There are many different ways in which chicken cooking has evolved through the centuries, other than the basic roasting and grilling you can inject a little variety by trying some other recipes. The traditional French dish Coq Au Vin is a delicious dish that many people choose not to make as they think it is going to be difficult. Originally cooked with the cockerel as, the cooking process tenderised this tougher meat, it works just as well with regular chicken. You will need a whole chicken cut into eight pieces, if this seems rather daunting you can ask your butcher to do this for you. Briefly, the chicken is fried until golden, and put into a cooking pot with some browned onions, bacon, garlic, herbs and seasonings along with a whole bottle of red wine and simmered for an hour.

If you prefer something a little spicier you can try preparing some jerk chicken. You will need some extra time in which to prepare the chicken, cooking it is fairly quick but it will need to be marinated overnight. You marinade consists of a mixture of onions, chillies, ginger, thyme, black pepper and soy sauce. You can then grill it.

For something more unusual, if you are a fan of barbequing you can try an American twist on the barbequed roast chicken cooking method. Beer Can Chicken consists of a can of opened beer placed inside the cavity of the chicken, vertically so that it doesn’t spill out. Because the chicken is therefore also vertical the juices run back down the chicken so that it is self basting. The bubbling beer in the can flavours and tenderises the meat and ensures that it doesn’t dry out.

Making sure your chicken cooking temperature is correct is vital to ensure the meat is safe to eat, follow the instructions on the packaging carefully. You can check whether it is done by using a meat thermometer, but in any event the juices should run clear when the thickest part of the meat is skewered. Because of the versatility of chicken as a meat it can be used in many different recipes. If you have some leftover cold chicken there are a variety of ways you can use this, making a chicken curry is an easy recipe to follow and results in a delicious dish. Alternatively, you can try putting small pieces of chicken into an omelette for a quick snack.

As well as making sure the chicken is cooked correctly there are some other points of caution that are common to all types of chicken cooking. Raw chicken should be kept separate from cooked meats and hands should always be washed after handling any form of raw chicken. It used to be thought than washing a chicken before cooking it helped to get rid of excess bacteria. In fact you should not do this as you may end up spreading bacteria to other work surfaces and cooking will kill all bacteria regardless.