For a quick dinner, what can be more perfect than chicken? It is economical and there are tons of recipes for every part and piece of it. Here are some ideas for cooking chicken in a crock pot. 

Chicken is a favorite staple of the American diet. People raise chickens and other poultry on farms. They are plentiful and can be prepared more readily than a cow or a pig. If you visit any relatives in the Deep South, you are sure to have a chicken dinner at least once or twice a week. 

In a slow cooker, all parts of the chicken work well, but you must be careful with your temperature settings.  White and dark meat portions of the chicken will cook at different rates. You notice this when you fry chicken as well. Thighs and legs finish cooking sooner mostly due to the high fat content of these portions. Wings are usually next followed by the thicker chicken breasts. 

Another difference in chicken pieces is the bone. Pieces of chicken with the bone in cook better in the slow cooker because they are less likely to dry out. On the other hand, boneless chicken breasts can dry out if they are cooked too long. 

One way to avoid drying out is to cook chicken from frozen. The great thing about a slow cooker is that it works well whether the meat is frozen or thawed. Thawed meat will of course need less cooking time because the heat works directly to cook the meat. If the chicken is frozen, the heat defrosts the chicken before actually cooking it. 

Prepare your chicken pieces as you would if you were cooking them in the oven. Clean the chicken thoroughly and season it. This will help to remove Salmonella bacteria commonly found in raw chicken, not to mention you do not want a lot of bloody juice in the bottom of their crock pot.   

A liquid is needed at the start of cooking. Instead of water, add some seasoned chicken broth to infuse the meat with flavor. Another hint is to lightly flour and saute the chicken for a couple of minutes before slow cooking. The bits from the pan will flavor the broth in the slow cooker even more. Frozen chicken needs very little liquid as liquid will be created as the chicken defrosts. 

Vegetables can be added with the meat if you choose. Tougher veggies like carrots and potatoes can be added at the beginning because they take longer to cook. A dish that calls for a tomato base such as a cacciatore will have the tomatoes added near the end of cooking. Tomatoes are one vegetable that does not stand up well to long periods of cooking. Instead of whole tomatoes, you will have mush after six hours. 

Chicken pieces need to cook for three hours or more in a crock pot. With a slow cooker, two hours on a low setting would be equal to about one hour on the highest setting. Frozen chicken will need the maximum time to cook. 

Any spices you add to chicken dishes can be left for last. Fresh herbs will infuse quickly throughout the meal so an hour in the cooker is good. Dried spices can take a bit longer to flavor so add about two hours before the meal is done. Stir up the dish so the herbs and spices are evenly distributed.

Make Dinner Cook Itself - Crock Pot Cooking Made Simple

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Product Name: Crockpot Cooking Made Simple

Rating: 10

Where to Buy: HillbillyHousewife.com

Description: This eBook is filled with information every cook, whether new to the kitchen or an old pro, can use to make cooking in the crockpot a new way of preparing meals. Included are tips on how to purchase a new crockpot as well as safety issues associated with older crockpots. Safety tips everyone with a crockpot needs to know and why the size of a crockpot really does make a difference when it comes to cooking those scrumptious meals. It includes ideas on turning favorite meals into crockpot delights as well as including close to 500 crockpot recipes. As an added bonus included are ways to cut your grocery bill in half, a pantry cooking guide, homemade bread and rolls along with some of the authors favorite recipes.

Review: Finding a way to make my kitchen experience quick and easy was something I fought with for many years. As a mother of very active children, as well as being active myself, it became a necessity to be able to cook healthy well balanced meals without slaving over the stove for hours everyday. As I went on the hunt for a quick efficient way to do this I found this exciting idea called crockpot cooking.

Knowing that the Hillbilly Housewife had come to my rescue before, I decided to see what she had to offer. I found this straightforward eBook from her called Crockpot Cooking Made Simple. I knew I had found the answer to my cooking dilemma.

Inside this eBook were all the answers I needed to get up and rolling with very little effort. She explained how crockpot cooking could be a way of lessening my time in the kitchen but still giving my family a home cooked meal they could sink their teeth into.

First though I had to buy a crockpot. This eBook gave me information on how to choose a crockpot that would suit my needs. It also explained some of the safety issues concerning older crockpots. This was very informative even though I didn’t own a crockpot at the time. It was information that I could pass on to family and friends that did own an older crockpot.

Another concern I came across when I went to buy my first crockpot was the size. Did you know they make these cookers in about 4 different sizes? I had no idea what I needed. Susanne came to my rescue by explaining in her eBook that size does matter when it comes to fixing eatable meals in the crockpot.

Now to find things I could actually cook in this crockpot. Susanne came to my rescue again. She included close to 500 recipes to get me started and keep me going for years to come. Crockpot Cooking Made Simple gave me ideas on how to turn my family’s favorite meals into crockpot favorites. Things such as soups, main courses even breakfast and desserts that I had slaved over for years I could now make without standing over the stove thinking about other things I really needed to be doing like taking the kids to their next practice. The eBook guided me through making sure that the foods I prepared in the crockpot cooked at the right temperatures and in the right manner so that there was no worry about making my family sick.

If that wasn’t enough she added a few extra bonuses that made my life even simpler. One explained how I could cut my grocery bill in half. Talk about making me a happy camper. Who wouldn’t like ideas on how to save money at the dreaded grocery store? She also included a pantry cooking guide which is a lifesaver both in saving money and preparing foods quickly and efficiently.

Another bonus included with this eBook was how to make homemade bread and rolls. My family loves their bread but boy can it be expensive - specially those tasty rolls. Now I can make them right at home and save both money and time. Last but not least she included some of her favorite recipes. Who doesn’t love adding recipes to their collection? I sure did and knowing they came from the Hillbilly Housewife made them an even better bonus.

If your looking for a way to save time in the kitchen as well as relieving some of that stress when it comes to making a quick, healthy and tasty meal you need to jump over to the Hillbilly Housewife and grab this eBook. She knows her stuff and is happy to pass her knowledge on to all of us. Give it a try and see just how Susanne can make your life in the kitchen happier while saving you both time and money.

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My good friend Betty Lynch has a wonderful new post at her blog 'My Country Kitchen' full of great ideas for tasty Super Bowl food. 

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