Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Crispy Skin

E-mail Print PDF

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, giblets removed (I have a round 5-quart slow cooker and I can just manage to fit a 7 pound chicken into it.)
2-3 tablespoons seasoning of choice (I’m a fan of McCormick’s Low-Sodium Montreal Chicken.)

Instructions
1. Tear off two pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil, about 3 feet long.  Fold each piece in half lengthwise and press into the slow cooker to form a sling.  The ends of the aluminum foil should hang over the sides of the pot.  

Chicken in Pot

2. Season chicken well, inside and out.  Place chicken breast side up in slow cooker on top of foil sling, cover, and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours.  

3. Preheat oven to 500*F.  Remove chicken from slow cooker using the foil sling and place on rimmed baking sheet.  

Chicken pre-roasting

4. When oven is preheated, roast chicken for 20 minutes or until the skin is nice and crispy.  

5. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.  

Chicken post-roasting

Comments
I’ve roasted chicken in the slow cooker many, many times and have always been thrilled with the results.  However, the skin is never crispy like you’d get with an oven roasted chicken.  Finishing the chicken in the oven seemed like a great plan, but whenever I cook a chicken in the slow cooker it’s always falling apart and would be impossible to move to the oven for further cooking!   

Inspiration hit in the form of aluminum foil.  Placing the chicken in a sling in the pot makes removing it from the crock a very simple task and, from there, it’s a quick 20 minute roast to crisp up the skin.  We were all very thrilled with the results.  Nice crispy skin and no hassle roasting in the pot.  

Make sure to save, boil, and strain all the delicious juices that accumulate in the bottom of your slow cooker.  They make a fantastic soup base!  If you're home during cooking, you can pour the liquid out at the 3-4 hour mark.  The foil sling is helpful with this part as well.

Tags:
 
Please register or login to add your comments to this article.
Comments (7)
good thinking!
1 Sunday, 25 October 2009 20:28
Bramlet Abercrombie
Neat, I will have to try this soon.

Nice blog, btw. I followed your link on the LJ crockpot comm.
Re: Bramlet Abercrombie
2 Sunday, 25 October 2009 20:31
Gwen
Thank you so much!

I was really pleased with how this turned out, I can't wait to try it again. I'm pretty sure I'd be content to make chicken this way at least once a week.
Thanks!
3 Friday, 10 September 2010 03:15
Saci70
I tried this tonight and it worked perfectly! I have never been happy with chicken roasted in the slow cooker before because it just disintegrated but this made it work out just the way I like it. Even my fussy 3 year old ate it :-)
Crispy Skin Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken
4 Tuesday, 18 January 2011 12:17
Lolo
My only problem with this is that I made the "sling" too short, and did not let it rest across the bottom. Consequently. my slow cooker, for all practical purposes, was cooking empty, and cracked! Guess I need a new crock pot....but the chicken was good.
@Lolo
5 Tuesday, 18 January 2011 14:43
Gwen
Wow! It sounds like your crock pot was defective since, even with the sling being above the base, it should not have cracked! I hope no one was hurt and that your next crock pot is better.
OH!
6 Friday, 11 February 2011 23:19
photogfrog
I tried a slow cooker chicken once too. SOGGY! It was edible but I love the crispy skin bit. I might have to try this!!
@photogfrog
7 Friday, 11 February 2011 23:28
Gwen
I love the broth that crocking a chicken generates. It's delicious gelatinous goodness. :)
Welcome to Manger à Trois! 
This site is a work in progress so please check back often for updates and new recipes. 
Please login to leave comments.