How to adjust chicken recipes for different-size birds
Q: The overwhelming majority of chicken recipes I see call for a 3½- to 4-pound chicken. But when I go to the grocery store, it’s rare to see a bird under 5 pounds. Recently, every whole chicken I came across was at least 6 pounds. Any suggestions on what to do? “Cook it longer” seems like things could go awry.
A: Well, friends, “cook it longer” is in fact the answer to adjusting recipes for chickens of different sizes. While any good recipe worth its salt will list a time for how long something should take to cook, it’s important to remember that these numbers are just estimates — they aren’t hard and fast rules.
There are a number of factors that could impact how long it takes to cook a whole chicken, such as whether your oven heats evenly, how cold the bird is at the start, whether it’s trussed or stuffed, and the size and type of pan you use. (And no, you do not need to make modifications to the oven temperature.)
Though times are useful to most home cooks, there should be other doneness indicators — typically visual, olfactory or aural — included in recipe instructions, such as “tender and brown” for roasted vegetables, “nutty” for brown butter or a “steady sizzle” when frying. When it comes to poultry, the paramount test is its internal temperature: The Department of Agriculture recommends that all poultry (chicken, turkey and duck, including whole birds, parts and ground) reach a minimum internal temperature of 165°F before serving. You can measure a whole chicken’s temperature by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and thigh, away from the bone. (With whole birds, it’s safest to measure the temperature in multiple places to ensure doneness.)
How much extra time will it take? It’s done when it’s done. Again, internal temperature is your most foolproof guide with chicken. With a larger bird, I recommend still checking its temperature at the time the recipe states to see how far along it is and then using that as a guideline to determine how long to wait to check again. If at any point your chicken is getting too brown for your liking, tent it with foil as you would when roasting a turkey.
Lastly, you’ll likely want to adjust the amount of seasonings and/or glaze a recipe calls for to account for different-size chickens. All it takes is a little math to scale the ingredients as needed. For example: If your recipe calls for a 4-pound bird and you’re using a 5-pounder, simply up the seasoning by 25%. Once it’s in the oven, let your thermometer take the guesswork out of the equation.