in the first vegetables (potato).

This is exactly how you keep the breast moist. Do it!

The Nal

Putting the bird upside down means you may not get crispy skin and it could stick to the pan and come off.

You need an instant read thermometer if you're roasting any meat.

Use below as a guide.



Just as an FYI, I cooked a 1.5kg chicken at the weekend - a version of this recipe - and it took 65 minutes.

rubadub

The Nal wrote: »

Putting the bird upside down means you may not get crispy skin and it could stick to the pan and come off.

Most will flip it over to crisp the top. A lot of people do not eat the skin, so in some cases it is purely aesthetic if carving at a table. I sometimes take the skin off and put it back in to crisp and further render the fat off it.

The Nal

rubadub wrote: »

A lot of people do not eat the skin

Weirdos

Jellybaby1

I used to have problems years ago roasting chicken so in frustration I changed my method and its worked ever since. Only one or two people on this thread have mentioned the size of the chicken. I usually buy the largest one I can find i.e. 2200g or 2300g, all I do is smather it with butter and sprinkle with salt and pop it into one of these roasters, https://foter.com/enamel-roasting-pan and roast it with the lid on, at 180deg (fan) for about 1hr 45 mins, then I remove the lid to finish off the crisping for about 10 mins. Its always tender and no pinkiness. Forgot to say that I spray the bottom of the roaster with cooking spray to prevent sticking but it usually does stick. My son will always eat the crispy, salty, buttery skin. Can't help with gas temperature I'm afraid.