[Sca-cooks] 7 lb roasting hen questions

[Michael Gunter]

We are having our Heirs over for dinner tonight so I figured
a nice comforting meal would be good. I found a 7 1/2 lb
roasting hen at the grocery store and figured that would be
about perfect. Looking at the cooking instructions on the
wrapper it says to put the hen on a rack in a dutch oven or
roaster with a tight fitting lid, add water to bottom of the
pan then cover and roast for around 3 1/2 hours. Once
cooked to discard the skin and serve.
 
I figured I would just roast it like a small turkey or a really
big chicken so this kind of set me back. Is the skin bad on
a large roasting chicken other than dietary restrictions?
 
I was planning on making a lemon-sage butter and rubbing
that on the meat under the skin, stuffing the cavity with
onion, lemon and herbs then roasting it in the usual fashion.
 
Does anyone have any experience with large roasting chickens?
 
Gunthar
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