They say you can choose two out of three things in many life situations: quality, speed, and affordability. For example, the auto shop may promise to have your brakes fixed by tomorrow following strict quality measures, but then they charge an arm and a leg. The contractor who promises a floor installed with quality and affordability cannot complete the project on time.
I proudly wish to present a recipe which breaks this two out of three rule: Crockpot Roasted Chicken! Every Sunday, I prepare a whole, organic chicken in my slow cooker. I end up with moist and tender meat, about 2 quarts of nutrient-rich broth, and fresh organ meats to use throughout the week. And all for only $12 and less than 10 minutes of hands-on time.
Whole Chicken + Broth in a Slow Cooker
1. Get a whole organic chicken. It must be certified organic–no exceptions (“natural” and “free-range” do not mean organic). Non-organic chicken bones contain to much toxins to make broth. I buy my organic chicken at Trader Joe’s, and it costs about $12.
2. Remove the little bag containing the neck and organs from inside the body cavity, and set aside. Rinse the chicken and place it into your slow cooker. Cook the chicken in the crockpot on Low for about 4 1/2 hours. Flip the chicken over occasionally, so the meat self-bastes in the pool of fat which will form at the bottom of the slow cooker. Try not to pierce the skin–it will bubble with liquid, which traps moisture in the meat.
3. Place the organs in plastic zip-top baggies, label with a date, and freeze. When you are making meatloaf, hamburgers, or meat sauce, pureé the selected organ in a food processor and add it to the raw ground beef. No one will be the wiser–just keep your kids (and spouse) out of the kitchen when you stealthily stir the ground organ meat into the meal. Keep the neck in the fridge to add to the broth.
4. Make sure the chicken reaches 160 degrees. Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes to let the juices settle. Then, pick the meat and skin off the chicken. The skin will be soggy and not pleasant to eat. You now have a full plate of moist chicken to add to casseroles, sandwiches, egg dishes, and more!
Make Crockpot Chicken Broth
- I prefer discarding the skin from the carcass to avoid a greasy broth. Place the chicken carcass, loose bones, and the neck into the slow cooker with the leftover juices and fat.
- Cover with filtered water and a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar. The vinegar helps to leach important minerals from the bones. Cook on low heat for at least 24 hours, adding water as necessary. I cook my broth from Sunday night to Wednesday afternoon, ladling out hot broth to on Monday and Tuesday. I just add more water as I take out broth. Strain broth, pressing juice from the bones. Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for a few months.
Also, I was wondering if you added any seasonings to your chicken or the broth when it is simmering.. Thanks!
I don’t know how this would work for cooking the chicken wings. But however you cook them, just save the bones for broth (you can keep the bones in a bag in the freezer if you don’t want to use them immediately). Then make the broth according to this recipe. And I don’t add seasoning to the broth, I just salt it liberally to taste when I drink it.
Hi Lauren, I wonder if you put the chicken in the crock pot on low to start with, would it not just increase bacteria rather than start cooking? Would you not have to start on high to get it cooking first and then turn it down?
Patricia, I’ve always read that it’s necessary to do 1 hour on high and then go to low. I’d rather err on the side of caution, doing that, until such time as we learn it’s safe to do meat in the crock pot on low the entire time. I believe it needs the high temp in order to kill certain pathogens.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, and provide sources!
I tried making roasted chicken in my crock pot twice before. The first time turned out amazing! The second time, my crock pot cracked. :/ It was a really really small chicken I put in a big crockpot, so it may not have produced the juice needed for a moist environment, but now I’m afraid to try it again in my new crockpot! Has this happened to anyone else? Anyone know what I can do to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future? Thanks! I want to make crockpot roasted chicken regularily because I love how delicious and easy it is, but I first need to know what precautions to take so I don’t crack my crockpot again!
Just use some broth or water. Crock pot cooking is supposed to have moisture, so if you’re not sure, it’s better if things are a little waterlogged rather than ending up with a broken machine.
To figure out just what your pot needs, do it on a weekend and experiment with water levels. Look through the glass lid every so often to make sure there’s enough water. Contact the crock pot maker asking what is the minimum amount of liquid you can use for a whole chicken.
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Hello! I just started the GAPS Diet yesterday and have found myself with an excess of chicken meat and not enough meat stock. Does this method of making meat stock fit with the GAPS standards? It seems like they have the one certain way of making it – covering the chicken with water and cooking on high – and other ways are not as effective? Please share your insight! Thanks so much!
that broth is pure liquid GOLD..
But what about onion carrot celery garlic salt pepper dill parsley?
nothing?
My husband tried this in a pot on the stove. He does not want to do again because picking the meat off the bones took him forever and I think kind of grossed him out. How long should it take to get the meat off and is there a certain easier process? Don’t want to purchase a crockpot if he isn’t going to do it.
I wasn’t really sure how you combined the chicken and broth per the recipe name, would you be more specific please.
Also a wonderful thing to do with the skin is lay it on baking racks on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 min or more to get them really crispy, like chips, refrigerate and eat as a snack. Another way from Splendid Table radio show on NPR: You spread the skin out in a sheet tray, salt it a little bit and leave it in the fridge overnight. You have to do that to dry it out. The next day, sandwich the skin with another sheet tray on top, just to keep them flat, all in one layer. Bake it in a 300-degree oven for 40 minutes. They’ll be golden brown and crisp.
Here’s the link for more ideas, with turkey but can be applied to any fowl: http://www.splendidtable.org/story/3-ways-to-add-more-skin-to-your-thanksgiving-spread
You are sure to love these!
Tina
Atlanta, GA