Chicken fight: Recipe showdown
Chicken fight: the war of two recipes
Someone recently posted a slow cooker recipe using a whole roasting chicken. (Can’t find the link, but all you did was put a skinned whole chicken in a slow cooker with 2 sliced lemons, a head of peeled garlic, rosemary and salt/pepper and cook on low for 8-10 hours)
Since I just bought myself a fancy (and ridiculously expensive) slow cooker I figured I’d try out the recipe. In some ways it reminded me of my FAVORITE whole chicken recipe from Cooks Illustrated (http://chicagojacks.livejournal.com/23978.html). Both are whole chickens cooked slowly. Could the slow cooker chicken match the flavor and moistness of the cast iron chicken??
And so began my chicken smackdown. Which chicken recipe would win in my book? Or would it be a draw?!?
In one corner we have the slow cooker chicken: Skinless whole chicken with garlic, rosemary, and lemon. Looks pretty, no??
In the other corner we have the cast iron chicken: Skin-on and seared whole chicken with onions, carrots, garlic, and rosemary (optional) (My not-as-pretty-pictures here: http://chicagojacks.livejournal.com/23978.html)
Let the battle begin!! (ding ding ding)
Round I: Preparation
Wow, the slow cooker chicken is off to a great start. All you gotta do is pop everything in the slow cooker. But wait, now we have to remove the chicken’s skin. Ugh, this is quite the sight. It’s a battle of strength, guts and hands that can handle super cold chicken. Overall negative points for my freezing hands and excess work.
The cast iron chicken is off to a slower start. Sear the chicken before cooking it for a few hours. Ehh. I don’t even know why I do this b/c the skin just gets tossed at the end. But its cooks illustrated, and I’m their bitch, so I don’t argue. At least you can leave it and walk away. Overall no points. It takes a little while to prep, but most of that time is hands-off.
Round II: Cooking
Draw, or slight advantage to the slow cooker. It’s 8-10 hours in the slow cooker (I cooked 9) and ~2 hours in the cast iron/oven. Slight advantage goes to the slow cooker for not having to take the temp of the chicken to check for doneness.
Round III: Taste
In all honesty, rounds I and II don’t matter too much in my book. It’s all about the final product, especially with two recipes that overall have very little prep time and are super simple.
So who wins?? Without a doubt, it’s a COMPLETE KNOCKOUT for the cast iron chicken. Why? One word: moistness.
Food for me, especially meat, has to be juicy and moist. My friends even know this about me b/c everytime I like something I say “wow, this is really juicy!” I HATE dry meat. Sadly (and ironically) the slow cooker chicken was on the dry side. It wasn’t horrible. Pretty good actually. But COMPARED to the cast iron chicken it was dry as a bone.
The cast iron chicken is unbelievably moist with an intense chicken flavor. Its seriously the chickeniest chicken I’ve had. I didn’t expect the slow cooker to necessarily match the flavor of the cast iron chicken, but it paled in comparison.
Another difference: the slow cooked chicken was swimming in juices halfway up the chicken. See here:
Although the meat fell off the bone, all that liquid must have come from somewhere since no liquid was added to the slow cooker. My guess: the chicken meat. In comparison, the cast iron chicken was wading in liquid- not swimming in it. Just enough to turn into gravy or pour over the torn up chicken for even more chickeny goodness.
And finally- the slow cooked chicken was a little too lemony for my taste. I love anything tart so its not that I mind the lemon flavor. But the bitterness of the peel was imparted a bit too much in the chicken juice. And since I'm soaking my chicken in the juice to increase its moistness, that bitter lemon flavor is heightened. Personal taste though- not everyone would agree.
So where did the slow cooked chicken go wrong?? Perhaps it was the lack of skin. (Keeping it on may have "basted" the chicken instead) Perhaps it was the 9 hour cooking time. I dunno. But to be honest, I’m not gonna spend another $10 on a chicken to find out!
Being my first slow cooker recipe I’m definitely a newbie to the art of slow cooking. I think for a while, until I can really figure out what I like/don’t like, I’m gonna stick to my newly acquired Cooks Illustrated slow cooker cookbook. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m hoping it’ll be up to the CI standards!
