A Public Service Announcement.

When the recipe books all tell you that a regular sized chicken can be slow roasted in 3.5 hours, they lie.

Oh my droogies, how they ever lie.

Comments

[Dave Schuler]

Moe, Moe, Moe. You must learn to consult your faithful readers on these subjects. How big is the chicken and what temperature are you using?

[Moe Lane]

Six pounds, and it (of course) was ready not five minutes after I posted in despair. Six fragging hours after I put it in. :)

[Dave Schuler]

If you start by searing the bird, a six pound chicken should be done within three hours at 325 (20-25 minutes per lb.). Your oven thermostat may need checking.

One thing that's worth remembering is that what your looking for is an internal temperature of 180-185 degrees. Once you've reached that if you've got a good, stable oven capable of keeping that temperature consistently it can be held for some little time. Within reason of course. Don't want to be incubating any beasties.

[Brad DeLong]

Should I tell you about the time my father tried to grill a turkey for Thanksgiving? It was snowing outside at the time. Small grills have a very hard time maintaining heat in the snow...

[Anarch]

I haven't roasted in a while, since it's kind of pointless when you're serving one, but three hours sounds about right provided

a) You sear (or high-roast) first
b) You roast at a reasonably high heat, either 325 or 350 (I use the latter if I'm using a moister method, e.g. bacon-wrapping or basting)
c) Your oven is seriously capable of maintaining a high heat, which means letting the oven preheat at the full temperature for at least ten minutes before putting in the chicken, opening the oven the least amount possible, and using a pizza stone if necessary.

[Last roast I did was a three or four pounder which took about 2 hours, IIRC, because I was using a funky method.]

Of course, you're taking advice from someone who just set off his smoke detector while grilling squid, so a healthy grain of salt might be a good idea...

[Dave Schuler]

My mother-in-law could always tell when dinner was ready by when the smoke detector went off.

[Dave Schuler]

My mother-in-law could always tell when dinner was ready by when the smoke detector went off.

[Moe Lane]

Who said anything about ovens*? This was one of those standalone, Crock-pot style, 6-quart slow cookers; it was a recipe from my girlfriend's sister. As experiments go, it was a lonnnnng one; we were expecting to eat at around 6 and didn't sit down until after 8 PM.

I will note, though, that when the bird was done it was amazingly tender and juicy.

Moe

*Probably me, since I used the word 'roast', probably inaccurately. Hey, I can do it, just not describe it. :)

[asdf]

Moe, you should totally get one of those deep fryer things. They effing rule, dude!

[Moe Lane]

"Moe, you should totally get one of those deep fryer things."

Get thee behind me, Santa*. Like in any other relationship, in mine there are battles that I can win, there are battles that I must fight... and there are battles that I'm not even gonna bother entering. Deep fryers are strictly Category III. :)

Moe

*Because I so wanted one for last Christmas, of course.

[Slartibartfast]

Slow-cookers are so named for a reason, Moe. And since when is a six-pound chicken "regular-sized"? That's no chicken, it's a small condor.

[Jay C.]

Oh, a six-pound chicken.... and in a Crock-Pot of some sort?
You're lucky to have gotten it done before midnight!
Next time you tackle cooking a pygmy ostrich, try a real oven (and yes, overheat for the first half-hour, then turn it up again in the last 20 mins to brown). One of those stands to prop it up on would help, too!

[Slartibartfast]

And...this is severely after the fact, but it'd be interesting to discover what the equilibrium temperature in a slow-cooker might be, and how long it takes to reach that temperature. As opposed to an oven. Gotta take into account the preheat time.

And now, I've suddenly realized I'm discussing cooking, and bid a fond adieu to this thread.

[Josh]

And now, I've suddenly realized I'm discussing cooking, and bid a fond adieu to this thread.

It's all right, Slart, we're talking about MEAT. Which allows me to brag about the offset smoker my girlfriend and I got this weekend...

[Slartibartfast]

Hey, I can smoke a turkey like nobody's business. There's a very bold, thick line between the culinary arts and manly pursuits such as barbecue and smoking.

Don't tell anyone, though: I'm a pretty mean prep chef.