Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken!

I first saw this recipe on a country music website, of all places,  and I had my doubts that it would actually turn out like a rotisserie chicken should so I didn't try it for a while. However, one week they had whole chickens on sale at Kroger and I decided to go ahead and chance it.  Boy, was I wrong.  It turned out amazingly good. As good as any chicken cooked on an actual rotisserie!

First, spray your slow cooker liberally with cooking spray.  This really makes clean up easy.  Next take foil and make balls a little smaller than base balls and line the bottom of the crock.

Wash your chicken inside and out and remove that weird bag of stuff they stick inside it (yuck) and discard it.  If you are leery of handling a raw chicken, invest in a some latex gloves.  Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with Lawry's poultry and chicken rub, pepper and garlic powder.  Dot with about a 1/3 stick of butter and put some sprigs of fresh rosemary on top.  The rosemary is optional but it makes it smell so good cooking.  Put the top on and cook 8 hours on low or 4-5 on high depending on how your slow cooker cooks. They all seem to vary.  I usually do mine about 4.5 hours on high.  Carefully remove from slow cooker and place on cutting board.  Let it rest 10 minutes before you carve it or you will lose a lot of the juices and your chicken will be dry.

This is one of the best ways to cook a whole chicken I have ever found!  

Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken!

Evidently, there are many different recipes for sticky chicken out there and everyone's mother or grandmother did it somewhat differently.  Sticky chicken is a southern classic...I guess, but to be perfectly honest, I don't think it is in Kentucky.  My mother, that I can remember, didn't make sticky chicken.   It might be more of a deep south dish.  I have found that we really like this recipe and it works in either the slow cooker or the oven.  Today I made it in the slow cooker, since it was 105 degrees and adding heat to the house by turning on the oven long enough to bake a chicken seemed sort of crazy.   You can also use a whole chicken, like I did or use chicken pieces...most recipes use legs and thighs, but chicken breasts would work also.  

I used the same foolproof method of cooking that I used for my regular The Perfect Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken.   Roll up some foil into enough balls to cover the bottom of the slow cooker.  You then place your chicken on top  of the foil and it keeps it up out of it's juices so that it roasts instead of stewing.

Mix the brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, catsup, vinegar, and chopped garlic.  Place in the microwave for about 3 minutes or until boiling. Stir really good after it boils. This sauce will thicken up as it sits after you boil it.

Wash your chicken inside and out and remove the bag of giblets, if it has one, that they put in the cavity.  I knew somoene once, who when they cooked their first turkey for Thanksgiving left that in there...yuck.  Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning...I used Tony Chachere's.  If you don't like spicy, go light on the Cajun seasoning.  Pour about half of the sticky marinade over the chicken making sure all of it is covered, legs, wings, breast.  Save the other half for later.  Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for a total of about 4 hours.  You will need to pour the other half of the sticky marinade over the chicken at 3 hours.  This works best on the high setting for the shorter cooking time instead of on low for 8 hours. 

At the end of the cooking time, carefully lift the chicken out of slow cooker to a carving board. It will be very tender so use a large spatula to lift it out.  Let it rest for about 10 mintues and then carve.  The outside will be nice and sticky with the sauce.  Dip some of the sauce out of the slow cooker and drizzle over the meat after it's carved.  The sauce is really good.

Sticky chicken, fresh green beans cooked with red potatoes, sauteed squash, and fresh corn on the cob!

Ingredients:

4-5 lb chicken

1 cup catsup

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup honey

2 Tbs chopped garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

salt, black pepper, and cajun seasoning to taste