Why Does Farm Fresh, Forest Raised Chicken Need to be Prepared Differently?

Our chickens are raised in an outdoor, forested environment (seasonally) ensuring that their diet is varied with different bugs and seeds. This diet and their freedom of movement makes for a far different meat texture and flavor profile than you will find in your chicken in the grocery stores. Even the chicken you see in the stores labeled as “cage free” or “free range” are different as most with those labels are misleading. Because of this our chicken is more lean through the muscle and the fat that is present near the cavity is full of flavor. The lean muscle fibers mean that some difference in cooking should be made to ensure a tender meat that doesn’t dry out.

Why Purchase a Whole Chicken and How to Cook it Easily

Purchasing a whole chicken will save money and allow you to make many meals. If you serve up a roasted chicken you’ll undoubtedly have plenty of meat left over on the carcass. Pick it over, saving all of the meat that you can. That meat can be turned into another meal by making things like chicken and dumpling, chicken pot pie, chicken salad, chicken soup, and really anything else you can think of! Never forget to boil the bones and skin to make broth that you can use in the next meal or freeze and save for later. The broth that is made from these chickens is incredible!

How to Roast:

If frozen, thaw in the fridge. Thawing can take a day or two so plan ahead! Bring chicken out onto the counter to come to room temperature (If you can’t or don’t do this, it will be ok- it’s just for the BEST possible chicken). Preheat your oven to 275F. While waiting for the chicken to come up to temp mix your favorite herbs in a bowl with salt, pepper and garlic if you’d like. My favorite flavor profile is a generous amount of salt, a healthy amount of pepper, fresh garlic, sage, thyme, and parsley if I have it. Don’t skimp on the salt, it helps to tenderize the meat and the meat doesn’t take on as much as you’d think it would. Now, separate the skin from the meat on the chicken. Start at the open cavity and carefully use your fingers to separate the skin from the breast meat, a little at a time, and work your way over the whole carcass. In a perfect world you’ll not rip the skin, but if you do just tent your chicken with aluminum foil before putting in the oven. When the skin is separated take your herb/salt mixture and start rubbing a generous amount all over the meat, everywhere that you can. Then use another generous amount and rub it all over the outside of the skin all over the chicken. When the chicken is seasoned and the oven is ready roast your chicken until the internal temp comes to 160F. After removing the chicken from the oven allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting. This will allow it to come up to the required temp of 165F and give the juices time to settle. We like to pair a roasted chicken with mashed or roasted potatoes, roasted carrots or green beans, bread and ,seasonally, a salad.

*NOTE a Fresh, Never Frozen Chicken Will Cook Much Faster Than a Chicken That Has Been Frozen! Keep an eye on it so as not to overcook!

Chicken Breast

Our chicken breasts have a lower fat content than industrial chicken. Some care to break down these muscle fibers is needed. Consider wet brining in the fridge for a few hours or slow cooking.

Chicken Thighs or Leg Quarters

These pieces are so often overlooked but are one of my favorite cuts of meat. The flavor is very f. Look to stew or braise these!