I'm going to take the plunge and roast a chicken

[beacooker]

Darn it, if Mandy can roast herself a chicken before work in the morning, I guess I can finally get the gumption up to try doing it - on a weekend, when I have nothing else to do all day. I've wanted to try it for years, but one thing has been holding me back - when you buy a whole chicken, where are its internal organs? Am I going to have to cut any of them out? Or is the chicken all ready to go when you buy it?

Please help!

[matt]

I did mine a couple of months ago doing Gail's Psycho chicken. It turned out very well. I plan to do another one when I am not too busy between work and school.

[Shirley Panek]

Usually when I buy a whole chicken, the parts are inside the neck cavity (like when you buy a whole turkey). They're sometimes wrapped up in some kind of plastic bag, so you want to make sure you get them out of there before roasting that bird! :)

I usually rince my bird out and pat it dry before adding whatever seasonings I want. Lately I've been making Gail's Psycho Chicken (mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!), but when I do turkey for Thanksgiving I usually rub the outside and inside with a (whole) quartered lemon (pop it into the cavity), stick some celery, parsley, and onion inside as well, and rub generously with herbes de provence (as well as sticking a tablespoon or two inside the cavity).

Hope this (too wordy) explanation helps!

Shirley

[sneezles]

To answer your question about the "internal" parts of a chicken, sometimes they are all nicely wrapped up and located in the chest cavity and then sometimes they are not so nicely wrapped up(sometimes you need to check the other end). The neck is pretty easy to spot, long ugly sucker with no skin or meat to speak of (this kind of talk is what makes vegetarians out of some of us-not Raancherrrrrs though!). Then the rest of them innards would be located somewheres in that chest cavity-and if that bird ain't all the way defrosted then they just might be stuck on the walls of that said cavity!
Sorry but I just finished watching a Daniel Boone movie and then there is that Texas image to keep up!
Truly though roasting a chicken is one of the easiest things to do and if you should happen to miss an "innard" or two it wouldn't hurt much of anything!

[Beth]

Darn tootin', Sneezles! Cookin' ya that thar bird be right easy. Iffin ya miss a tender part inside, well, that'l jez be where it started n where it ended! (Deep piney woods folk)

One year my sister cooked the Thanksgiving turkey. She got the neck and such out of the chest cavity, but the other end had a package too. That was discovered as we were removing the rest of the meat from the carcass. We laughed and called it the extra flavor packet. So, should it happen, you have a answer ready. :D

[elnant]

I've had the best luck when I butterfly the chicken before I roast it. Just use kitchen shears to cut down one side of the backbone, then open up the chicken and take out the keel bone between the breasts (cut underneath it a little bit, then use your fingers to pull it up)
When you turn it back over, the chicken will lay flat. I rub the skin with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and herbes de provence. I usually put some onions (or other vegetables) and chicken broth in the bottom of the pan, then put the chicken on top, and baste it occasionally while it's cooking! Yum -- I haven't made this one in a while...it's been very hot here lately, too hot to cook!

[lsdesign]

I made two roast chickens last week for my CL Supper club. I used a Martha Stewart recipe from her Best of mag that came out this past January. The recipe is called Lemon Chicken and you marinate the whole bird in salt and lemon juice. Before you roast you make a "Gremolata" with lemon zest, garlic, parsley, and shallots this gets put under the skin. The cavity is then stuffed with bay leaves and lemon halves. This was was a bit labor intensive but well well worth the effort. I recommend it highly.

[SusanPC]

I will roast a chicken or turkey breast on a Sunday and have fresh meat for sandwiches all week. I can't stand the slimy turkey from the grocery store deli! I just put in in my 9X13 stoneware baker, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and anything else that I feel like at the moment and bake. If I am having it for dinner I will rub a bit with butter because my husband likes the skin and will serve with stuffing with granny smith apples in it and a veggie. YUMMY and EASY!

[beacooker]

Thanks for all the help, guys. Although I must say, the answer I wanted to hear was 'There will be no internal organs anywhere near your chicken, so don't worry about it.' But, I guess I will just have to deal. I won't feel like a real cook until I do it. But I better not find any 'extra flavoring packets' when I'm done! Gail's Psycho Chicken is one of the recipes I was considering for my first try.

Sneezles and Beth, thanks for the local color, too! Sneezles, I lived in Texas for 8 years, so I felt right at home.

[sneezles]

Of course, if you have a DH or BF you could always give him the job of innards search!

[SusanPC]

Well here is my question...last time I roasted a whole chicken I swear there were no innards. Was I mistaken...I never could find the darned things!

[Wendy w]

When I roast chicken, I either make Psycho or blasted chicken. Blasted chicken is really easy and I usually make it for when I need chicken for other purposes. Psycho, although extremely easy as well is saved for more special occasions or for when I have a craving for it.

To make blasted chicken, preheat the oven to 450 and sprinkle salt & pepper all over the chicken. I usually put it on one of those vertical racks that allow the fat to drain out of it. Roast for 1 hour. The skin will be crispy and a golden brown. After it rests, it is really easy to remove the skin (which is very dangerous because it is delicious and very fattening) and the chicken is very juicy inside. Good luck beacooker. Let us know how it comes out.

[Peeps]

beacooker - On another thread recently I mentioned that I too was squeamish about attempting to handle a whole dead chicken, especially that whole innards thing, so I've never attempted it either but JanetB made a great suggestion - rubber gloves!! I wear rubber gloves for doing dishes and for cleaning because I'm so easily grossed out so that seeemed like a great suggestion.

[Beth]

If rubber gloves aren't enough, ask the butcher to prep the chicken for you. He'll feel so helpful and manly, it'll just make his day (unless he's a nasty sort and deserves another dose of inards)! :D Or find out what brand Susan buys. BTW, some brands put the misc. pieces in a paper of plastic bag, so you have less handling. If you find one that does, stay with them.

LOL-- everytime I hear about someone being sqeamish about meat, especially chicken, I remember the time in high school when a friend of mine and I had a dinner party for some of our fiends. We had a variation on Chicken Cordon Bleu and she was so squeamish about handling cleaned, skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I thought that was pretty simple) that we all laughed so hard (both our mothers were there too). I will always remember that dinner.

I was having too much fun being silly the other day, but I usually roast a chicken similarly to Wendy's blasted chicken -- on a vertical roaster (and if the chicken's opening is too large to fit securely on top, put a half a lemon on the top of the roaster, then the chicken). I put the chicken on at high heat (400-450) and then turn it down, so I roast closer to an hour and a half. Works pretty much the same on a grill or in the oven.

[mcraig13]

Have you ever eaten fried chicken livers or gizzards? If so you wouldn't be so squeamish. I finally learned to fry chicken after being married for 20 years--I know, it's not light, but we allow it about 3 times a year--so much better than KFC, etc. DH and I fight over the fried "innards"--especially the livers--the gizzards actually have a better flavor but are quite tough. Maybe it's a southern thing.

[vbak]

Thereis nothing better for a cold Sunday afternoon dinner than roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Now, for all those squeamish whole chicken virgins let me add this: take those wonderful innards, rinse them put them in a small pot, cover with water, add some onion, celery and let this simmer for about 1 1/2 hours and strain. Refrigerate and then scrape off the fat. You will now have delicious chicken broth for gravy, to add to soup or to make chicken and noodles with the left overs. Sooo good. Vicky

[Little Bit]

One additional note about vbak's gravy idea though: Make sure to remove the liver! Liver is nice in the gravy, if you add it later, but not so wonderful simmered in the broth. I learned this the hard way one Thanksgiving! :(