Someone recently posted a slow cooker recipe using a whole roasting chicken. (Can’t find the link, but all you did was put a skinned whole chicken in a slow cooker with 2 sliced lemons, a head of peeled garlic, rosemary and salt/pepper and cook on low for 8-10 hours)
Since I just bought myself a fancy (and ridiculously expensive) slow cooker I figured I’d try out the recipe. In some ways it reminded me of my FAVORITE whole chicken recipe from Cooks Illustrated (http://chicagojacks.livejournal.com/23978.html). Both are whole chickens cooked slowly. Could the slow cooker chicken match the flavor and moistness of the cast iron chicken??
And so began my chicken smackdown. Which chicken recipe would win in my book? Or would it be a draw?!?
In one corner we have the slow cooker chicken: Skinless whole chicken with garlic, rosemary, and lemon. Looks pretty, no??
In the other corner we have the cast iron chicken: Skin-on and seared whole chicken with onions, carrots, garlic, and rosemary (optional) (My not-as-pretty-pictures here: http://chicagojacks.livejournal.com/23978.html)
Let the battle begin!! (ding ding ding)
Round I: Preparation
Wow, the slow cooker chicken is off to a great start. All you gotta do is pop everything in the slow cooker. But wait, now we have to remove the chicken’s skin. Ugh, this is quite the sight. It’s a battle of strength, guts and hands that can handle super cold chicken. Overall negative points for my freezing hands and excess work.
The cast iron chicken is off to a slower start. Sear the chicken before cooking it for a few hours. Ehh. I don’t even know why I do this b/c the skin just gets tossed at the end. But its cooks illustrated, and I’m their bitch, so I don’t argue. At least you can leave it and walk away. Overall no points. It takes a little while to prep, but most of that time is hands-off.
Round II: Cooking
Draw, or slight advantage to the slow cooker. It’s 8-10 hours in the slow cooker (I cooked 9) and ~2 hours in the cast iron/oven. Slight advantage goes to the slow cooker for not having to take the temp of the chicken to check for doneness.
Round III: Taste
In all honesty, rounds I and II don’t matter too much in my book. It’s all about the final product, especially with two recipes that overall have very little prep time and are super simple.
So who wins?? Without a doubt, it’s a COMPLETE KNOCKOUT for the cast iron chicken. Why? One word: moistness.
Food for me, especially meat, has to be juicy and moist. My friends even know this about me b/c everytime I like something I say “wow, this is really juicy!” I HATE dry meat. Sadly (and ironically) the slow cooker chicken was on the dry side. It wasn’t horrible. Pretty good actually. But COMPARED to the cast iron chicken it was dry as a bone.
The cast iron chicken is unbelievably moist with an intense chicken flavor. Its seriously the chickeniest chicken I’ve had. I didn’t expect the slow cooker to necessarily match the flavor of the cast iron chicken, but it paled in comparison.
Another difference: the slow cooked chicken was swimming in juices halfway up the chicken. See here:
Although the meat fell off the bone, all that liquid must have come from somewhere since no liquid was added to the slow cooker. My guess: the chicken meat. In comparison, the cast iron chicken was wading in liquid- not swimming in it. Just enough to turn into gravy or pour over the torn up chicken for even more chickeny goodness.
And finally- the slow cooked chicken was a little too lemony for my taste. I love anything tart so its not that I mind the lemon flavor. But the bitterness of the peel was imparted a bit too much in the chicken juice. And since I'm soaking my chicken in the juice to increase its moistness, that bitter lemon flavor is heightened. Personal taste though- not everyone would agree.
So where did the slow cooked chicken go wrong?? Perhaps it was the lack of skin. (Keeping it on may have "basted" the chicken instead) Perhaps it was the 9 hour cooking time. I dunno. But to be honest, I’m not gonna spend another $10 on a chicken to find out!
Being my first slow cooker recipe I’m definitely a newbie to the art of slow cooking. I think for a while, until I can really figure out what I like/don’t like, I’m gonna stick to my newly acquired Cooks Illustrated slow cooker cookbook. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m hoping it’ll be up to the CI standards!