The Beginner's Guide to Whole Chickens
I recently had a customer ask me if I had any tips on using a whole chicken. She'd recently been a vegetarian, partially due to concerns about animal welfare in the conventional meat industry, but was now eating meat selectively, choosing farms she can trust. This was a great question - Shane and I have been eating locally raised chickens for about 6 years now (growing our own for the past 4) and I can easily forget how intimidating it is to start eating food that looks drastically different than what I would typically buy in the grocery store. I had some serious questions about the neck being attached to the first bird we bought from a local producer.
Cooking a whole chicken does not have to be an overwhelming or nerve-wracking experience. Here are some basic tips and tricks for getting started with using a whole chicken in your kitchen. Make sure to read to the end to ensure that you're utilizing every part of your bird, the neck and all.
The Easy Way - Simple Shredded Chicken
By far the easiest way to prepare a whole chicken is in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. This will not necessarily provide the best flavor/texture, but it certainly is the easiest if you're feeling nervous or too busy to monitor a chicken roasting in the oven.
For the slow cooker, you should thaw the chicken in the fridge in advance. This typically takes 2-3 days in the fridge. Then you can cook it according to a recipe you find online or in a cookbook. The lower temperature and longer cook time will result in a more tender bird, as long as you don't overcook the bird, which will result in a more rubbery texture. We typically cook it on low for around 6-8 hours, until it shreds easily with a fork, but the time will depend on the size of the bird.
Instant Pot recipes will typically tell you to cook the chicken at high pressure for 6 minutes per pound of bird (a 4 pound chicken should cook in about 24 minutes), but again do the shred test to see if it's actually cooked. If you want the meat to be tender, rather than rubbery, let the pressure release naturally - this will take about 15-20 minutes. In the Instant Pot, you can cook from frozen, as well, but you need to adjust the time.
If you have a kitchen thermometer, chicken should be at 165 degrees to be safe to eat. This can be searched online, as well. I like to do this to use the shredded chicken in tacos, sandwiches, soups, casseroles, etc. Basically any recipe that calls for shredded chicken can use this (or sometimes I'll do a recipe that calls for chicken breasts and just skip the step to pan fry the breasts). I have a couple of recipes over on our blog already that use shredded chicken:
In the Oven - Roasted and Delicious
My favorite way to eat a whole chicken is roasted in the oven. The time/temp will again depend on the recipe you use and the size of your bird. There are so many different recipes already created for delicious roast chicken; I'll work on uploading a few of our family's favorites this winter.
You will need to thaw your chicken before roasting it, plan a couple of days in advance to let it thaw completely in the fridge. If you add spices/salt to the skin of the chicken the night before you plan to cook the chicken and let it sit in the fridge, it'll soak up more flavor and provide a crispier skin when roasted in the oven. This is one of those delicious dinners that is great as leftovers. Or you can re-purpose the leftover chicken as shredded chicken in any of the above recipes. This one feels the most intimidating, but will taste the best (in my opinion). We typically roast our chickens at 400 degrees for an hour to an hour and a half, until a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken registers 165 degrees, meaning the bird is fully cooked.
Other Delicious Ideas
Other customers have grilled or smoked the whole chickens with great results. I haven't done this yet, so I wouldn't have a ton of information about it! A few of our customers have made recipes like beer can chicken or butterflied chicken on the grill. One of our customers was extremely excited to buy more chickens when he tasted the results of cooking it in his smoker. There are so many ways to prepare the chicken for a delicious meal for your family!
Don't Forget! Hands-off Chicken Stock
Finally - make sure to save the bones! You won't use the neck or the bones in your meal, but they are able to make a super easy and extremely nutrient dense bone broth. It is super easy to make the broth, and then you can use it as you would a normal broth, for soups or other recipes. Shane also likes to boil our rice and quinoa in the bone broth to add some extra flavor and nutrients to our dishes! We have a blog post with that recipe too!
