Slow cook an entire chicken - help

[steinooo]

hi all,

I bought a whole chicken earlier with the intention of slow cooking it. Now i'm panicked that a)it won't cook properly and b) that it'll be solid to separate the chicken from the bones afterwards, as there are so many bones in an entire chicken.

has anyone ever done this who can advise me please?

also - shall I include vegetables (I have parsnips and cubed carrot and swede)?

 

[steinooo]

really? I thought slow cookers keep the moisture in pretty well?

 

[steinooo]

OMG dude thanks for the link but there is NO WAY I can do that


what was the heston method? did he debone the chicken? I did hear that the arms and legs release a lot of fat what did you do exactly? Also unsure on how much liquid (stock) to use if any

 

[steinooo]

I'm no expert but:

Perhaps you could wrap it in foil to keep the moisture in then remove it about 20 minutes before hand to crisp the skin?

I saw Rachel Allen (chef) suggest that you can tell if a chicken is cooked by pushing the ends of legs down with something, if the leg feels as though it's pulling away/dropping off then it is cooked apparently!

Also, why would it be solid to remove the bones? I don't quite get what you mean. You'll have to carve or cut the breast meat off but the legs should be easy enough to cut off.

Edit - do you mean cooked in a slow cooker or cooked slowly in a cooker?

If it's in a slow cooker then it shouldn't dry out because you would have stock in there? You could always cut the chicken before putting it in the slow cooker too.

Google away for some recipes and you will find all of your answers, such as : http://slowcookerrecipes.org.uk/slow_cooker_chicken_recipes.htm

Cheers mate will browse that link at work 2moro. I mean slow cooked in a slow cooker, which I assume as well that will be as moist as it can be with the stock.

I meant solid to remove the bones because I literally don't know how it will look once it's had 7/8 hours in the slow cooker. Will i literally be able to pull the legs and arms away and them fall apart from the rest of the torso? If so, will the chest/ribcage be easy to separate from the meat?

I also don't understand this "giblet" business. Will mine from Sainsbury's have some in? If so should I remove before cooking?

Any reason you'd like to slow cook it? Chicken is a very tender meat cooked quickly, so can't see any major reason to slow cook it. Will also release lots of fat (which is great in other cooking methods).

Personally I'd just roast it, very hard to better a well roasted chicken

I have wondered since I bought it whether or not I should roast instead, mainly because I've bought a high quality, corn-fed organic one. I just fancy trying slow cooked as I've never had it before.