#838: Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

This was a recipe I put together on a freezer cooking day.  Then I had Brian help me get it into a large Ziploc bag and froze until we were ready to eat it.  I put it in the crockpot still frozen and let it cook all day while we were at work.  When we came home the house smelled wonderfully and the chicken was falling off the bones.  Not only did we enjoy this moist chicken, but we saved the leftovers for another meal later in the week.

By the way, sorry for the bad photo...I always forget to have Brian take a picture of the intact chicken!

Rub Ingredients
4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs roasting or fryer chicken
1 cup chopped onion, approx 1 medium to large onion
4-5 carrots, scrubbed, no need to peel, chopped in halves or thirds
4 celery stalks, cut in thirds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 lemon quartered
 

Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl.  Remove chicken from packaging and remove neck and pouch with organs. Discard or reserve for later use in another recipe. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  (We actually removed a lot of the skin since we don't eat it and it would still give the chicken more flavor).

Rub garlic all over outside of the chicken. Put garlic inside the chicken. Rub the rub all over the outside and inside the chicken. Add quartered lemon to the inside of the chicken.

Place onions, carrots and celery inside the slow cooker. Place chicken on top of the vegetables. Cover slow cooker and cook chicken on low for 4-8 hours. Cook until the internal temperature of the leg is at 160 degrees F or use a pop-up thermometer as the original recipe calls for.

I didn't do this step: Remove chicken and place in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place baking dish in the oven under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes. Allow chicken to rest after removing it from the broiler for 5-10 minutes.