Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Skyeknight]

Happy thanksgiving! I'm going to be having two celebrations this year, neither of which are today but I'm going to be cooking a chicken for one of them, and I'm pretty excited about the recipe

Would you mind sharing that recipe? I have never cooked whole chicken, but I am planning to soon. So will dive into recipes next week probably.

I've got a chicken thawing right now, bought it from a family friend. It's a Cornish cross, I was hoping for a heritage bird but it's leagues better than an animal that spent its life in a warehouse. Anyways all this to say it's my first time roasting a whole chicken (don't judge too harshly, I haven't been an adult for all that many years). It's pretty exciting

I am planning to roast my first whole chicken at my families Christmas dinner. It will be my first time doing the main dish as I also haven't been an adult for that many years. I think I want to buy one from the store and eat the cemani/silkie mix that turned out to be a rooster. He is only about 1.5 kg, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the taste and different coloured meat between him and a store bought CX.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Coincidentally for the recent feline discussion, an item on the BBC website this am says cats were domesticated in historic (not prehistoric) times; they are a recent phenomenon.

It started with the ancient Egyptians' reverence for them, then spread from the first century CE after the Roman conquest of Egypt, as some Romans then took them across the empire as pest control. They spread out to the rest of the world from there and sporadically after that https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8dvdp9gn7o
The proper publication (rather than the news digest) is here https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt2642 (only abstracts, conclusion, a graphic and refs open access)

edited to add, the Chinese aspect is open access here
https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(25)00355-6

Full article, although I don't know if you still need additional access. I get it through AAAS membership.

https://www.sciencemagazinedigital....em/27_november_2025/4308511/?Cust_No=60903339

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

Would you mind sharing that recipe? I have never cooked whole chicken, but I am planning to soon. So will dive into recipes next week probably.

Sure! Here's the link for the sauce/rub. It's an interpretation of a Roman recipe from the 1st century CE. Garum is a Roman fish sauce, but any Asian fish sauce will do as long as the ingredients are just fish, salt, and maybe sugar. I use the Squid brand. I could not source lovage so I'm substituting it with celery leaf. The recipe uses game hens but of course I'm using an average sized chicken, which I'm planning to roast for 20 minutes at 450F then down to 350 till it's cooked at the advice of this website. I'm also planning to stuff the body cavity with celery stalks, orange slices, and some herbs before trussing the legs. I might be going a little overboard, but it should taste pretty good.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I dry-brine turkey, which helps keep it juicy with crispy skin, and can also be done with chickens. (Brining involves adding salt a day or more to the bird which somehow automagically keeps the bird juicy, especially the breast.)

I don't know that it's worth actual brining for roasting a chicken, but what I find great is that the herb mixture is added to olive oil or to butter and rubbed under the skin of the breast and legs, making it somewhat self-basting. So flavorful!

Here's the mix I use. I skipped the garlic and lemon, because I have found that they sometimes bring a bitter vibe. If not brining, cut the kosher salt from 3 Tbsp down to 1/2 or 1 Tbsp. Don't use table salt; the added iodine throws the flavor off. As these amounts are for a turkey, I'd probably reduce the whole thing to 1/2 or even 1/3 the original amounts. (For birds injected with a salt-water solution, cut the salt in half.) (Sorry about the vaguely contradictory math.)

Anyway, getting that oil/fat mixture with herbs under the skin is what really sends the flavor.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_dry_brine_and_roast_a_turkey/

Edit to add: and oh yes, the world will continue to revolve around the sun if you use dried herbs. If you do that, use half the amount called for with fresh herbs. Sorry, more maffs...

 

[Molpet]

Would you mind sharing that recipe? I have never cooked whole chicken, but I am planning to soon. So will dive into recipes next week probably.

I am planning to roast my first whole chicken at my families Christmas dinner. It will be my first time doing the main dish as I also haven't been an adult for that many years. I think I want to buy one from the store and eat the cemani/silkie mix that turned out to be a rooster. He is only about 1.5 kg, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the taste and different coloured meat between him and a store bought CX.

Totally different cooking for heritage from CX(broiler).
How old is your rooster

 

[Shadrach]

I know I promised to get some chicken pictures today, but unfortunately the in-laws have all come down with something so we didn't go visit.

I've got a chicken thawing right now, bought it from a family friend. It's a Cornish cross, I was hoping for a heritage bird but it's leagues better than an animal that spent its life in a warehouse. Anyways all this to say it's my first time roasting a whole chicken (don't judge too harshly, I haven't been an adult for all that many years). It's pretty exciting

I have one piece of advice that you may already know.
After you've killed plucked and gutted the bird leave it in the fridge for three days. This allows the rigor mortise to fade in the birds muscles and leaves the bird suitable for roasting or frying.

 

[Shadrach]

I have never cooked whole chicken

See my post to Vulpes Vulpes above.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I dry-brine turkey, which helps keep it juicy with crispy skin, and can also be done with chickens. (Brining involves adding salt a day or more to the bird which somehow automagically keeps the bird juicy, especially the breast.)

I don't know that it's worth actual brining for roasting a chicken, but what I find great is that the herb mixture is added to olive oil or to butter and rubbed under the skin of the breast and legs, making it somewhat self-basting. So flavorful!

Here's the mix I use. I skipped the garlic and lemon, because I have found that they sometimes bring a bitter vibe. If not brining, cut the kosher salt from 3 Tbsp down to 1/2 or 1 Tbsp. Don't use table salt; the added iodine throws the flavor off. As these amounts are for a turkey, I'd probably reduce the whole thing to 1/2 or even 1/3 the original amounts. (For birds injected with a salt-water solution, cut the salt in half.) (Sorry about the vaguely contradictory math.)

Anyway, getting that oil/fat mixture with herbs under the skin is what really sends the flavor.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_dry_brine_and_roast_a_turkey/

Edit to add: and oh yes, the world will continue to revolve around the sun if you use dried herbs. If you do that, use half the amount called for with fresh herbs. Sorry, more maffs...

Oh, another update: I cooked it on convection roast setting, 350°F, lower rack, 12 lbs., 2 hrs 20 min. Worked out to ~12 minutes per pound. No basting, no changing of temps. The thawing started Saturday morning, brining was Wednesday morning (next time I’ll start this all one day sooner), and literally all I did on Thursday was to stick it in the oven at 1:15. #NeverGoingBack

Edit: multiple tax pics due

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours. Much the same as yesterday but with 30mph plus wind gusts.