If you are still feeling nervous about cooking a whole chicken, please reach out! We are here to help! You will not regret adding local food to your family's plate - the flavor and nutrition is unrivaled!
Happy Cooking,
Kenna
Cooking a whole chicken does not have to be an overwhelming or nerve-wracking experience. Here are some basic tips and tricks for getting started with using a whole chicken in your kitchen. Make sure to read to the end to ensure that you're utilizing every part of your bird, the neck and all.
The Easy Way - Simple Shredded Chicken
By far the easiest way to prepare a whole chicken is in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. This will not necessarily provide the best flavor/texture, but it certainly is the easiest if you're feeling nervous or too busy to monitor a chicken roasting in the oven.
For the slow cooker, you should thaw the chicken in the fridge in advance. This typically takes 2-3 days in the fridge. Then you can cook it according to a recipe you find online or in a cookbook. The lower temperature and longer cook time will result in a more tender bird, as long as you don't overcook the bird, which will result in a more rubbery texture. We typically cook it on low for around 6-8 hours, until it shreds easily with a fork, but the time will depend on the size of the bird.
Instant Pot recipes will typically tell you to cook the chicken at high pressure for 6 minutes per pound of bird (a 4 pound chicken should cook in about 24 minutes), but again do the shred test to see if it's actually cooked. If you want the meat to be tender, rather than rubbery, let the pressure release naturally - this will take about 15-20 minutes. In the Instant Pot, you can cook from frozen, as well, but you need to adjust the time.
If you have a kitchen thermometer, chicken should be at 165 degrees to be safe to eat. This can be searched online, as well. I like to do this to use the shredded chicken in tacos, sandwiches, soups, casseroles, etc. Basically any recipe that calls for shredded chicken can use this (or sometimes I'll do a recipe that calls for chicken breasts and just skip the step to pan fry the breasts). I have a couple of recipes over on our blog already that use shredded chicken:
- Chicken Tacos (add the seasoning mix and saute just until you can start to smell the spices - this will taste better if left to blend flavors overnight)
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- BBQ Chicken Quesadillas (easy and delicious)
- Loaded Chicken Nachos
In the Oven - Roasted and Delicious
My favorite way to eat a whole chicken is roasted in the oven. The time/temp will again depend on the recipe you use and the size of your bird. There are so many different recipes already created for delicious roast chicken; I'll work on uploading a few of our family's favorites this winter.
You will need to thaw your chicken before roasting it, plan a couple of days in advance to let it thaw completely in the fridge. If you add spices/salt to the skin of the chicken the night before you plan to cook the chicken and let it sit in the fridge, it'll soak up more flavor and provide a crispier skin when roasted in the oven. This is one of those delicious dinners that is great as leftovers. Or you can re-purpose the leftover chicken as shredded chicken in any of the above recipes. This one feels the most intimidating, but will taste the best (in my opinion). We typically roast our chickens at 400 degrees for an hour to an hour and a half, until a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken registers 165 degrees, meaning the bird is fully cooked.
Other Delicious Ideas
Other customers have grilled or smoked the whole chickens with great results. I haven't done this yet, so I wouldn't have a ton of information about it! A few of our customers have made recipes like beer can chicken or butterflied chicken on the grill. One of our customers was extremely excited to buy more chickens when he tasted the results of cooking it in his smoker. There are so many ways to prepare the chicken for a delicious meal for your family!
Don't Forget! Hands-off Chicken Stock
Finally - make sure to save the bones! You won't use the neck or the bones in your meal, but they are able to make a super easy and extremely nutrient dense bone broth. It is super easy to make the broth, and then you can use it as you would a normal broth, for soups or other recipes. Shane also likes to boil our rice and quinoa in the bone broth to add some extra flavor and nutrients to our dishes! We have a blog post with that recipe too!
If you are still feeling nervous about cooking a whole chicken, please reach out! We are here to help! You will not regret adding local food to your family's plate - the flavor and nutrition is unrivaled!
Happy Cooking,
Kenna