What size roasting chicken should I cook for 12 People?

Answer 1

why don't you just buy a small turkey, cheaper and less work

Answer 2

A great big one.

Answer 3

I think you would need three chickens for that group.

Answer 4

12 people... cook 2 pound per person so you need a 24 pound chicken... check your local chicken store for a 24 pounder... and you need 24 pounds of tater salad to go with the chicken with 24 pounds of BBQ beans..

Answer 5

The yield of bone in chicken and turkey is about one pound of meat for two pounds of raw poultry. The standard serving size for poultry (and most other proteins) is four ounces. But to level out uneaten portions due to dark/light preferences or eyes being bigger than stomachaches, I'd go with 5 1/2 to 6 ounces of cooked product per serving. So for 12 people at 4 ounces of product each, you would need 48 net ounces of cooked product (three pounds), or 96 ounces of uncooked poultry (6 pounds). To account for picky eaters and serving size misjudgement, 6 ounces of cooked product would require 72 ounces of cooked product or nine pounds of raw poultry.

Answer 6

I'd cook 2 large ones or
3 MEDIUM ONES OR
4 Small ones.
If want just 1 bird, you need a Turkey.

Answer 7

Get a turkey

Answer 8

2-3 Oven Stuffer roasters.

Answer 9

In many cases people will eat chicken by the piece. A breast piece, a leg or a thigh.
There are usually 8 pieces to a chicken, some people cut the breast into 2 if they are exceptionally large. But if you are doing a whole chicken you will probably not be cutting the breast into 2 or slicing it like you would turkey.
So for 12 people you would need at least 12 pieces so at a bare minimum that would be 2 whole chickens. Personally legs and thighs are a bit small for 1 serving and wings really don't count as a serving either. So add another chicken for the 4 pieces we have knocked off each whole chicken. So I would cook/roast at least 3 chickens 4 if you want to be extra sure you have enough and maybe some leftovers.

Answer 10

For twelve people I would cook three chickens.

Who are these idiots recommending that you cook a 20-24 pound chicken? I've never seen a chicken that big. Have you?