Roast Chicken in a Crock pot ??

[ArticKatt]

OK I was told you can do this but not sure how. I was thinking of having a chicken for thanks giving this weekend.(canada) and well its just family. I would love to do a turkey but not for 4 people. We have a nice big Crock pot that I gave my cousin for her engagement/wedding and I have been told I can use it. And if you can do this how do you brown it. Any help or suggestions would help. My cousin is looking for lots of good recipes for a vegitarian. no beans or onions it seems her new hubby is allergic. that she can do in this nice new crock pot she just loves the thing.

[jkath]

Browning isn't something you normally do in a crockpot. You can, I suppose, brown the outside edges in butter in a skillet and then transfer to a crockpot. However, whenever I cook a whole chicken in a crockpot (which is often) I don't bother with the browning. I do use some liquid (as I like to make gravies, etc) and different seasonings. Rubbed sage is a good one for a "thanksgivingy" kind of taste. Also, the addition of orange juice to the crockpot will give a very nice flavor and gravy.

If hubby has a bean/onion problem, is it root veggies he is allergic to or those that promote gastrointestinal problems? If it is the latter, I'd also steer away from broccoli.

Best of luck.

[jennyema]

You cannot technically "roast" anything in a crock pot.

"Roast" means "to oven-cook food in an uncovered pan, a method that usually produces a well-browned exterior and ideally a moist interior."

You can certainly cook chicken in a crock pot, but it won't approximate a crispy brown Thanksgiving turkey. Crock pots cook with moist heat, so they basically braise the food.

[kitchenelf]

Here is a recipe that has circulated around the net for quite a few years now. I have used it in my crockpot as well as in a roasting pan in the oven. Either way turns out delicious!

Roast Sticky Chicken

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
1 large roasting chicken
1 cup chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices.
Remove giblets from chicken; clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin.


Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook chicken put onion in the cavity and put it in the crockpot and do not add any liquid. As the cooking process goes on it will produce its own juices. (As an alternative you can add some butter to the bottom of the crockpot and if you like dry sherry add about 1/2 cup of that and it will produce a wonderful gravy after putting in a pan and doing gravy from scratch - if you don't like sherry you can just add some chicken broth).


If you don't want the onion in there place a quartered Granny Smith apple in the cavity.


Cook on low 8 to 10 hours and it will be falling off the bone tender. Just be sure and allow for the full 10 hours in your time management of your dinner.

[PA Baker]

This recipe doesn't produce a browned chicken but it's very, very tasty! The onion in this is just used for flavor, it's not eaten, so hopefully it would be OK for your BIL.

Fragrant Lemon Chicken—Crock Pot

1 apple, peeled, cored and quartered
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 (3 lb) whole chicken
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 lemon, juiced
1 c hot water


Place apple and celery in cavity of chicken. Rub skin with salt and pepper.

Place chicken in cooker. Sprinkle chopped onion, rosemary, and lemon juice over chicken. Add 1 c hot water and cover.

Cook on high for 1 hour. Switch to low, and cook for 6-8 hours.

[ArticKatt]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will have to think about this a lot. there are some great ideas here. I am thinking of putting fall veggies in there like squash and other things like carrots and maybe rutabaga or something like this chopped up and put on the bottom. The crock pot is a 6qt so I know its big enough for a small chicken. I might measure it and then take measuring tape to the market.