Do i have to cook my chicken?

Question

if i want to bake my chicken with a few ingrediants like stuffing mix,..do i have to cook my chickend first or can i just dump everything in a baking pan?

Also, i usually make my stuffing before i bake with it...do i have to do that too?

Answer 1

You're being given some very dangerous advice here.

It is ok to stuff an uncooked chicken, but only if you take special care to do the job safely. Cook's Illustrated and other authorities on cooking advise that you do the following:

Cook your stuffing first and keep it HOT! Ideally you want the stuffing to go into the bird above 140 F, the temperature at which salmonella and campylobacter bacteria die. The shorter the time that your bird remains below that temperature the better. Starting with warm or cold stuffing is asking for trouble, because you're increasing the time that the bird's internal temperature remains below 140 thereby creating ideal conditions for bacteria grow. Cook's suggests heating the stuffing in a microwave in order to get it hot enough before using. Also when you check the bird's temp for doneness with a thermometer be sure check that the stuffing is above 140. As soon as the bird is stuffed it needs to go into a preheated hot oven.

Contrary to the advice given above it is a bad idea to stuff very large bird's (20+ lbs) because it takes far too long for their internal temperatures to reach that critical 140 degrees.

If you're not comfortable with this then cook your stuffing separately and just throw some herbs, onions, garlic, carrots, lemon or some combination into the cavity and use it to add more flavor to your chicken.

Answer 2

I would make the stuffing seperate from the chicken because when you stuff a bird the chances of getting salmonella are much higher then making it stove top. the bird insulates the stuffing and the juices don't really flow out of the bird; they are basically trapped in the stuffing which does give it more flavor but also may not fully cook the bacteria out. When you are stuffing a turkey you cook it longer so the stuffing can bake out the bacteria, but when you cook a chicken it isnt cooked as long so the chances increase. If its for presentation sake just carve the chicken and put the stuffing in the center of the plate, that will look very nice. if its becasue you want an easier time in the kitchen, nothing is easier than stove top.

Answer 3

When you cook a stuffed Turkey, you prepare your stuffing, either home made, or following the instructions on the stuffing mix box. Then you fill the body cavity of the turkey, put it in the oven, and cook it for the recommended amount of time. The turkey and the stuffing will cook together
A chicken is just a smaller bird than the turkey, so you do the exact same thing, and the only difference is that it's a smaller cavity to fill, and, of course, the cooking time will be quite a bit shorter.
Bon appetit.

Answer 4

If you're baking a chicken there is no need to cook it any other way first and you can mix and add the stuffing in the chicken before you back it. Make sure you bake well enough so there is no pink left near the bones.

Answer 5

I would cook my chicken halfway through first. That way you can bake alot of the fat off of the chicken so that the excess oil would not end up in your stuffing. Then add your stuffing after the chicken is half done so that by the time the chicken is done the stuffing is moist and perfectly done without being dried out from baking too long.

Answer 6

Yes. Cook it all together. Don't cook your bird first. Just make sure your stufing is at room temp before stuffing and cooking the bird. That's where most of the health concerns come from. Warm stuffing in a cold bird makes for lots of time for harmful bacteria to grow. To be safe, you can also put your stuffing in a seperate baking dish covered with foil to keep it moist and bake it at the same time as the chicken.

Answer 7

When baking a cut up chicken, I often put the pieces in a roasting or cake pan and surround it with cut up potatoes, fresh mushrooms, raw carrots, celery, etc. Pour cream of something (celery, mushroom or whatever you like) soup on it, cover it with foil with a couple of small holes in it for venting, and bake it at 350 for an hour. If your chicken pieces are frozen, you will have to leave it in longer.
If you are using a whole chicken, you may want to surround it with the stuffing rather than putting it inside the chicken to avoid possible food poisoning from it not getting cooked well enough. But you may want to cover the whole thing in foil so it doesn't dry out. Take the foil of during the last 15 minutes of baking time so the chicken will brown nicely. You could baste with butter to help it brown better.

Answer 8

Just a thought, but according to Alton Brown on Good Eats on Food Network, stuffing the cavity of a chicken or turkey is just asking for bacteria and not advised. He advises to cook the chicken seperate and the stuffing seperate, then assemble after it's done. I know people stuff their poultry all the time, but after seeing that episode of Good Eats, I would not do it again.

Answer 9

Yes to pre making the stuffing. Make the stuffing, stuff the bird, and bake away.

Premaking the stuffing, ensures it will be done when the bird is.

Answer 10

The chiocken will roast faster if there is nothing in the cavity. I make my stuffing using chciken broth and veggies on the stove and no body ever seems to notice that it is not in the bird.

Stuffing in the bird is meant to slow down the cooking porcess which helps render the fat of more fat laden birds like duck or goose.