Cooking a Chicken in a Crock Pot Italian Seasoning

Cooking Chicken without any water in a Crock Pot. Is this safe or crazy?

Example recipe

She gives a strict instruction to not add water. But everywhere else says you should never not add water to meat recipes.

Anyone have an opinion?

I don't want to cause any damage, so I figured it's better to ask first.

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level 1

My wife does this often. It always turns out great.

level 2

Question: What if you dont have as much chicken as the recipe and your stuff fills only half the crock pot?

Any bad effects?

level 1

The chicken will generate plenty of juices on it's own. Try a cornish hen sometime.

level 1

I never had any water but I do sit the chicken on a bed of vegetables.

level 2

Did this with a bunch of drumsticks last week. Ended up with a bit of liquid at the bottom by the time I was done.

level 2

Did this with a pork roast a few days ago - a bed of onions. turned out great!

level 1

Ohh I've made this - it's awesome. What I recommend is taking all the cloves and juices from the crockpot (remove the fat) and pureeing it all in a food processor to make a sauce before serving.

level 2

Dang. I made this at my parent's house and mom ate all the cloves in the morning :(

She loves garlic.

I'll do this next time though. Thanks!

level 1

Seems workable, but messy. I tend to use water to half fill the pot, some veggies, and then bake it at 400 for 15-25 minutes after it's done cooking in order to brown the bird up a bit.

level 1

Wait, what? Now you've got me worried or something.

I almost never add water to my Crock-pot. Sometimes other liquids (e.g. a cup of red wine with a beef roast), but I don't really know when I would add water.

The meat and veggies of most recipes should have enough moisture.

level 2

While most recipes suggest adding liquid, I've found that it can (and often should) be omitted. If its been working well for you, don't worry at all. Some of my recipes where I add liquid yield twice or thrive the liquid I need, which is actually not a good thing.

level 1

My wife cooks a whole chicken in the slow cooker without water. Her first time she was concerned about the "no water" part but went with it and the chicken was delicious. She used aluminum as a base the first time. Subsequent times she's used potatoes. It works really well and tastes great. We haven't tried cooking chicken parts in the slow cooker without water, and I am interested in learning how that works out.

level 1

We put a whole chicken on a rack in the slow cooker, fill the cavity with a cut up onion and some herbs from our garden, and put whatever spices we feel like on top, and cook it on low for 8 hours. Really good. No water or anything. We've been doing that since I was a little kid, so 35+ years?

level 2

Ooh, nice. What herbs and spices do you recommend?

level 1

I have done this many times and, like others, often place the chicken on top of a bed of potatoes or onions. I also have thrown an entire chicken into the crock pot completely by itself without a drop of liquid and it always turns out delicious. The first time I did it I was nervous about it but I've never had anything but one very tasty chicken come out at the end.

level 1

I cooked an entire Thanksgiving turkey in the slow cooker with only a little bit of chicken stock in the bottom so it wouldn't stick. Best damn turkey I've ever made.

level 1

I did a small turkey breast yesterday this way, came out perfect (from frozen, no less!). I do whole chickens this way regularly too. No problems.

level 1

Just be sure not to leave it in too long, it's not like a usual crockpot recipe where you can just let it bubble away. I did this with a whole chicken once and left it too long and it ended up really dry and tough because all the liquid drains off.

level 1

I rarely add liquid to stuff in a crock pot. Maybe some wine or vinegar for flavor, but that's about it. Enough cooks out from the vegetables and meat that it'd make for meals that are too watery otherwise.

level 1

Sounds amazing, trying this tomorrow.

Cooking a Chicken in a Crock Pot Italian Seasoning

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/slowcooking/comments/15d1ph/cooking_chicken_without_any_water_in_a_crock_pot/

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