Chicken Whole

A whole chicken gives you every cut from one bird: breast, thigh, wing, and drumstick, plus a carcass for stock once the meat is gone. A 1.2kg bird is a common size for a family roast or a pot of soup, feeding around four people. Thaw a whole frozen bird in the fridge for a full day before cooking, since the centre takes far longer to defrost than a single cut. Roasting it whole keeps the breast moister than cooking it separately, because the legs and thighs shield it from direct heat.