If a turkey or goose is too big why not try a premium dry-plucked Free Range Large Chicken from Banbury's this Christmas? Our chickens are reared the traditional way - free-ranging and foraging they grow more slowly - just like our turkeys this enables them to develop naturally and lay down flavour that is quite superb compared to a conventional supermarket bird. It's what chicken used to taste like.
Please order the size you require, shipping is £7.50 to all Cornish postcodes and will be applied automatically during the checkout process. Unfortunately, due to courier regulations, we cannot deliver outside of Cornwall at the moment.
Your bird will be delivered by our courier on Friday 22nd or Saturday 23rd December, please refrigerate until the day you intend to cook.
As with our turkey we are advocates of starting cooking breast side down. Place your chicken on a rack in a roasting tin and smear butter over the back (the side facing up); season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. You can flavour your chicken in various ways – we like to peel and slightly crush a couple of garlic cloves and place these in the cavity along with a whole lemon cut in half and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4) and roast for the following times but carefully turn the chicken half way through cooking so that it finishes breast side up. Baste the breast every now and then with the buttery juices from the bottom of the pan.
Cooking times
Preheat oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4)
Cook for 15 minutes per 450g/1lb and add 20 minutes cooking time at the end. For example:
| Chicken weight | Cooking time at 180°C | Rest time |
|---|---|---|
| 3kg(6lb 9oz) | 2hrs 50mins | 30 mins |
| 4kg (8lb 12oz) | 3hrs 10mins | 30 mins |
| 5kg (11lb 0oz) | 3hrs 30mins | 30 mins |
The resting time is crucial, place the chicken somewhere warm and allow to stand for 30 minutes before carving, this allows the juices to settle back into the bird, the meat to relax and makes the bird much easier to carve.