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Chicken School

Cooped Up: The Whole Bird Edition

Our complete guide to various ways you can cook whole chicken at home.

Beer Can Chicken

Being cooped up doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy bbq season from the safety of your backyard and our famous beer can chicken is the perfect way to kick-off the season.

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Simply place a half empty can of beer in the cavity of a chicken and stand it upright on the grill to cook. This allows the beer to steam the inside of the chicken creating succulent meat, while the outside remains crispy and delicious.

If you don’t have beer on hand here’s a few other options that will work just as well:

  • apple juice
  • lemonade
  • chicken stock
  • your favourite soda
  • non-alcoholic beer

Get the complete instructions for making beer can chicken here.

Brining a Whole Chicken

Brining a whole chicken keeps it incredibly moist while adding excellent flavour. 

Brining is basically soaking meat in a salt water solution, but the flavour doesn’t stop at just salt. Try adding some of your favourite herbs and seasonings, just make sure that they complement one another. Some classic flavours are garlic & thyme, lemon slices, garlic & rosemary and don’t forget to add peppercorns for an extra kick. There are so many options, so have fun and experiment with the seasonings you have at home.

Sunday Roast

Sundays were made for roast dinners and now’s the perfect time to start this tradition up again. Check out our guide on how to season, truss and roast the perfect chicken for your Sunday dinner, or for any night of the week. Serve with our fantastic made from scratch gravy

8 Roast Chicken Recipes

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How to Carve a Whole Chicken

Follow our step-by-step guide on how to perfectly carve your roast chicken, or watch the video tutorial below.

Spatchcocked Chicken

Spatchcocking (or butterflying) is a great way to ensure an evenly cooked whole bird and requires less cooking time. Check out our collection of amazing spatchcocked recipes. 

5 Spatchcocked Chicken Recipes

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Sectioning a Whole Chicken

If you find yourself with a whole chicken, but are able to cook it all at once, or would just prefer to eat only a portion of it, you can always section it yourself and refrigerate or freeze any unused portions. Follow this guide on how to easily section a whole chicken at home.

Whole Chicken Recipes

There are plenty of ways to cook a whole chicken at home from roasting to BBQing to slow cooking. Here’s a collection of just a few of our favourite ways to cook a whole chicken

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Rotisserie Chicken Recipes

If you’re not in the mood to cook a whole chicken, then a store-bought rotisserie chicken is a great way way to get the family to the table without the hassle of cooking. A good tip is to buy 2 rotisserie chickens and eat one for dinner and save the other one for meals throughout the week. Here’s 7 easy meals you can make with a store-bought rotisserie chicken: 

More Rotisserie Chicken Meal Ideas