How To Cook A Whole Chicken

Have you ever taken a look at a whole chicken and wondered,

“What on earth do I do with THIS?”

When whole chickens are on sale for under $1 per pound, it’s a great opportunity to economically and easily stock up your freezer with meat and broth that can be used for so many possibilities. Chicken soups, cheesy soups, tomato soup, so many casseroles, pastas, pot pie, the list goes on!

When it comes down to the process, boiling a whole chicken for the meat and broth is one of the simplest of kitchen tasks.

• unwrap
• trim
• place in pot with water
• season
• boil

Half an hour later, you have broth to use in all of your soups and casseroles, plus a significant yield of chicken meat for all of those same uses.

Handle Your Whole Chicken With Confidence

A chicken is much smaller than a turkey, so it’s easy to unwrap and prepare for cooking. First, remember to check the inside cavity of the chicken for a package of giblets. I just discard them, but many people use them in different ways. Then, remove most of the skin so that a less-greasy broth is produced from cooking chicken. That’s not required, but it really does make a difference in the fat content. Using kitchen shears, just cut into a loose part of the skin and pull it back, cutting on the tighter spots and peeling where it comes off more easily.

Place your chicken into a large stock pot and add 8 cups of water. This is an arbitrary amount – you can go a little less or more with no problem. Turn on the heat and let the chicken and water begin to cook while you prepare the vegetables and seasonings. Add all of the other ingredients as you have them ready, and just let your chicken cook for 30 to 40 minutes.

Debone Once It Has Cooled But Is Still Warm

When you remove the cooked chicken from the pot, place it on a cutting board and let it cool until you can touch it without burning yourself. Ten minutes is fine. Then, the pieces of meat easily tear off the center bone and you have two chunks of white breast meat, two wings, two legs and thighs, and a remaining backbone. There are two more chunks of meat right where my fingers are pointing on the photo, plus various scraps to pull off the carcass. I also de-bone the wings, legs, and thighs. When it is still warm, it comes apart very easily.

It’s very satisfying to place labeled containers of broth and chicken into the freezer after taking care of a whole chicken. Don’t let that purchase intimidate you, just dive in and do it!

I like instant gratification, so I prep a chicken like this on a day that I am using broth and chicken for a recipe. I use half of the meat in whatever I am making, and broth if needed, and then store away the rest in the freezer in one to two-cup containers. Be sure to put small, usable quantities in the freezer! Most recipes require two cups of broth. If it requires four, you can remove two containers from your freezer when making that recipe. That’s a lot easier than trying to thaw and remove two cups from a six-cup block of broth.