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We stock a range of delicious whole chicken joints at Tom Hixson of Smithfield. Our master butchers work alongside the best producers across the globe to ensure we can deliver the tastiest and freshest chicken to your door. Break down into smaller chicken cuts at home, or keep whole to share with friends and family.
Our Whole French Corn Fed Chicken offers a rich golden colour and unbeatable succulent flavours. When you slow roast this whole chicken joint, the meat will develop a deep flavour profile, offering a rich taste that is perfect for going alongside seasonal vegetables and gravy.
If you’re looking for a halal alternative to our standard range of chicken, explore our halal poultry category. Here at Tom Hixson of Smithfield, we offer a range of high-quality halal chicken, with 100% farm-to-fork traceability. Our halal chicken includes Skinless Boneless Chicken Thighs, Chicken Breast, and Jumbo Chicken Wings.
The thing we love most about our juicy chicken cuts is their versatility. You could simply season with salt, pepper, and fresh garden herbs. If you’d like to experiment with unusual flavours, season your chicken with fresh lemon and a mix of Indian tandoori spices - great for serving on salads or with homemade flatbreads.
Season your room temp chicken to your liking and stuff it with your favourite seasonings, fruits, and vegetables. Place your bird into a deep roasting dish along with root vegetables, and pour in a small amount of water or stock - this helps to steam the chicken. Preheat your oven to 180ºC, and cover the chicken in foil before placing it in the oven. Cook for around half an hour before removing the foil. Baste your joint with juices from the pan every 15 minutes until cooked, this keeps the chicken moist and creates beautifully golden and crispy skin.
Cook your chicken for 20 minutes at 200ºC, followed by 20 minutes at 180ºC per 500g/1lb 2oz. So, if your chicken is 1.5KG, cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Keep in mind that your chicken will take longer to cook if it has been stuffed with fresh produce, such as lemons, or root vegetables. Use a temperature probe on the thickest part of the meat (thighs and breast). The internal temperature should be between 75ºC and 80ºC.
Although technically you can, you shouldn’t. As whole chickens are such a large cut of meat, you risk overcooking the outside of the carcass before the inside is cooked through. If you leave it long enough so that the whole chicken is cooked through, you will end up with dry, tough meat on the outside. Defrosting your joint in the fridge at least 24 hours beforehand.
A chicken that has around 600g of meat on it, minus the bones, cartilage, and other parts you don’t eat, contains approximately 160 grams of protein. This is around 26 grams of protein per 100 grams of chicken meat. Of course, the amount of protein within a whole chicken may change if your bird is smaller or larger.
Chicken stock is even better when made from scratch. To do so, simply take all the meat from your whole chicken, so that you are left with just the carcass. Add the bones to a large saucepan and cover with boiling water and a large pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 hours, before removing any fat that floats to the top. Use as a base for hearty soups, meat braises, or gravy!
Chicken stock is halal only if the carcass used within the cooking process has been raised and butchered in accordance with Islamic law. This includes being raised 100% naturally and being alive and healthy at the time of slaughter. For halal chicken joints, view our halal produce page.
A chicken loses around 25% of its weight once cooked, as some of the moisture is removed during the cooking process. This percentage will be more if your butcher adds excess water to their meat, which is something that doesn’t happen when you buy chicken from Tom Hixson.
