Need tips for doing chicken in a crockpot

[pas2]

A few years ago I tried doing a whole chicken in the crockpot but it was a disaster, can anyone help me out?

 

[piratesmate]

What happened to it? I used to do whole chickens when we first got married, but haven't for years. I don't remember if I did carrots & potatoes in with the chicken, but I do remember that the chicken was always very good. DH used to complain that he couldn't eat the skin, though.

More recently I received a recipe that called for chicken parts on the bone. I don't do that one anymore unless I use boneless - the bones begin to disintegrate. You can't pull them out & you end up with "grit" in the meat. I never had that problem with the whole chickens though.

Sorry I can't be more help. Maybe someone else?

Deb

 

[pas2]

It came out really dry. Do I put it in breast up or down? How much liquid? Need it be frozen or thawed?

 

[piratesmate]

I'm certain I did mine breast side up - the same as you would in the oven...at least the way we were taught back in the "Dark Ages." Anyway, I never heard of another way until recently & that's why I'm sure.

I'm certain I almost always did mine frozen. Because mine had a stone crock, I always followed the directions & added at least a cup of cold water with the frozen meat. I don't ever remember mine being dry.

Deb

 

[pas2]

Mine wasn't frozen so maybe that was the problem. My cooker didn't come with recipes for chicken so I was guessing.

 

[WilmaBud]

I've read that you should never put large pieces of frozen meat in a crock pot. It heats so slowly that it allows bacteria growth.

I did a pot roast once that was really dry. I had lifted the lid a couple of times to check on it, and I think that was the problem with mine.

 

[piratesmate]

My original crock pot never got very hot on the outside. My most recent one gets quite hot - it melts the butter in the dish on the counter if it's too close. I thought there was something wrong with it until I was told that the newer ones get hotter quicker - because of concerns over bacteria growth. Regardless, we've never gotten sick from eating stuff done in the crock - and probably 90% of it has been done frozen. (Maybe luck, maybe it's not as bad as they say. Who knows?)

When I started doing things that weren't frozen, I stopped adding the water - but decided I liked the extra broth, so now I add water to everything.

Re: lifting the lid - I don't think that has anything to do with the meat turning out dry. You're not supposed to lift the lid because the heat escapes & it winds up taking longer to cook. I've found that the cheaper cuts of beef are actually not as dry as the leaner/more expensive cuts. Obviously the fat content has something to do with it.

Deb

I forgot to ask earlier - do you have a stone crock or another type? My sister has a metal/teflon pan that sits on a tray & calls it a "crock pot". However, her stuff never comes out like mine. I think there's a bigger difference between the two than you'd think.

 

[pas2]

Your sisters pot is called a slow cooker ( I have one too I use for keeping things warm for parties) and it doesn't cook like a crockpot does. My old crockpot used to have a auto shift feature that started out on 2 hrs at high then shifted to low. Nice feature, never worried about bacteria forming. Got a new oval crockpot so that is why I wanted to try the chicken again.