I never cooked up a whole chicken myself until recently.
“Hi, I’m Jolyn.”
(Hi, Jolyn!)
“I’m 38-years-old, and I just cooked my first whole chicken.”
This is dedicated to all of you 37 and younger. Please, don’t wait as long as I did to prepare something so fundamental to healthy, frugal meals.
And if you’re older than I am and you’ve still never cooked up a whole chicken? Well, then, God bless you. You need me, don’t you?
Really, I should say you need The Happy Housewife. Her site’s where I read up on my original instructions for slow cooking up a whole chicken. She’s one of my favorite frugal bloggers ever, bless her little homeschooling mom of seven fellow Dave Ramsey fan and military spouse heart. What an amazing motivator.
Anyhoo. If you’ve kind of thought it’d be a good idea to cook up a whole chicken but you’ve never gotten around to actually doing it, I’m here to tell you it’s worth trying. Because, really. You can’t beat the price. Subtracting 50 cents for a coupon I had brought the price of this one to $3.90. And I used it in three different meals! (Plus a big teenage snack.) (I’ll explain tomorrow.)
First, I stuck the chicken in the crockpot and dumped on some seasonings.
(Don’t forget to take out the packet of… stuff from the inner cavity.) (I don’t want to even think about what all that is; I just threw mine out.) (Any ideas on what to do with it? I mean, it’s stuck in there for a reason, right? Somebody must use it for something…)
I didn’t measure; just threw on some poultry seasoning I had on hand which contained thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg.
I also minced up a couple of cloves of garlic. Every household needs a garlic press. The more meals I cook from scratch, the fewer meals I meet that couldn’t stand to have a little garlic thrown in them somewhere.
Cover and cook on low overnight, or for at least eight hours. You don’t need to add any water or anything. Enjoy waking up to a kitchen that smells like a yummy organic (and faintly garlicky) restaurant.
Of course, you can serve the chicken and eat it as is, like those rotisserie chickens you buy at the store. (Only, it’s not rotisserie.) I opted to tear all the meat off the bones to use later in different dishes. I just let the chicken set in the crockpot to cool first so I didn’t burn my fingers.
But it doesn’t end there!
Don’t just throw away the bones and skin that you discard. Put them back into the crockpot along with the juices the chicken cooked in and add five cups of water. Set the crockpot back to low and cook overnight again. Or all day. Whichever works. Now your house is really going to smell good.
Strain out the bones and and other stuff and you’ve got some chicken stock made from scratch. I followed Happy’s lead and poured mine into some empty (32 oz.) yogurt containers.
Set the containers in the fridge for a few hours to allow the fat to rise to the top. It’ll look something like this.
Scrape off that fat, and you’ve got chicken stock. This was about five-cups worth.
You can use it right away, or freeze it. These went right into a new (to me) recipe I wanted to try. I used the meat for three two time-tested meals, and one caveman snack. I’ll share the details on those tomorrow.
What’s your favorite way to prepare a whole chicken?
Please, those of you who didn’t wait until you were 38 to prepare your first whole chicken! Share your tips, favorite seasonings, etc, in the comments below. I and your fellow readers will thank you.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I stumbled on this page doing a search for slow cooker chicken recipes. I do not understand why people cook a whole chicken so I was curious to read your page. I see now that you are leaving it to cook all day or night in a slow cooker, and that’s a good reason. If one is baking/roasting a whole chicken, that confuses me. It takes longer to cook and therefore uses more energy that I have to pay for.
When ever I make my chicken and dumplings, I buy what ever is the cheapest at the time. Lately that’s been chicken leg quarters. After boiling the chicken parts for 20 minutes and removing the chicken from the newly made broth and allowing it to cool to where I can handle it, I always save the skin, bits of fat and the bones to make another stock, as you have done. My BF uses the skin, either cooked or raw, to make beans (and then he disgards it).
I want to make beef broth some day. Since soup bones are not avaiable anymore, I plan on using beef ribs, when they are on sale. I’ve been waiting for that and so haven’t been able to make beef broth yet. If anyone here does try and make beef broth, roast the beef first. Google it and you’ll find instructions on that.
I’m not really saying anything in regards to your recipe, just rambling, it’s a gift I have. ; )
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I too have started just recently making my own chicken stock and i will never go back to using canned. Its so much more economical & you can control all the elements in it, which is a plus. I often make food for my parents who are taking care of my grandma, all of whom have to watch their sodium. So when i make my own i can just leave the salt out or add very little, either way, much lower than broth or stock from the store. Also, i haven’t seen anyone mention adding roughly chopped veggies to their stock when they make it? I put celery, onion, carrots, parsley & garlic in mine. All cut large enough so they can be easily pulled out when its done. But normally i just cook in my pasta pot on low for about 6 hours, then when done i just lift the insert out & then strain the remaining liquid. That’s my favorite pot ever
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jolyn Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 7:58 am
I love the idea of putting the veggies in to cook with the broth. That’d be a good way to use up celery, too, which I can never seem to do.
