My Version of Whole Baked Chicken

I’ve mentioned in other posts that every year we butcher our own chickens. We get about 30 Cornish rock chickens, raise them for a few months, and then butcher them a few at a time. My husband has really became the chicken expert and can butcher up a chicken very quickly. He even invented and made his own plucker. We’ve evolved the process over the years so that we’ve streamlined it to be as quick as possible. From the initial cut and bleeding out, to the freezer bag–he’s got it down.

I tell him that he is in charge of the butchering. I’ll just make the finished product taste good. I think that’s a pretty good deal.

I fixed a whole chicken today. Our chickens are a tad bit bigger than the grocery store’s. Mine was about 5 pounds. I let it thaw in the fridge the day before cooking. This will be an all day affair.

To prepare the chicken:

Place breast down in a roasting pan. I used my stoneware with a cover.

First, I rub a little olive oil all over the chicken. Then, I’ll sprinkle a good layer of both salt and pepper.

Sprinkle on some onion and garlic powder.

Then cover with paprika.

Now I’ll squirt mustard in zig-zags over the top and the sides. It doesn’t look so pretty at first, but it will! When John smokes a whole chicken in our outdoor smoker, he’ll inject the breast with melted butter and spices. That would also work with a baked chicken, but I didn’t do that in today’s version.

I cook our chicken on 200 degrees, for about 6 hours. Low and slow makes it tender on the inside! For the last minute or two, I’ll take off the stoneware cover and crisp up the skin a little bit more with the oven on broil.

It’s much prettier when it’s done! I’m so sorry I don’t have a picture of the finished product. Someone flew into it with a knife and carved it quicker than I could snap a photo.

Now, we’ll have chicken for dinner, leftover chicken for soup in a few days, and bones to make broth! I love how one chicken will make several different meals—money saving and time saving for me!