Before I got married, I never had cause to make a whole chicken. I’m a white meat gal, so boneless, skinless chicken breast was an easy way to get my protein without having to deal with all of the parts that I wasn’t going to eat anyway. Now that I have a family of 3, a whole chicken is just way more practical. Not to mention, it impresses my husband way more than a few dry pieces of chicken breast. How do I do it? How do I make a delicious, flavorful and moist chicken without turning my oven on? Well, in the slow cooker, of course!

This is going to be a short post, because, really it is so easy to make a whole chicken in a slow cooker. I made my first one last year for Thanksgiving, and Terrence and I were salivating as we moved the chicken to a platter and watched it fall off the bone. I used the Hamilton Beach Set & Forget Slow Cooker to cook our chicken this year. I started it on Thanksgiving Eve at about 7 PM, and wasn’t out of bed when the bird was done. I heard the beep when the 10 hours was up, and the machine automatically switched to Warm. Neat, huh? Whether you have company coming over, or it’s just a regular family dinner, slow cooker chicken saves money and time. I purchased a 1.4 lb. organic, free-range chicken for about $7.00, and it took me 10 minutes to prepare the bird to cook. You can’t beat that! Here’s how you do it:

1. Clean your chicken. Pull out all of the innards.

2. Coat your chicken with olive oil. I used about 3 tablespoons and rubbed it in.

3. Season your chicken. It’s important to start with salt. Rub it into your bird. Then use cracked black pepper, and any other seasonings you like. I used an cracked Italian blend.

4. Place your chicken into your slow cooker, and cook on low for 10 hours. Alternately, if you have a Hamilton Beach Set & Forget Slow Cooker, you can use the probe and cook until the chicken’s internal temperature is 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. If you like a darker skin, melt about 1/4 tablespoon of butter and pour it over your chicken. Place the chicken under the broiler in your oven for about 3 minutes. I did that last year, but had a pie in the oven this year, so I couldn’t do it.

6. Enjoy your delicious bird!