A full chicken?! It is FAR easier than you realize to cook a whole bird and you get a ton of fantastic meat out of it. It can be cheaper than buying an already cooked rotisserie chicken from the store and you can experiment to make it taste how you like it best! Let me show you the difference between cooking in a crock pot versus an oven.
It all depends on the amount of time you have! If you’ve got a full afternoon, crock pot that chicken for tender meat and a great depth of flavor. If you’ve only got 2 hours until dinner, oven roast it! You get a crisper skin this way as well as a great moist inside.
4 or 5 pound chicken, innards removed, rinsed and pat dry
olive oil
salt and pepper (lots)
other spices you enjoy: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, etc
The ingredients for both methods are the exact same. You could also push a few pats of butter underneath the breast skin! I put butter under the skin or rub entire chicken with oil (yes, using my hands), generously add the spices to the entire bird, and then I like to spray the entire surface with olive oil spray to keep the spices in place!
Crock pot – Prop bird on 3 balls of foil and cook on low for 6 hours.
Oven – Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bird in cast iron skillet or shallow baking dish. Push to the back of the oven, cook for 30 minutes, turn 180 degrees. Cook another 30 minutes and turn again. Cook until internal temperature of chicken is 160 degrees.
Both chickens are so delicious! If you were to ask my opinion, I prefer using the crock pot simply because the meat falls off of the bones and is super juicy.
Honestly, it depends on the amount of time you have to make it! My whole family eats the entire thing no matter how I cook it!
I serve the chicken with everything. Last night it was with mac and cheese (for R&R), salad, and fruit. YUM!
