Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

I was treated to a lovely sunset last night as I left work and went to my car. Sometimes parking on the 9th floor of the parking garage isn?t so bad. You can?t see it in this picture, but I also have a killer view of John Rich?s house from here.

With this semester?s schedule, I?m at school or work until 6:30 or 7 for four out of the five weekdays. That means that dinner often doesn?t get on the table until 8 pm on a good day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are particularly long days, so having a slow-cooker meal more or less ready to go when I get home is definitely a life-saver.

I know it seems a little odd to have a whole chicken show up in my blog right after I?ve said I was giving up meat, but as I explained, I?m trying to eat through the meat we already have. However, one of the things I am NOT going to miss about giving up meat is rinsing, drying, and dealing with the mess of cooking meat. See also: fear of salmonella.

Surprisingly, I had never done a whole chicken in the slow-cooker before. Turns out, it was one of the best chickens I?ve ever made. I went to carve it and pulled the leg right off. Although you don?t get the crispy skin of an oven-roasted chicken, I don?t normally eat the skin anyway, so it wasn?t a big loss. But the meat itself was very tender. I pulled it right off the bone and shredded it.

Crockpot before:

Crockpot after:

I didn?t originally have a plan for the meat, but I was in a mood for Mexican and we had all the fixings, so Joe quickly opted for my suggestion of tacos. An avocado, some fresh corn cut off the cob, a little grated cheese, and some salsa all wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla made a delicious dinner.

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
adapted source: Lauren?s Kitchen

Since this is more a method than a recipe, I?ll just tell you what I did. Take a whole chicken and rinse with water, inside and outside. Pat with paper towels to dry.

Roll aluminum foil into three 2-inch diameter balls and place in a triangle formation in a 6-qt crockpot. This will keep the chicken from burning where it touches the crockpot.

Pour in a 1/2 cup of chicken broth or water. I added a 1/2 onion, though I don?t know if it really did anything.

Do whatever you do with your roast chicken. I quartered a lemon, squeezed the juice inside the cavity, and stuffed the lemon inside. Then, I rubbed the skin with a little olive oil and some Southwest seasoning. Rest the chicken, breast side up, on the aluminum foil balls, making sure that the chicken isn?t touching the crockpot liner.

Cook for 8 hours on low. Enjoy your delicious, tender roast chicken.