Cooking whole chicken- can I season and "stuff" overnight?

LaVitaBella

I am making a whole chicken for tomorrow. I will be putting salt, pepper and onion powder on it with pats of margarine. I will be putting five celery stalks plus more margarine in the cavity and seasoning. The celery is not for eating and will be thrown out. Can I do this tonight, cover overnight in the fridge and cook it tomorrow around 2 pm?

AmyRob04

I always prep roasters the night before.

laurenpetro

i personally wouldn't leave anything in the cavity besides salt, pepper and other seasonings overnight.  too much risk of bacteria.  the rest is fine.

LaVitaBella

Thanks! For some reason trying to do that with a toddler biting my legs takes longer.....

ghl

I never stuff the bird in advance - too much risk of bacterial growth. What I will do though, since i also usually do celery, onion, garlic and herbs in the cavity is prep them ahead of time so that i've cut things up, peeled the garlic, etc and pop them in a bag in the fridge. When I'm getting the bird ready for the oven, all I have to do is empty the bag into the cavity and it's ready to go.