How old were you when you roasted your first ever chicken?

I had 2nd vote!! :-))

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Look, 3 people have never roasted a chicken!

I have never roasted a chicken.

I was thinking about this fact earlier today, while craving a roast dinner. Even if I was a chicken-roasting pro, I'd probably have to order some Bisto and frozen Yorkshire puddings online before I could remedy the situation.

I was 13. I don't get how you can't roast a chicken before you're at least 20.

Ok - to start with, bisto is fine to use - for yorkshire puddings, go frozen - unless you're doing a proper meal, the frozen ones are just as good an no effort!

To be honest, to start out, just focus on the chicken - you can buy roast spuds, yorkies, bisto for gravy, and peas!

Make sure you have plenty of salt and herbs and some butter on the skin so that you get nice crispy tasty skin!

And if you don't have the time for a full roast chicken - the thighs and drumsticks are even easier and quicker to do!

My father gets very territorial around ovens.

I was 13. I don't get how you can't roast a chicken before you're at least 20.

Because a roast dinner is usually a whole family affair, and it's one of the parents that is tasked with preparing it?

Maybe it's just my daddy then. Me and my sister started prepping dinner since we were 12, and now we both cook Sunday dinner once a month each.

Presumably that's why I said I'd order both of those.


Aside from the actual cooking, the chicken is the easiest part for me. I live in Denmark, so I can't buy frozen roast spuds, gravy (Bisto or otherwise) or frozen Yorkshires without ordering online from a British food delivery service. I think I'll be doing so soonish though, it's been over two years without most British items now! I ate cold marinated herring on rye bread for breakfast! Yes, the situation is that dire.


Do I need a metal roasting tin? What temperature do I cook a whole chicken at? How long does it usually take (I know the bit about stabbing it and seeing if the juices run clear)? What do I need to do prep-wise aside from smearing butter/oil/herbs/etc into the skin on the top? Anything? Do I stuff an onion up its bum?

Using a throw away roasting tin is handy because I can never be bothered to clean up - I usually stick mine in at about 200C for about 90 mins (depending on size!) That usually does me a nice sized for 2-4 (depending on hunger levels) people!

Smearing sounds good, I never shove an onion up it's ass, but you can if you want!

Apart from that, it's a nice tasty chicken!

Doing your own spuds is nice - I usually par-boil the spuds for about 15-20 mins, then stick them into another roasting pan which has some hot oil and sea salt in - I usually have these in for about 90-120 mins depending on how crispy and yummy you want them!

I cooked meals for myself from age 10-12. We never did the 'cook for the whole family' thing, though, and roast dinners were always something mum or stepdad did. I guess largely because everyone loves a roast dinner so it's not something you risk someone stuffing up.