How long and at what temperature do you cook a 5-lb. chicken?

Using the most popular method of oven roasting a 5-lb. chicken, it should take about 2 hours to cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. A chicken could also be stewed, grilled or baked in an oven bag to help retain moisture.

There are many methods to cook a chicken.

1. Roasting chicken
A roast chicken is a whole chicken cooked in the oven. A 5-lb. chicken should take between 1 hour and 30 minutes and 2 hours and at 375 F in the oven to cook. It takes this long to reach the desired internal temperature of 165 F to kill any food-borne bacteria. The difference in cooking times depends on whether the chicken is stuffed and what kind of stuffing is used.
2. Stewing chicken
A stewing chicken is an older laying hen that is typically cooked in hot water at a temperature of at least 212 F. It can take about 1 hour to stew a chicken. This process ensures that the stewing chicken is tender and the meat practically falls off the bones.
3. Grilling chicken
It is possible to grill a whole chicken using two levels of heat, which are first a high heat and then moderately cool coals. Depending on whether the chicken is stuffed, it will take a couple of hours to reach the desired internal temperature of 160 to 165 F.