What a Crock: Whole Chicken

During one of the weekly Cool Dads Cook conference calls; the idea came up to dedicate a whole week to crock pot recipes. The crock pot is the most under utilized cooking device in your kitchen; it allows you to dump a bunch of ingredients in it in the morning; and by the time you come home from work: Viola! You have an entire meal prepared! It's the easiest way to cook protein and vegetables at the same time- ensuring a healthy meal.

The Wisconsin test kitchen uses the crock pot at least once a week to cook soup, lasagna or even chicken and veggies. One of our favorite things to do with a crock pot is cook a whole chicken. Whole chickens can be daunting to cook, but this is the easiest way to do it.

Roasted Chicken a la Crock Pot

1 whole roasting chicken, thawed
2 oranges
1 packet Italian Seasoning dressing mix

Cut the two oranges in half, and place them in the bottom of the crock pot. Why oranges? Well, we bought a bag of them at the store, and our daughter Sawyer refuses to eat them because they have seeds in them. So we're getting creative. But it adds a nice citrus infusion to the meat.

Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Note: make sure you reach inside the chicken and pull out any innards that might be hiding in the cavity. Gross. Once this removal is done, place the chicken on top of the oranges in the crock pot, and liberally rub the packet of seasoning all over the outside of the chicken.

Set the crock pot on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 8-12 hours. It all depends on the size of the bird- we were cooking with a massive chicken, and it took us about 6 hours on high. You'll know the chicken is done when it reaches a temperature of 165 degrees. Stick a meat thermometer into the fleshiest part of the chicken thigh for an accurate reading.

The finished product should look something like this...

About an hour before the chicken was finished, we roasted some turnips and carrots in the oven to serve along with our bird. The final verdict?

If cooking a whole chicken scares you a little bit, the crock pot is an excellent way to start. It will cook an entire meal for your family; usually with some leftovers to spare. Here in the Wisconsin test kitchen we roast a chicken a week, and use the leftover meat for sandwiches, salads and even soups. It's the easiest meal in the word to cook, and hopefully this process makes it even easier.
Stay tuned for some other exciting recipes during What a Crock week!
Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew