Chicken is the most popular kind of poultry because it can be produced very cheaply, has a pleasant taste and can be prepared in various ways. In the days before intensive farming, when chicken was a rare Sunday treat young farmyard fowls had to be specially fattened for the table. Today we eat chicken often and in a thousand and one ways. Unlike its ancestors, the intensively reared chicken is fattened so fast and killed so young that it does not have time to develop its full flavor. Sad though this is, a modern poultry responds to being enhanced and improved, and makes a good vehicle for any number of different flavours. Even so, it pays to begin with the best poultry you can find.

Poultry is divided into various categories in accordance with norms that very from one country to another. Since poultry is generally graded on the basis of its appearance, these categories have no bearing on the quality of the flesh, which is largely dependent on the age of the Bird. Poultry poses a risk of salmonella food poisoning. Salmonella is frequently found in the intestines of poultry and can spread to the surface of a bird when it is slaughtered. It is also found in eggs. In most cases, salmonella poisoning can be avoided by taking very simple precautions when storing, freezing, handling, and cooking poultry.

Wash your hands carefully after handling poultry, and use hot, soapy water to thoroughly wash all the utensils and surfaces that have come into contact with it. Wash the knife and the cutting board with particular care before using them to cut other food.

Chicken is sold fresh or frozen, raw or cocked. When purchasing it fresh, choose plucked, plump birds with supple, moist, intact skin without dry or discolored patches. When purchasing it frozen, avoid dried out and packaging that is damaged or covered with frost, the presence of pinkish ice is a sign that the chicken has been defrosted and refrozen.

Chicken should be defrosted completely before it is cooked, to ensure that it is well done in the center. Chicken can be defrosted in several ways, but defrosting it in the refrigerator is the safest method, because the flesh retains more moisture and fewer bacteria develop; however, this is the slowest method (allow 5 to 6 hours per pound). Defrosting at room temperature is the riskiest method, because the outside of the bird thaws before the inside and reaches room temperature very quickly. Defrosted chicken should be cooked within 24 hours.

Young chicken can be roasted or grilled in a conventional oven or alternatively, barbecued. These cooking methods, which render the skin crisp are appropriate for whole birds as well as pieces (thighs, breasts, wings, halves, quarters). Do not cook at low temperatures (less than 300°F/150°C), because the internal temperature should reach 140°F /60°C - the temperature at which salmonella is destroyed as quickly as possible. Insert a meat thermometer into the fleshiest part of the breast or thigh, and preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Remove the chicken from the oven when the meat thermometer reads 185°F/85°C. The juices should be clear, not pinkish, and the thighs should be easy to remove.

Poultry can be cooked quite successfully in a microwave oven because its flesh consists of short, muscular fibers. However, although it will cook faster in a microwave than in a conventional oven, it will not brown.

Raw chicken is perishable because it is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Remove it from its packaging, wipe it with a damp cloth, and remove the giblets from inside the bird. Place the on a plate, loosely cover it with waxed paper or aluminum foil and refrigerate. Cook it within 2 or 3 days.

Chicken that is frozen whole can be stored for up to 12 months, poultry pieces (purchased frozen) for up to 6 months, and cooked, that is not covered with a sauce or stock for up to 2 months.

Chicken contain the same types of nutrients as other food and diet. In overall it may be said that food (fish, meat, dates, tomatoes, vegetables, etc.) Chicken contains the same amount of protein as other butchered animals. The fat content varies greatly depending on the species (goose and duck are rattier than quail, pheasant, guinea fowl, and turkey) the part of the animal (breast meat is slightly less fatty than thigh meat and much less fatty than the skin) and the breeding method. The flesh of wild birds is less fatty than that of domesticated poultry.

Poultry has less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat than the meat of other butchered animals. Some of the fat is intramuscular, some is contained in the skin, and some is located beneath the skin, where it forms a yellow layer that can comprise up to 2.5% of the total weight of a chicken.