5 ms·

Cooking a whole chicken is a major pain. If not for rotisserie chickens, I would only buy chicken in the form of pre-butchered packages of breasts, thighs, or l

Cooking a whole chicken is a major pain. If not for rotisserie chickens, I would only buy chicken in the form of pre-butchered packages of breasts, thighs, or legs (and the occasional bag of frozen buffalo wings). The pre-butchered meat is usually a way better deal. Boneless chicken breasts, which are the most expensive option, are often as cheap as $3.50/lb - about the same as a roto chicken. And it's pure meat, extremely healthy, and only takes 20-30 minutes to cook. (But when you have a 2- and 4-year-old, sometimes those 20-30 minutes make all the difference. So I eat roto chicken about once a week.)

stdbrouw 10y ago
> And it's pure meat, extremely healthy, and only takes 20-30 minutes to cook. It is unfortunately also the part of the chicken that is least flavorful.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  Larger packages of boneless skinless thighs are about the same price. They cook faster. I guess they tend to have a bit more fat on them than the breasts. And more fat in them. But not to an absurd level.
  - ssharp 10y ago
    Thanks to that extra fat, thighs have the added benefit of not drying out if you dare cook them past 165. A lot of breasts these days are also enormous and require extra prep work to make them reasonable to cook.
- justinlardinois 10y ago
  Opinion. I'm on the white meat side of this debate; dark meat is just mushy and greasy to me, not more flavorful.
ssharp 10y ago
I personally don't find roasting whole chickens to be all that much harder than cooking individual pieces. The entire process takes long because of the cook time, but it's passive time in the oven, not prep work or standing over a stove. I also love roasting chicken over a bed of vegetables. It's a great winter time dish. I'm with you on the kids, though. I do a lot of smoking in the summer and will usually bulk cook and freeze chicken, pork, and beef since smoking scales easily in cabinet style smokers!
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Spatchcock! Cooking time greatly reduced.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - arprocter 10y ago
    Came here to say this! In my oven it takes about an hour at 425f on a baking rack, meat stays juicy and skin turns out nice and crisp. The Predator-esque spine removal is a little daunting the first time, but I've found that kitchen scissors are the easiest way.
barney54 10y ago
Actually, here's a great and easy recipe to cook a whole chicken--Salt Roasted Chicken: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salt-roasted-chicken-230746 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salt-roasted-ch... There are many versions and this is just one. It's is very simple and very good. It helps to have a remote thermometer to makes sure you don't overcook the chicken.
simonh 10y ago
I find roasting a chicken incredibly easy. All it takes is an oven, roasting tray and time.
saboot 10y ago
I, personally, find Mark Bittman's recipe to be one of the simplest. It delivers great chicken every time. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015812-simplest-roast-chicken http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015812-simplest-roast-ch... It requires a cast iron pan. It requires high heat in the beginning, so don't be alarmed by the smoke.
- stevesearer 10y ago
  I like Thomas Keller's 'Simple Roast Chicken': http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-simple-roast-chicken-231348 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-sim...
  - saboot 10y ago
    I actually messed up my cast iron pan recently (left on burner and all the seasoning burnt off) and haven't been bothered to fix it yet. I'll probably give this recipe a go tomorrow, thanks!
douche 10y ago
The easiest way I've found is beer-can grilled chicken http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beer-can-chicken-recipe.html http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beer-can-chicken-recipe.h...
ghshephard 10y ago
"Cooking a whole chicken is a major pain." - unless you have a Oven Top pressure cooker. In which case, "Dump in the chicken, throw in random collection of chopped up vegetables, pour in some spices, olive-oil (if you want to crank up the calories/like extra fatty tasting broth, which I do), set for 30 minutes - when done, meat should be able to be stripped off the bone with tongs/fork - 5 minutes to transfer the meat/vegetables into large bowl" - total hands on prep time can be about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many different types of vegetables you want to chop up. $6 2 kilo chicken + vegetables and some olive oil makes 5 solid 450 gram meals. Plus, you can then throw in the leftover meat/bones into the pressure cooker for an hour and get awesome broth.

stdbrouw 10y ago

> And it's pure meat, extremely healthy, and only takes 20-30 minutes to cook. It is unfortunately also the part of the chicken that is least flavorful.

maxerickson 10y ago
Larger packages of boneless skinless thighs are about the same price. They cook faster. I guess they tend to have a bit more fat on them than the breasts. And more fat in them. But not to an absurd level.
- ssharp 10y ago
  Thanks to that extra fat, thighs have the added benefit of not drying out if you dare cook them past 165. A lot of breasts these days are also enormous and require extra prep work to make them reasonable to cook.
justinlardinois 10y ago
Opinion. I'm on the white meat side of this debate; dark meat is just mushy and greasy to me, not more flavorful.

ssharp 10y ago

I personally don't find roasting whole chickens to be all that much harder than cooking individual pieces. The entire process takes long because of the cook time, but it's passive time in the oven, not prep work or standing over a stove. I also love roasting chicken over a bed of vegetables. It's a great winter time dish. I'm with you on the kids, though. I do a lot of smoking in the summer and will usually bulk cook and freeze chicken, pork, and beef since smoking scales easily in cabinet style smokers!

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
Spatchcock! Cooking time greatly reduced.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- arprocter 10y ago
  Came here to say this! In my oven it takes about an hour at 425f on a baking rack, meat stays juicy and skin turns out nice and crisp. The Predator-esque spine removal is a little daunting the first time, but I've found that kitchen scissors are the easiest way.

barney54 10y ago

Actually, here's a great and easy recipe to cook a whole chicken--Salt Roasted Chicken: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salt-roasted-chicken-230746 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salt-roasted-ch... There are many versions and this is just one. It's is very simple and very good. It helps to have a remote thermometer to makes sure you don't overcook the chicken.

simonh 10y ago

I find roasting a chicken incredibly easy. All it takes is an oven, roasting tray and time.

saboot 10y ago

I, personally, find Mark Bittman's recipe to be one of the simplest. It delivers great chicken every time. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015812-simplest-roast-chicken http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015812-simplest-roast-ch... It requires a cast iron pan. It requires high heat in the beginning, so don't be alarmed by the smoke.

stevesearer 10y ago
I like Thomas Keller's 'Simple Roast Chicken': http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-simple-roast-chicken-231348 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-sim...
- saboot 10y ago
  I actually messed up my cast iron pan recently (left on burner and all the seasoning burnt off) and haven't been bothered to fix it yet. I'll probably give this recipe a go tomorrow, thanks!

douche 10y ago

The easiest way I've found is beer-can grilled chicken http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beer-can-chicken-recipe.html http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beer-can-chicken-recipe.h...

ghshephard 10y ago

"Cooking a whole chicken is a major pain." - unless you have a Oven Top pressure cooker. In which case, "Dump in the chicken, throw in random collection of chopped up vegetables, pour in some spices, olive-oil (if you want to crank up the calories/like extra fatty tasting broth, which I do), set for 30 minutes - when done, meat should be able to be stripped off the bone with tongs/fork - 5 minutes to transfer the meat/vegetables into large bowl" - total hands on prep time can be about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many different types of vegetables you want to chop up. $6 2 kilo chicken + vegetables and some olive oil makes 5 solid 450 gram meals. Plus, you can then throw in the leftover meat/bones into the pressure cooker for an hour and get awesome broth.