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Buying and lighting calculator · Poultry

How much whole chicken do I buy and when do I light?

A whole chicken is the most forgiving piece you can put in a kamado: cheap, quick and hard to ruin if you respect the temperature. In Spain it is nearly always sold at 1.6 to 1.8 kg, skin on and without giblets. According to US Department of Agriculture tables, every kilo you buy gives about 440 g of cooked meat with skin; the rest is bone and water lost in the roast. For 200 g on the plate, count 450 g of raw chicken per person. A 1.7 kg bird at 190 °C with the deflector takes an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half; spatchcocked, about 50 minutes. Put the probe in the thigh, clear of the bone, and rest it for fifteen minutes.

How to ask for it

For 4 people: Ask for 1.8 kg of whole chicken, 1.6 to 1.8 kg each; if you want it spatchcocked, have the butcher cut out the backbone.

Bone and cooking loss take more than half the weight: 200 g of cooked meat on the plate comes from about 450 g of raw bird. 74 °C in the breast and 77-79 °C in the thigh, away from the bone.

How we calculate it

We start from a reasonable cooked portion (about 200 g of meat on the plate, 170 g of cleaned fish) and convert it to raw weight using each cut's bone and trim loss. "Hungry" adds 25 %. We round up to what is actually sold: quarter kilos, whole pieces, units.

To the cook time (per kilo or per piece, at each method's temperature) we add the kamado's lighting and stabilising (20-45 min depending on the method, as on the recipe pages), the rest, and a margin for long cooks, which vary from one piece to the next. Times are approximate: your kamado, the wind and the charcoal decide; on big cuts, trust the probe.

Frequently asked questions

How much whole chicken per person?

Count about 450 g of raw chicken per person, which leaves about 200 g of cooked meat on the plate. USDA tables give a yield of 0.44 lb of cooked meat with skin for every pound of whole chicken bought. For four people, one chicken of 1.7 to 1.8 kg is about right; with plenty of side dishes you will have some left over.

How long does a whole chicken take in a kamado?

At 190 °C with the deflector, a whole chicken takes 75 to 90 minutes according to Big Green Egg, until the breast reaches 74 °C. Spatchcocked, it drops to 45 to 50 minutes. Trust the probe, not the clock: AmazingRibs recommends 77-79 °C in the thigh so the connective tissue softens. Then rest it for about 15 minutes.

Whole or spatchcocked chicken in a kamado?

Whole looks better on the table; spatchcocked (backbone out and flattened) cooks more evenly in about 45 to 50 minutes at 190 °C, with crisper skin. If you are in a hurry or it is your first time, spatchcock it: the buying weight and the portion do not change, only the time.

Other Poultry cuts

← All cuts

Approximate figures. Sources and the portion rule are in "How we calculate it".