Cooking with Animal: How to Slow-Cook a Chicken
My girlfriend, The Animal, lives in a faraway land and is a cooking neophyte. Recently married, she and her husband, Thunder Chicken (TC), are looking to enjoy a few more dinners at home each week. Upon her ecstatic request, I am teaching her how to cook via blog. Enjoy!
Dear Animal,
If you really want to drive the hubby crazy, this is a great technique to try and you're going to laugh at how simple it is (but dont tell TC its easy-we want him to think you slaved a bit).
Since he works from home, this will drive him nuts All. Day. Long. You know the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach?...but please keep in mind-their stomachs are also wonderful torture devices for us girls to play with.
First a few words of safety:
When you go to the store you are looking for a 'whole roaster chicken'. They are typically cheaper per pound than chicken breasts. Five pounds is a lot for Levi and I, but this is the smallest they had that day. I typically go for the 3-4lb size, but if you're planning to eat off of this for a couple days-go for a bigger size!
Next: cut this bad-boy open over the sink! They add tons of water to these to inflate the size, weight and price. Some 'free range' or 'local' farms wont add water, but more often than not-you are paying for excess water at some point. I will take a serrated knife and cut the plastic off over the sink, then move the chicken around to ensure I have drained as much of the water from the orifices as possible.
Important Note: check the chicken's hole. Water and possibly a bag of extra pieces (neck, liver, gizzards) will be in a little bag inside. Drain the water and throw away the extra pieces for now (I'll show you how to do fun things with that later).
Next step: Get out your crock pot. Loosely crumple up some tin foil and lay it in the bottom of the crock. We are making a little bed to lay the chicken on-only an inch deep. This little bed will allow for the juices to drain off the bird so the bird can cook nicely. If we cook him without the little bed, he will sit in the juice and boil in the juices. Boiling the chicken causes it to fall apart and doesn't taste as good!
Lets flavor the dude! Take your serrated knife and make a small cut (about 3 inches) around the edge of each chicken breast, one on each leg and one on each side of the back. Use your finger to seperate the skin from the meat. You're going to feel a little Silence of the Lambs doing this, but this is where the seasoning goes. If you just dump the seasoning over the top, you won't taste the flavor in the meat because the skin is too thick for the seasoning to penetrate.
How do you want to flavor your chicken?
Finally place chicken breast side up in crock-pot and cover with lid.
Enjoy!
~C
Dear Animal,
If you really want to drive the hubby crazy, this is a great technique to try and you're going to laugh at how simple it is (but dont tell TC its easy-we want him to think you slaved a bit).
Since he works from home, this will drive him nuts All. Day. Long. You know the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach?...but please keep in mind-their stomachs are also wonderful torture devices for us girls to play with.
First a few words of safety:
- Be sure to wash your hands before handling the raw chicken and before handling something after touching the raw chicken. Salmonella can be easily transferred. Rule of thumb: when in doubt, wash your hands.
- Be sure to thoroughly wash everything that has come into contact with the raw chicken.
- Chicken should be cooked until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. It is important that the end of the thermometer is not touching a bone. I will check the temp in a few different places on the chicken to get an accurate read.
- Classic (this is what I have at home) - you have to regularly calibrate this, but it never runs out of batteries and is very reliable. It will come with directions on how to calibrate-its easy.
- Commercial Digital (this is what I used at the restaurant) -it reads faster, but I always forget to turn it off and I end up with dead batteries.
Next: cut this bad-boy open over the sink! They add tons of water to these to inflate the size, weight and price. Some 'free range' or 'local' farms wont add water, but more often than not-you are paying for excess water at some point. I will take a serrated knife and cut the plastic off over the sink, then move the chicken around to ensure I have drained as much of the water from the orifices as possible.
Important Note: check the chicken's hole. Water and possibly a bag of extra pieces (neck, liver, gizzards) will be in a little bag inside. Drain the water and throw away the extra pieces for now (I'll show you how to do fun things with that later).
How do you want to flavor your chicken?
- Lemon/Pepper: take a lemon and cut it into thin slices, pepper each slice and place them between the skin and meat. Replace skin, salt/pepper skin.
- Grill seasoning: season under the skin and over the skin using your hands to evenly distribute the seasoning.
- Orange or with BBQ sauce: take orange marmalade and coat the chicken under and over the skin.
- 4 hour cook time: Set crock pot to High
- 8 hour cook time: Set crock pot to Low
- 1 hour cook time: place chicken in baking dish, cover with foil, cook in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45min-1 hour.
Enjoy!
~C
