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Chicken In A Crock Pot

Based on a suggestion found online, I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot. The instructions were very simple: get a 4-to-6 pound chicken, put it in the crock pot, add a half-cup of chicken broth, add a few pats of butter to the top of the chicken. Turn the crock pot on low and let it cook for about six hours. I did as it said and placed the butter on the inside of the chicken, where it would normally be stuffed; and I decided to add some pepper, garlic, and parsley to the outside for flavor. I have a small crock pot, and the bird just barely fit into the pot so that I could fit the lid on.

As the chicken cooked, the pot slowly filled with broth. I wasn't expecting all of this liquid in the pot! I'd only added a half cup of broth; all the rest of it must have come out of the chicken itself as it cooked. I didn't put the bird in the freezer after I bought it last night; I only kept it in the refrigerator until I put it in the pot. The level of bubbling liquid rose steadily higher as time passed, until it was almost completely at the top. After about four hours the liquid level remained steady, and it didn't overflow.

I finally took the chicken out after seven hours. Because there was so much liquid in the pot, I decided to put the chicken into a bowl instead of onto a plate. It was certainly well-done – it came apart as I was lifting it out of the pot! It didn't spill all over the place, fortunately, and I was able to get it all into the bowl without a problem. So I'd say this was a success, as I had a bowl of very well-done, tender and moist chicken and a pot full of broth. The chicken came off the bone as I ate it, and I needed a fork for almost every mouthful; every time I tried to pick up a bone, especially the drumstick, the chicken would fall right off. But the taste wasn't bad. It was a step above the "boiled chicken" recipe I'd been subjected to for the past several years. I'm not sure if I'd recommend this as a regular meal; however, I think this would be a terrific way to make chicken in advance if you're preparing a dish that requires a lot of tender chicken as an ingredient.