Whole chickens are a great deal, especially when they go on sale. I will typically cook the chicken, shred the meat, make two different dinners with it and make some chicken broth…all for just a couple dollars.
Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken
1 Cup Water, plus additional water
Remove the chicken from the bag and take out all the giblets inside the bird. Place in crock pot breast side down and add 1 cup of water. Cook on high for about 3 hours or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. This can also be done in a pressure cooker for about 25 minutes at high pressure. Remove the chicken from the crock pot and let rest for at least 30 minutes. Separate out the meat into a bowl. Shred the chicken.
For making chicken broth:
Place all the bones and skin back into the crock pot and cover with water. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. In a pressure cooker, 30 minutes at high pressure. Strain out the broth and refrigerate in a large bowl. A layer of fat will collect at the top. Remove the fat layer with a spoon and the broth is ready to be used or frozen for later use.
You can also use the chicken guts-in-a-bag for stock. We estimated, with our last fryer chicken, that we got 7 center of the plate servings for 5 bucks. Not bad.
Do you season the chicken or broth with any thing in particular, or does it vary from dish to dish?
I usually don’t season it…just season whatever I’m making with it. Although sometimes I’ll throw in some chopped up onion or a couple bay leaves with the stock.