Wednesday, May 8, 2013

How to roast a chicken in a wagon

Rotisserie chicken is one of my favorite meals. Problem is, I don't have a rotisserie. Walmart sells chickens already rotisseried, but there is something intrinsically perverse about buying a take-out meal at the same place I can buy tires. So I went on a quest to find a recipe for rotisserie chicken that can be made at home without a rotisserie. Chef Google saved the day.

Since finding the basic recipe, I have put my own twist on it and feel compelled to share it because it's so stinkin' easy and good.
Here goes:

1. Rinse off a whole chicken and pat it dry.
2. Season liberally with salt and pepper, or Old Bay, or Emeril's Essence.
3. Place two ceramic ramekins right-side up in a crockpot.
4. Place chicken on top of ramekins.
5. Place crockpot in wagon in garage.
6. Turn crockpot on for 6 hours.

Step 5 is critical, unless you want to sit at your desk drooling on your keyboard while the smell of roasting chicken drives you mad and makes you want to eat dinner all afternoon. Crockpots were invented for people who work in an office and want dinner ready when they get back home, not for telecommuters!

Anyway, here's how it looks while it's cooking:
I suppose you could place the crockpot in something besides a wagon, 
but the bottom of it gets pretty hot and who needs a fire in the garage?




My sous chef accompanied me to the "kitchen" when the dinner bell rang,
but she couldn't figure out where the heavenly aroma was coming from.


The trash cans never smelled so good.


We moved the crockpot to the kitchen and got ready to serve.


Placing the chicken on top of the ramekins prevents the bottom of it from sitting in the run-off and getting soggy.
As an added bonus, the ramekins collect all the fat and make the crockpot easy to clean.



Smooch: Would you stop talking and carve the damned thing?


Carving isn't really necessary – the meat falls right off the bones and is as juicy and tasty as can be.
The skin isn't as crispy as a real rotisseried chicken but it's just as good and, most importantly, 
it wasn't prepared by Walmart.

23 comments:

  1. Kudos to the chef and sous chef; I'll have to give your ingenious method a try!

    Hope you saved the drippings (incl the fat), along w/ the skin and bones .. they make a killer stock! (I'd be happy to send you my recipe :)

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  2. No.5 had me stumped at first, but it makes perfect sense now. Smooch looks like she's ready to eat. If you put the crockpot in the barn the cats might come out.

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  3. Oh delicious, wait, I'm coming over!

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  4. Ooooh my gosh, just reading your account of this and seeing the pictures is making me drool all over my keyboard! Yep, this is a must do for me! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  5. I'm going to have to try this one! Thanks for the recipe. :)

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  6. Brilliant! A friend bought this 'baby' and had us over for dinner. The skin got crispy!

    http://www.amazon.com/George-Foreman-GR59A-Baby-Rotisserie/dp/B0000645E8

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  7. Can't wait to try this. Yummy.

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  8. OK. For those of us who are cookiingly-challenged (as in we don't know how to boil water), what the heck is a ramekin?

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  9. mother used to make a turkey breast in her crock pot, but i don't remember her ever putting it in a wagon and i know she did not put it in the garage, they did not have one. great idea... i may have to buy a crock pot

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  10. Looks good. Here is another one to try that is just as easy but the skin will be crispy and the inside SOO tender and yummy!

    http://homecooking.about.com/od/chickenrecipes/r/Oven-Beercan-Chicken-Recipe-blchicken53.htm

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  11. Looks delicious. I'm glad you showed what a ramken is, because I have never heard of one.

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  12. I think I can smell roasting chicken coming from our garage!
    Tell me about the horse trailer on the counter... a cookie jar?!! It is too cute!

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  13. I roast a couple of chickens each week in a crockpot to supplement my dog's food. I do not use ramekins and I place the bird breast side down in the crockpot. I will usually use the 10 hour setting overnight so my pup has a lovely, warm breakfast with a nice amount of chicken drippings.

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  14. I was also curious about the horse trailer on the counter. Do tell.

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  15. sounds delicious. We do it by putting the chicken over a can of beer (opened) and then on the bbq for 90 mins to 2 hours

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  16. I hope Smooch got some little scraps of that. Her face looks tormented. OK, I'm a sucker, but it's really unfair that she has to smell it if she can't eat some of it.

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  17. I use my crock pot for cooking roasts in the garage when I'm at work all day. I don't like my house smelling like meat for days after. The garage smells great when we get home from work. Then all i have to do is open the doors to air it out. Never tried a chicken, that will be next.

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  18. Sounds delicious! And I totally agree about the Walmart thing...
    Just one question: What is a ramekin? :)

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  19. It made me hungry...I ran right out to Marc's ( one step above Wal-Mart) and bought one. I will try this one day, looks delish!

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  20. We call this "fauxtissary" chicken, and make it often. Yum!

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  21. Hope your chickens are all well!?

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  22. Beer can chickens done in a BBQ taste much the same...depends on the spices you rib on.... are very moist.... give it a Google too...

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  23. If you ever get a chance to purchase a rotisseri...DO IT...I won my RONCO Rotisseri at a crab feed and LOVE IT. The hot wings are a favorite and so are the ribs! I cooked a 12 pound turkey breast for Thanksgiving! You won't regret purchasing one!

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