Ingredients:
2 kg / 4 lb whole chicken , patted dry (Note 1)
RUB (NOTE 2):
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp
1/2 tsp black pepper
2.5 tbsp olive oil (or melted butter), plus extra for drizzling
3 garlic cloves , minced
1 large lemon , all zest + all juice
LEMON SAUCE:
1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
1 extra lemon , just in case
PREPARATION:
Rub – Mix Rub ingredients. should be fairly thick and sludgy. Adjust with extra oil if too thick.
Loosen Skin: Use upside spoon to loosen skin of chicken (see video). Spoon most of the Rub under the skin, leaving about 1 tbsp mostly oil for the skin. Use hands or spoon on skin to spread the paste – doesn’t need to be perfect.
Stuff used lemon inside the chicken.
Put rack inside slow cooker (Note 3), place chicken on top. Spread with remaining sludge, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Slow cook 5 hours on low or 3 hours on high, or until juices run clear or internal temperature is 75 C / 165 F using a meat thermometer. (Note 4 for other cook methods)
Brown skin: Remove chicken from slow cooker, drizzle with a bit of extra oil. Grill/broil on medium high for 5 to 10 minutes to brown the skin (~25 cm /10″ from heat source). Or oven 240 C/450 F for 10 min.
Spoon over pan juices, then serve with Lemon Sauce! (No need to rest chicken)
LEMON SAUCE:
Pour all slow cooker liquid into a saucepan, add cornflour / water mixture. Mix.
Bring to simmer over medium high and cook until liquid thickens to thin syrup (depends how much liquid you have, usually 3 min or so). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add more lemon if desired (the extra lemon). Pour into jug.
Recipe Notes:
1. Chicken – Remove giblets or anything else inside. If frozen, thaw completely. See below for cook times for different weights.
2. Herbs – can sub with other dried herbs of choice OR use finely chopped fresh but double quantity. Can also stuff a bunch of herbs inside!
3. Alternative to rack – use big sheet foil, scrunch into “rope” then form ring. Or 4 balls of foil. Aim is to elevate chicken out of liquids that it produces while cooking.
4. Other Cook Methods:
Pressure cook – Add ½ cup water and pressure cook for 24 minutes on high (depressure naturally 10 min before releasing valve).
5. Slow Cooker Cook Times:
1-1.5kg / 2-3 lb – 4.5 hrs on low
1.75-2.25kg / 3.5-4.5 lb – 5 hrs on low
2.5kg / 5lb – 6 hrs on low
For almost “all apart” meat, add 1 to 2 hours onto the cook times. Flesh is still juicy!
Pressure Cooker: 6 minutes per 500g/1lb of chicken.
5. Prep Ahead / Storage: Prepare chicken with rub under and on skin. Refrigerate up to 48 hours then slow cook per recipe. Cooked chicken keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
6. Nutrition per serving assumes all sauce is consumed
NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Serving:263gCalories:478cal (24%)Protein:35g (70%)Fat:35g (54%)Saturated Fat:9g (56%)Cholesterol:144mg (48%)Sodium:484mg (21%)Potassium:370mg (11%)Vitamin A:270IU (5%)Vitamin C:3.6mg (4%)Calcium:28mg (3%)Iron:2mg (11%)
enjoy!