This winter I discovered the joys of the crock pot.  My husband and I both work until anywhere from 6:45-8:30 at night and it’s so nice to know I don’t have to come home and still figure out what we’re going to eat.  And then cook it.

One of my favorite recipe blogs is Crock Pot 365.  The author cooked something in her crock pot every day in 2008, and then wrote a recipe book.  As you do.  I haven’t tried nearly all the recipes I want to from her site, but there’s a standby that I keep coming back to again and again: Crock Pot Rotisserie-Style Chicken.

The chicken is juicy and amazingly tender and flavorful.  Jason (the husband) proclaimed it the best chicken ever! (We’re all about hyperbole in our house.  See my previous broccoli post.)

Like the author, I skin my chicken because the idea of the chicken skin bubbling away in the crock pot for 8 hours gives me the willies.  In fact, I recently discovered that skinning chicken is pretty darn easy and will no longer pay extra for The Man to skin my chicken.

Crock Pot Rotisserie-Style Chicken

–1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
–2 tsp kosher salt (if you’d like it as salty as the ones in the store, add another 1 tsp.)
–1 tsp paprika
–1 tsp onion powder
–1/2 tsp dried thyme
–1 tsp Italian seasoning
–1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
–1/2 tsp black pepper
–pinch of chili pepper (probably not necessary)

–4 whole garlic cloves (optional)
–1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

Skin the chicken and get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity.

In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Plop the bird breast-side down into the crockpot.

If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and a quartered onion inside the bird.

Do not add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.