Crock-Pot Chicken

When I head into the kitchen to cook a chicken, Raymond is always sure to have a seat on the couch directly in front of our bar that overlooks the kitchen sink.  He likes to have a front row seat to the show.  Once, he even called one of his friend's who then listened in...

You see, I'm not really a fan of disgusting things.  Cleaning a chicken is one of those disgusting things.  It usually involves me wearing throw away rubber gloves, screaming, hopping around a bit, and closing my eyes while I'm pulling things out of the cavity.  I'll open my eyes to check and see if I have gotten everything and if not, I'll close my eyes again and pull some more.  Finally after I have finished getting everything cleaned out, I rinse the chicken really well.  After this is done, I'm not as grossed out handling it.  Who knows, maybe one day Raymond may actually get tired of watching and offer to clean the chicken for me.  ;-)

It is true that a rotisserie chicken is really easy to come by and not all-together that expensive for those recipes that call for cooked chicken.  However, if you buy a full chicken, you can not only cook the chicken for the meat, you can also make 5-6 cups of chicken broth, which I will tell you about soon, without much effort at all, and at a grand total of under $5!!  Other plus's are that you know exactly what is used to cook the chicken and make the broth, no preservatives are used, it is much healthier, AND it is incredibly easy!  All you need is a crock pot, your favorite rub, and some foil.

Ingredients:

1 Chicken

2 Tbs of your favorite rub or seasoning

Directions:

Clean the chicken, removing all the insides.  These can be saved and frozen for broth at a future date once you have gathered the insides from several chickens.

Rinse the chicken well and pat dry.

Rub the chicken with your seasoning of choice.  Depending on what I'm doing with the chicken depends on what I use.  Some of our favorites are a spicy seasoning we get from one of Raymond's co-workers, a mix of rosemary, garlic, and other Italian seasonings, and lemon pepper.

Roll up four pieces of foil into a ball and place inside your crock pot.

Place the chicken on the foil balls.  This step is critical if you are planning on eating the skin and would like it crispy.  We don't typically eat the skin so I skip this sometimes.

Cover and cook on low for 5.5-6hrs.  Make sure a thermometer registers at least 162 degrees-F before taking the chicken out.  Once done you can place on a broiling pan and broil in the oven for a few minutes if the skin is not as crispy as you would like, or you can serve as is.

This is a great way to make a chicken when you are short on time and want to get ahead by pre-cooking the chicken for Chicken, Butternut & Sweet Potato Lasagna, or if you need a protien to accompany a Sweet Potato Rissotto or something like that. ;-)