Whole chicken

Roast it at 200 °C (180 °C fan) for about 20 minutes per 500 g, plus 20 minutes. Put it breast-side up in a roasting tin and rest it for 15 minutes before carving; cook stuffing separately so the chicken cooks evenly.

Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh without touching bone: it should reach 75 °C. If you do not have a thermometer, pierce the thigh and check that the juices run clear and the meat is steaming hot all the way through.

Keep raw chicken covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, separate from ready-to-eat food, and cook it by its use-by date. Chill cooked chicken within two hours, store it covered in the fridge and eat it within two days.

Freeze it in airtight wrapping, ideally before its use-by date. Thaw it in a dish on the bottom shelf of the fridge; allow roughly 24 hours for every 2 kg, and cook it as soon as it has thawed.

Simmer the carcass with onion, carrot, celery and peppercorns for about 2–3 hours to make stock. Strain it, then use it for chicken soup, risotto or gravy; chill the stock promptly if you are not using it straight away.

For a roast with sides, allow roughly 400–500 g of raw chicken per person, including bone and skin. Choose a bird that fits comfortably in your roasting tin, with space for heat to circulate around it.

Whole chicken has 19 g of protein per 100 g, compared with 23.3 g in chicken breast. The whole bird includes different cuts, so its protein and fat content is not the same as lean breast meat.

It is safer and more reliable to thaw it fully in the fridge before roasting: a frozen bird can brown on the outside while remaining undercooked inside. Never thaw chicken on the worktop.