I’ve tried making chicken in the crock-pot (to be more correct, the slow cooker/crockery-cooker) many a time, and my consistent problem is that it comes out dry. Recipes that claim to be good for a “set it and forget it” prep at lunchtime and walk away, produce terribly overcooked chicken, unless I modify the recipe and shorten the cooking time considerably, at which point I might as well make it on the stovetop.
At long last, I now have the answers! This time around, the chicken was moist and tasty.
1) Use a thrift-store crock-pot. Some time ago, in, I think, comments on Megan McArdle’s blog, I learned that crock-pot manufacturers, to avoid the risk of lawsuits due to customers getting ill from food that sits out and has bacteria grow during the heating-up process, before it gets “up to temp”*, had increased the settings, so that the “low” setting was not low enough any longer. (*To be honest, I’ve never quite understood this — wouldn’t any potential bacterial growth be killed anyway, during the cooking process?) I read that some people look for old crockpots on e-bay, but I figured Goodwill would be good enough for me, and sure enough, they had one that was old enough to have been identified on the crock-pot itself as having a “removable” crock; that is, it wasn’t one of the models that was so old as to have the fixed-in-place crock, but it was old enough that it was still a feature not to be taken for granted.
Have I identified scientifically that this new-to-me crockpot cooks food at a lower temperature than my prior one, which was a 1996 wedding gift? I suppose I could test it, but I haven’t. Heck, it could be a placebo effect, or potentially having to do with the fact that the new-to-me one is smaller. But I’m still happy with it.
2) Use boneless skinless chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts. I tried this for the first time yesterday (the pic above is my leftovers for lunch), and I was very pleased with the results.
The recipe?
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, easily removable fat removed
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used maybe 2/3 in total)
Put chicken in crockpot. Cover with spaghetti sauce. Cook. I intended to cook this for 6 hours on low, but then I forgot to turn the crockpot on for an hour and a half, so I bumped it up to high, and turned it down after maybe 3 hours, and then it cooked for another 1.5 hrs while I was out on an errand.
For my carb-free “let’s try the South Beach Diet because Goodwill had the book for a buck” version, serve over spinach with melted mozzerella cheese. For a carb-o-licious version, serve over rice.
The sauce gets a bit watery but that’s because it absorbs the chicken juices and gets extra-tasty.
Yum! My husband doesn’t like marinara sauces, but the kids do, so I think I have my new go-to recipe for when he’s travelling.
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