How Long Do You Bake Chicken With Bones

Posted by Tom in Cooking Whole Chicken | 0 comments

Cooking chicken is a fairly simple process but most of us are aware of the importance of fully cooking chicken particularly whole birds with their bones given the risk of food poisoning. This is why the heat source must penetrate the chicken in it’s entirety to kill of any residual bacteria before eating.

So, just how long to you bake chicken with bones for?

The cooking time very much depends on the size of the chicken and whether or not you are stuffing the bird. In my experiences I would recommend that you do not stuff the chicken cavity with any kind of stuffing during cooking. The cavity inside the bird is a critical cooking element allowing the heat to pass inside the bird and fully cooking it through. Blocking off this cavity will restrict the flow of heat and results cannot be predicted with any certainty.

Therefore, the safest and simpliest method of cooking a stuffed chicken is to place the stuffing mixture either in a separate roasting dish or place the stuffing beside the chicken later during the cooking time.

For an average sized chicken around 4lbs in weight you will need to be cooking at a temperature of 350 degrees for a period of 1hr 45mins to 2hrs. As will all cooking, and to double check whether the bird is fully cooked, skewer the deepest part of the bird (usually through breast and thigh area) and pay attention to the resulting flow of juices – you are looking for a clean fluid, if it is pink then place the chicken back in the oven for a further 15 minutes and check again.

Better still, I always recommend that a meat temparature gauge is the integral part of any kitchen and takes the guess work out of baking given it will display the actual temparature inside any piece of meat. They are inexpensive and well worth the money.