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Jolyn, Your first lines of the post cracked me up! Yes, I was quite suprised that this was your first time making the whole chicken dish. It looked good though. Did you like the taste? I have always oven baked my whole chicken and have recently been using the bones to make my chicken stock. Now that you mention this I will have to post how I bake my chicken. I oven bake a whole chciken every other week. As a mater of fact I will be making one this week. Ok, I will have to get my camera ready.
Next week I am going to try your crock pot whole chicken recipe and see how I like it (without the yummy crunchy skin).
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My favourite way is to chop onions, fresh garlic and fresh ginger and place them on the bottom of the crock pot under the chicken. Then sprinkle the chicken with soy sauce. if you’re really adventurous you can add cilantro and chile flakes to the chicken too.
I also like to turn my chicken over at least once while it’s cooking I find it helps keep it all moist.
As for the giblets- my husband cooks them up in a curry or in some soy sauce. He grew up eating them. I on the other hand don’t touch them.
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I never thought about making a whole chicken in a crockpot. I have a rotisserie and I use that to cook whole chicken. You didn’t have to put any water in there? Does the chicken make its own juice? I might have to try that.
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I started roasting whole birds this year (first time at 27, pretty late for someone who has been cooking for the family since she was 13) in the oven-not as easy as the slow cooker, but it gives you a nice crispy skin and deep flavor. I usually stuff lemon and fresh herbs in the cavity, rub butter, garlic, and paprika on the outside, and put the chicken on a bed of onion, carrots, and celery in the roasting pan. The veggies get soft with crispy edges and lend great flavor (I serve the carrots with dinner).
As for homemade stock, I am absolutely hooked, and may never go back to cans ever again. I blogged a bit on my experiences with that a few weeks ago: http://www.jerbecca.com/blog/post/Making-Stock.aspx
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I can’t believe you grew up in my house without knowing how to cook a whole chicken. What was I thinking!? I used to use the giblets, but since chickens are now given so much stuff that’s not really so good for you, and since the liver is the place that toxins are processed, I never use them anymore. Except the neck – toss it in the pot when you’re doing the broth.
Not much beats a crock pot for easy. However, a nice roasted chicken is fairly easy too. Put in a roasting pan, cake pan, whatever, with just a little water in the bottom. Stick in the oven at 350 for about an hour for every 3 to 3 1/2 pounds. Put potatoes and carrots around it if you want easy veggies with your meal. Season as desired. Have roasted chicken one meal and then take rest of the meat off the bones for another meal(s), put the bones in a pot and cook for broth.
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I love making chicken this way! It couldn’t be easier. A tip is to add just a splash of vinegar to the water when you make the broth. It pulls out the minerals from the bones so the broth is even more nutritious.
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Jolyn, you inspire me! 37 and still not doing this. I will though!
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Hello, i’m 39 (really!) and i’ve never cooked a whole chicken. i’m a recent stay at home mom after being a working mom for 5 years. And sadly, i’ve read about how to do it on a bunch of blogs, but it still intimidated me. I don’t have a thermometer so NOT cooking it long enough to kill bacteria was a real fear. Now, you’ve got me thinking about it again. Maybe today is the day! I love the fact that you can get so much broth out of it.
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Take a whole, thawed chicken – rinse. Take 1/2 can beer (or near beer) add some hot sauce to the can – place whole can up chickens rear and balance chicken on legs and can on a cookie sheet. BBQ the whole thing. My favorite chicken. You can also buy beer can holders – but they aren’t too hard to balance. Easiest to pull chicken off intact with silicon oven mitts because you can just wash them with soap and water when you are done.
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The giblets are the neck bone and some organ meat. (Nourishing Traditions is very big on organ meat as a food source.) When I roast a chicken or turkey, I boil the giblets in a small stock pot. I then use the giblet water to make the gravy, instead of tap water. I will sometimes go through and chop the giblet meat and add to the gravy, but not always. But I really do like the liver and kidneys and I’ll eat them once they’re cooked.
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jolyn Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
I knew someone would explain what this was, and what you can do with it.
Nourishing Traditions sounds very intriguing. Do you have any particular reading you’d recommend to learn more about that?
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Jean Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Nourishing Traditions is a ‘cook’ book by Sally Fallon. Very interesting read w/some good recipes.
