Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

Many people think that you need to add a lot of liquid to anything you cook in the slow cooker.  Not so!  I have made cake, bread, baked potatoes and so many other non-soupy things in the slow cooker.  Like roast chicken.

 

This is one of the easiest things to make in your slow cooker.  I'm not even going to list ingredients.  It's all up to you.

 

First, get a chicken.  I cook a large chicken because I can get a couple of meals out of it. (I also had a coupon.)

 

Open and rinse off the chicken.  Take out the Bag-o-Guts and toss it or make something else with it (I don't know what.)  I actually gave the innards to my chickens.  Yes, I am aware of how wrong that sounds.  Yes, I am aware that this action makes my chickens cannibals.  They still love it.

 

Place chicken in slow cooker.

Put what ever seasonings you want on top and/or inside.  For this one, I quartered and orange and stuffed that inside.  I then slathered the skin (only the top because I was done touching the chicken) with Emeril's Essence.  I have used salt and pepper, thyme, garlic and paprika before.  It all works.  And, no, you don't need to add any liquid.  You will end up with liquid, though.

 

Put a lid on that old bird and slow cook it on low for about 7 hours.

 

After 7 hours, it looks like this and will have 1-2 cups of liquid in the bottom.

 

Take out the chicken and save the liquid for gravy.

 

To make the gravy, melt 1/4 stick of butter.  Add 1/4 cup of flour and whisk around using your handy, dandy gravy whisk. Did you know that was a gravy whisk?

 

To the butter/flour combo, add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the liquid that was in the slow cooker.

 

That's it.  It takes about 3 minutes to make the gravy.

 

Don't throw our the rest of the stuff in the slow cooker, though, because now you are going to make broth.

 

After your delicious chicken dinner, throw all of the bones and skin (you really don't eat the skin, do you?) back in the slow cooker.  Add enough water to come to the fill line.  Put the lid back on the slow cooker and cook on low overnight.

 

In the morning you will have chicken broth.  Cool, amiright?

 I got 3 quarts from mine.  Just strain it into your containers and refrigerate.  After it cools in the fridge, the fat will be on top and you can just spoon it off.  It will be the low-sodium variety, but you can always add salt later.