How to Cook a Whole Chicken in a Conventional Oven

This chicken won't last long.

As the old saying goes, "A bird in hand is better than two in the bush." But a bird in the oven is even better yet. Make that bird a chicken and you're on your way to a mouth watering meal. Chicken is cheap, relatively low in fat and with the number of free range options available today, you can enjoy the flavor without (too) much remorse of conscience. You might think breasts are best or wings are the thing, but for flavor and value, the whole chicken is what you should be picking.

Things You'll Need

• Whole chicken
• Roasting pan
• Meat thermometer
• Wire rack
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil or butter

Instructions

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and calculate the cooking time. The bird will need 20 minutes per pound to cook, plus an additional 10 to 20 minutes.

2. Remove the giblets (heart, liver, and gizzard) from the chicken. You will very likely find these bagged inside the cavity. Reserve them for later use in stuffing of gravy.

3. Clean the chicken, inside and out, with cold water. Be sure to pat it dry so that the skin crisps.

4. 

   Salt and pepper are the most basic seasonings. Experiment with others.

   Rub the skin with butter or olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.

5. Place the chicken on a wire rack inside a roasting pan. Keeping the bird elevated allows the fat to drip away away from the meat.

Cooking

1. Place the chicken in the preheated oven. After 20 minutes of cooking remove it (making sure to close the oven door to keep the heat in) and baste the bird with the juices that have collected in the bottom of the pan. You can use a spoon, brush, or baster for this step. Return the chicken to the oven and repeat this process every 20 minutes to keep the meat moist and the skin from burning.

2. Check the chicken's temperature upon reaching your calculated cooking time. Put the thermometer into the thick part of the bird's thigh being careful not to touch the bone. The temperature should be 180 degrees to ensure that the heat has eliminated all harmful bacteria.

3. Allow the chicken to rest for 15 to 20 minutes upon taking it from the oven. This will make for a moister bird, as the juices will have settled into the meat.

Tips & Warnings

• You might have to remove the chicken's kidneys yourself. These are dark red, in the back of the cavity. You can pull them out simply with your fingers.

• If the bird's skin burns while cooking, cover it with tin foil.

• To maintain the shape of larger chickens, truss the limbs with a length of string that is approximately five times as long as the bird. Place the string under the chicken's back and wrap it around each leg. Tug on the string to draw the legs together and cross the strings, then wrap the string ends around the wings.

• Experiment with different seasonings on the chicken's skin or insert fresh herbs and garlic under the skin. Try stuffing the cavity with lemons, vegetables or a dressing made from breadcrumbs and giblets.

• To avoid cross contamination of harmful salmonella bacteria, make sure to wash your hands with warm soap and water after every time you handle raw chicken. This goes for all utensils and surfaces that come into contact with raw chicken as well.

References

• recipetips.com: Trussing a chicken
• helpwithcooking.com: Cooking a Chicken

Resources

• Food Network's Chicken Recipes
• Consumer Reports on Chicken Safety
• Humane Food Labels