How to cook a whole chicken

A whole chicken can be an intimidating task, but at Primitive Farms we think it is one of the best ways to cook a chicken. You can slow cook it in a crock pot, you can smoke it, and you can bake it. Heck, you can even fry it. It is such a versatile food. On this post, we are going to teach you how to slow cook it.

Do you have a crock pot? I'm guessing the answer is yes, but if not, GO GET ONE. In Virginia we have cold winters, and nothing is better than getting a pot of white chicken chili going in the crock pot to come back to after chores in the snow. You don't need a cold day for a whole chicken in a crock pot though!

Step One: Thaw out your whole chicken overnight in your fridge. It is a safe way to thaw your chicken without exposing it to certain bacteria that grow in room temperatures. Another way to thaw out a chicken if you are in a time bind is to put it in a bowl and let cold water run over it for a while.

Step Two: Cut up some vegetables to throw in the crock pot. One of the best parts of a crock pot dinner is that it can be a whole meal in one pot. Today I used 4 whole potatoes, an onion, and some carrots.

Step Three: Fill the crock pot with water up to about 3/4 of the whole chicken. Season with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and anything else you can think of.

Step Four: Turn on the crock pot and wait! Very simple, and probably the most basic way of cooking a whole chicken!