DIY Rotisserie Chicken In the Crockpot
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Buying a whole chicken is usually the cheapest chicken option at the store. And yet I always had my excuses for not buying a whole chicken. Those excuses were always some form of, “I’ve never cooked one before and I’m not really sure what to do”. Plus, it can be just a little too easy to buy a ready-made rotisserie chicken at the store. But at last I gave a homemade method a try and found out it was simple and easy and felt like making your own rotisserie chicken. No more excuses!
Using a Crockpot to make DIY Rotisserie Chicken
Here’s the reason this DIY rotisserie chicken at home was so easy to do – I used a crockpot but added one little helpful trick too. I put crumpled up balls of foil in the crockpot first, and then set the chicken on top of it. This helps to keep the chicken above some of the greasy liquid that can accumulate as it cooks but because it’s foil it will still conduct the heat.
So first I rinsed the chicken and made sure everything was cleaned out of the cavity. Next I sprinkled some seasoning on the outside of the chicken. I used my homemade chicken seasoning blend that’s a simple mix of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and dry mustard. But you can certainly use any other favorite seasoning you might enjoy with chicken.
Next, I put the seasoned chicken on top of the balls of tin foil, breast side up (the little tips of the wings should be pointing up). There’s no need to add any water to this recipe. The chicken is then cooked for 8 hours on low. Very easy!
You can then set your cooked chicken on the table and if someone thinks you bought a rotisserie chicken at the store you can tell them, “No, I just make my own!”
A whole chicken does fit in my 4 quart crockpot, although it’s a tight fit. For that reason I prefer to use my larger 6 quart crockpot for this recipe. There was also one time I had to keep the chicken on the “keep warm” setting for another hour at the end of the cooking time and that chicken seemed especially juicy. This might have provided a little resting time that retained some of the juices.
DIY Rotisserie Chicken in the Crockpot
Equipment:
- Crockpot (6 quart size preferred)
- 4 to 6 balls of tin foil – crumpled loosely
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken
- chicken seasoning of your choice
Instructions:
- Rinse the chicken and remove anything from the cavity.
- Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with the seasoning of your choice. Just using salt and pepper is OK too.
- Wad up about 4 to 6 balls of tin foil (they can be loosely crumpled) and place them in the bottom of the crockpot.
- Place the seasoned chicken on top of the balls of foil, breast side up (the little tips of the wings should be pointing up). There is no need to add any water.
- Cook on low for 8 hours. (You can baste the chicken a few times with the cooking juices that accumulate too if you wish)
- You might find that letting the cooked chicken rest for a bit on the "keep warm" setting at the end of the cooking time might add a little extra juiciness.
I do not cook anything with aluminum foil or aluminum pots. Lab tests on cadavers shows that people with alzheimers disease have a higher aluminum content in the brain. Aluminum is a good conductor of electricity and our body operates on electrical impulses from the brain. The research does not claim a definite link here but it does make sense.
Love your website. Just found it couple minutes ago and now I don’t feel like doing my household 😉 I do my chicken on a can. You’ll find lots of recipes online if you google can chicken. Most of them are sitting on a a beer can. I just sit mine on an empty corn can. I add beer, herbs, garlic and whatever I can find in the can and sit the chicken on top. My 2yrs old son thinks it’s funny the way the chicken sits there without the head.
I have seen that method too Diana but have never given it a try – I better save a can and give it a go!
How awesome is this?!! Thank you for posting this! I found your site from HomeTalk today and saw the ‘get the gunk off’ page! LOL…but now… I am wandering around your site! Verrrry interesting!! Thank you!! As I LOVE LOVE LOVE chicken and we have a Ron Popeill rotiserarrry [teehee dont know how to spell that!! ] and I am not crazy about it anymore…this is verrry cool! Thanks again!!! …..Pam
I will definitely try stuffing the chicken cavity with lemon, onion and/or garlic. That sounds wonderful!
P.S. I also cook the chicken on high, and the chicken is done within 4 hours or so, depending on the bird's size. Having an inexpensive meat thermometer so you can check the breast meat for doneness (175-180 degrees F or so) helps for peace of mind to be certain it's done cooking.
I learned about cooking whole chickens in the crockpot about a year ago, and I've continued to experiment ever since. I go ahead and stuff the chicken cavity with a quartered lemon, a quartered or sliced onion, a few minced garlic cloves, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme. It is *delicious* and it helps make the chicken beautifully moist. And since the chicken is sitting on top the foil balls, it doesn't swim in the run-off juices that continue collecting at the bottom of the crockpot.