Frozen chickens have somewhat less taste than fresh since many cell walls deteriorate with freezing and thawing. A frozen chicken will have darker bones in the drumstick and thigh but will taste nearly as good as fresh. If you have to thaw a frozen chicken, do it over night in the refrigerator or in a microwave oven to avoid salmonella growth. In preparing raw chicken, you need to be careful of possible salmonella contamination. Wash all knives and cutting boards in hot soapy water after cutting chicken and do not use the tools for any other purpose before they are washed.
Modern chickens seem to be quite fatty.
In all the following recipes, you should pull the skin from the breasts and thighs. You can pull it from the drumsticks as well, but this is more difficult. Leave the skin on the wings, as it is seldom very fat there. While this may be unsightly in some dishes, it is actually relatively harmless. Chicken bones, particularly from frozen chickens, contain hemoglobin which leaches out of the bone during cooking.