I used to ‘help’ my dad butcher chickens as a kid so I’m very familiar with cooking whole chickens. The woman at the 2nd St Market even gave me a discount on my whole chicken b/c I told her I knew how to cut it up! There’s a first time for everything – good for you for taking on the challenge!
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I generally just pick up a roasted chicken at Costco since we live very close and they are so cheap. Next time I see whole chickens on sale, I’ll try this recipe. Can’t be any easier!
P.S. Roasting turkeys is easy. I use the cooking bag which keeps it moist.
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I am a pro at turkey cooking, but never really think about chicken….how stupid am I???
I LOVE the idea of throwing the carcass right back in and making stock. Dirty the crockpot once, and get a ton of food. This is GENIUS.
Also, you can freeze your shredded chicken pieces for later use. Chicken tacos, casseroles, salad, wraps. Perfect.
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I cook whole chickens in my pressure cooker, faster, no more work than the slow cooker. I also cook up those 10 lb bags of legs and thighs, debone and freeze for use in other meals. The legs and thighs make the best chicken stock. Chicken is very frugal, we eat a lot of it in my house.
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jolyn Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Does the meat fall off the bone readily after cooking in a pressure cooker? That’s what I like about a slow cooker; plus, that’s all I have. Is the chicken stock better b/c of the dark meat (and thus more fat and flavor)? One more question! How do you like to season yours? Thanks for the tips!
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Yes thaw before cooking. A whole chicken is VERY easy to do. I have been using them..Since I was a kid honestly. I was taught to make homemade chicken and dumplings by the time I was 12. You can take the whole chicken, make some chicken and dumplings, chicken casserole AND chicken salad sammies. (yup all 3 from one chicken for a fam of 4) I have to say a whole chicken is one of the few things that lasts this long, and is soo cheap. Pretty much what you can do with a turkey..You can do with a chicken
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jolyn Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
I would.love. a tried-and-true recipe for chicken and dumplings. Would you consider sharing…?
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Christina Reply:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Of course..
Boil your chicken in a pan full of water with salt pepper to taste. (taste after its cooked haha) When its falling off the bone. Take and pull the meat off and put in back in the pan with the now chicken broth. Dumplings recipe(this was my dads. and I have never used ANY other recipe. Dont wanna ruin a tried and true 
)
3 cups flour
3 eggs
lil bit of salt
Chicken broth(yup from the pan)
Mix all these together until it forms a very slightly sticky dough. NOT VERY just slightly. Flour your table really good. Plop your dough on the table. Flour the top roll it out until its about 1/3 of a inch thick.. maybe a lil thinner. Take a pizza cutter and cut into squares. about a inch or so. Get that pot with chicken and broth boiling. Drop your floury dumplings in one at a time so they dont stick together(extra flour on those dumpling pieces will thicken up your broth a lil which is good.) Cook that for about another 5-10 min until you taste a dumpling and they are done in the middle. This will make a HUGE pot of chicken and dumplings. If you only use HALF your chicken. Only do 2 cups flour 2 eggs for the dumplings. This is enough to feed at least 10 people if not more.
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I threw mine in the freezer yesterday. Does it need to be thawed before cooking it?
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jolyn Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Emily, I have cooked frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot but never a whole chicken. I just googled real quick and some people certainly believe you can do it, no problem. It just takes longer. I’d say thaw it out if you remember to, but don’t sweat it if you want to stick it in late at night to cook on low all night and the next day. I’d love to know if that works out if that’s what you end up trying!
Oh, and if it’s frozen, you won’t be able to get the giblets out of the cavity. Ew. Did you know that it’s (relatively) fast to thaw meat out by soaking (still packaged) in lukewarm water?
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Was it messy to take off the meat? I just made my first turkey last month, and I was about ready to cry by the end of the carving process. (Keep in mind this was after I left the giblets in through the entire cooking process, and was never quite sure if it was “done.”) Any suggestions for keeping it clean, or is a chicken just easier than a turkey?
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jolyn Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Yes, it was messy! because I did it with my hands. But it was very easy. Thing about a crockpot is the meat is just falling off the bones; it just needs to be separated. I’ve never made a turkey! I know, I’m pathetic. But unless it’s a very small turkey, I imagine you cooked it in the oven? So the meat probably wasn’t so tender and hence the carving.
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MrsNic Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Yes– It was in the oven. I’ll have to try this way, and just have the rags and cleaners ready!
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Christina Reply:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
The drier the meat the harder it is to get off. Turkey is easier to get off the bone when its still somewhat warm. For some reason when it gets colder. It all wants to stick to the bone lol.