Melissa's Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

Of course we all know that traditional "rotisserie chicken" cooked by the bird being skewered down the middle and rotated over heat to baste and cook in its own juices...   But those of us who love our dear slow cookers have tried to mimic the process many times.  

I have found that in most attempts to do a rotisserie in the crock pot, the skin comes out pale and soggy.   So I thought, "What if you braised / fried the outside of the skin to brown it a bit, before putting it in the slow cooker?"  

This recipe involves doing just that.   Sure, there is a bit more prep work involved, but when I tried this, it came out rather yummy!  :) 

Melissa’s Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

Ingredients / Materials:

1 whole fryer chicken

2 tablespoon cooking oil

2 cubes (1/2 inch x 1 inch each) soft Maggi chicken bullion, crumbled

4 cloves garlic, finely minced, or shredded (or 3 tsp garlic paste from a squeeze bottle)

½ tsp ground rosemary

½ tsp poultry seasoning

2 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

Kitchen foil

Directions:

1.       Pat chicken dry, all over, with paper towels.   Skin will not brown properly if it is too dry. 

Lift the skin of the chicken by the neck to expose the top of the breast meat.   Using a knife, cut a slit in the breast meat (do not pierce the skin) long and deep into the middle of the breast.  Stuff the cut with some of the crumbled bullion.   Do this on both sides of the breast.   Repeat with the thighs, gently peel the skin away to expose the thigh meat, cut a slit in the meat, and stuff with crumbled bullion.  ** You can also dissolve the bullion in a few tablespoons of hot water and inject it into the meat with a flavor injector).

2.        In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Place *whole* chicken in the pan.   Fry on each side (front, back, left/right sides).  Your goal is not to cook the meat, but only to make the skin golden-brown.  It may take up to 3 to 5 minutes on each side.  Be careful, oil may splatter.  Remove chicken from pan when skin is golden brown, set aside on a plate.  Allow chicken to cool until you can easily touch it without getting burned. 

3.       Rub the outside of the chicken evenly with the minced garlic.   Then combine the other spices together in a small bowl (rosemary, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, paprika).  Rub spice mixture all over the outside of the chicken. 

4.       Wad up 4 balls of kitchen foil (each the size of tennis balls) to act as a rack for your chicken.  Place the foil balls in the bottom of your slow cooker.   Lay the chicken(breast-side-down) on top of the foil balls. 

5.       Place the lid tightly on your slow cooker, and cook the chicken on LOW, for about 6 hours.   Enjoy!