Crock potAmerican
Sunday whole chicken in the crock
A 4-pound bird on onions, Low all afternoon. Not rotisserie skin — it is Sunday gravy meat.
Made it?
6 hr · 20 min hands-on · pull 175°F · rest 15 min
Ingredients
4.5 lb on the fire · ~2.3 lb to the table · 5 plates at 8 oz
- whole chicken, giblets out4 1/2 lb
- onions, thick sliced (a raft)2
- garlic cloves4
- lemon, halved1
- kosher salt2 tsp
- paprika1 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- dried thyme1/2 tsp
Method
- 1
Onion raft in the bottom so the bird is not sitting in juice. Salt, paprika, pepper, thyme on the skin. Lemon and garlic in the cavity.
- 2
Low 6 hours. Breast 157–160, thigh 175+. The legs should wiggle.
- 3
Rest 15 minutes. Skin is soft — broil 5 minutes on a sheet if you want color. Save the onion broth.
If you don’t have it
- Whole bird → Spatchcock if it fits flat. Most 6-quarts want the bird whole on an onion raft.
- Lemon → A halved onion in the cavity. Same idea — perfume, not a brine.
Same cook, different day
Broiler skin
You want color. Transfer to a sheet, 5 minutes under the broiler. Watch it.
Stock night
You will pick it clean. Carcass back in the insert with water, Low 6 hours more. That is soup tomorrow.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making vinegar slaw.
Anytime. Better after an hour in the fridge. Cabbage, carrot, cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper. No mayo if the meat is already rich.
20 min
- With this dish, try making buttermilk biscuits.
While gravy happens, or a ham comes out. Flour, baking powder, cold butter, buttermilk. Fold, stamp, 425°F.
25 min
- With this dish, try making pinto beans.
Start when a packer wraps, or at the beginning of a shoulder. Soaked beans, smoked hock, onion, chili. Simmer until creamy. Salt late.
2 hr 30 min