I use Julia Child’s roast chicken recipe, and it always turns out perfectly. To stay on track, I made this chicken dinner planner in Excel. Just enter your meal time, and the chicken weight. From those 2 numbers, Excel calculates the start and end time for each step!
Julia Child’s Roast Chicken
Here are two places where you can find Julia Child’s roast chicken recipe:
- The recipe is in Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 (Amazon link)
- Or, follow the online recipe, on the Nom Nom Paleo site.
Cooking Time Formula
This roast chicken recipe is perfect for people who love Excel, because the cooking time is based on a simple formula!
- The base cooking time is 45 minutes
- To the base, add 7 minutes per pound.
Let Excel Calculate the Timing
To make it easier to calculate the cooking times, use my free Chicken Dinner Planner.
In the Excel file, you’ll just do these steps:
- Enter the meal time and the chicken weight (in pounds or kilograms)
- Excel calculates the time to start each step
- Print the list of steps, and take it to the kitchen with you
The details for each step are listed below.
Step 1: Enter Meal Time
In the Excel file, You’ll enter the time when you want start eating your chicken dinner.
- In the Excel file, go to the DinnerPlan sheet
- At the top, in cell F3, type a meal time, such as 6:00 PM
Step 2: Enter the Weight
To enter the weight, you’ll give Excel two pieces of information:
- Measurement type (pounds or kilograms)
- Weight
1) Measurement type
First, in cell F4, choose a measurement type from the drop down list.
- The options are lbs (pounds), and kgs (kilograms).
2) Weight
Next, in cell F5, type the chicken’s weight, as a decimal number.
Step 3: Print the Schedule
After you enter the meal information in the 3 green cells on the DinnerPlan sheet, Excel automatically shows the steps with their start times.
The dinner planner cooking times list is almost ready to print.
1) Hide the Calculation Columns
Before you print, you can hide columns G, H and I, if they’re showing.
- Those columns are used for the calculations, and don’t need to be printed
In the download file, I have those columns visible, so you can see how things work. After you hide them, you can leave them hidden!
2) Print the List
To print the list, use a keyboard shortcut, or a command button
- Shortcut: On your keyboard, press Ctrl+P, to print the cooking schedule
- Command: Or, click the File tab, at the top left, then click the Print command there
Chicken Planner Calculations
It isn’t necessary to know how the roast chicken calculations work in the Excel file. You can just fill in the green cells, and print your schedule.
But, if you’re interested in how the Chicken Dinner Planner works, I’d love to show you!
For the details, go to the Excel Chicken Dinner Planner page on my Contextures site. On that page, I explain all the Excel formulas, and how they work.
Get the Excel File
Click this link to download a copy of the free Chicken Dinner Planner Excel file from my Contextures site.
Note: The zipped file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.
Chicken Dinner Planner Excel Timeline Template
