whole chicken in slow cooker - clueless

[OnceUponAThyme]

I know this must have been asked a million times, but how do I cook a small chicken in the sc?
can I really just bung it in on low for 8 hours by itself and come back to tasty chicken?

[notapizzaeater]

Yup - just bung it in switch on and leave !

I sometimes put onions on the bottom (for the gravy later)

[derekthehamster]

Yes! But I cook it on high (I read somewhere that whole chickens should be cooked on high)

[YouOldSlag]

I cook them on low for hours and hours but they don't look very nice so i tend to just use the meat rather than serve a rather pale looking chicken.

[PandaG]

I sit mine on onions, carrot and celery, and add a v small amount of water - couple of tbspns so the veg don't stick.

I then use the veg and liquid that has come out of the chicken as the basis for the gravy.

[OnceUponAThyme]

thanks, like the idea of putting veg and onions in for the gravy. shall put the chicken in tomorrow and give it a go now, just not very adept at cooking so trying to find easy ways of doing stuff

[jennimoo]

I found it was a little dry on top so I start them upside down (I do the sane in the oven too) to keep the breast a bit more moist.

[staceyl900]

I tried this on Sunday with the onions, carrots, celery etc - amazing! So easy, I'll be tempted to do this evert week. If you're worried about how it looks, can always brown it first

[notapizzaeater]

Before we one out son was coeliac I used to crumble an oxo cube into a little oil and brush on the top to make it "brown"

[notMarlene]

Do the bones not go all gelatinous?

[YouOldSlag]

No notMarlene, the bones stay exactly as they are. The slow cooker doesn't get hot enough to melt bones!

[Chopstheduck]

i rub mine all over in spices, and it comes out like a rotisserie chicken! I think maybe without the spices, I would skin the chicken first, as it is going to go all floppy and slimy in a slow cooker.

[YouOldSlag]

Yeah. aesthetically, a chicken isn't good in a slow cooker, but taste wise, it ends up very tender and melts in the mouth.

[OnceUponAThyme]

forgot to say that I have done the chicken and it was great. nice and tender, and everyone liked it. next time I'll lay it on foil though to make it easier to retrieve. it was falling apart but so good