Whole Chicken: A Great Investment!

Whole Chicken

#Local Meat #Gluten Free, #Dairy Free

It really is a great investment!  You can get so much from a whole chicken and can get it for a great price! Not only will it provide you with a few nights dinner, but you can also easily make broth with it.  Most whole local pasture raised chickens will run you about $4.00-$5.00/lb. Buying the chicken breast alone will run you anywhere from about $8.00-$10.00/lb. There is slightly more work involved with the whole chicken, but really not that much and for 1/2 the price it is worth it!  Now, you may be thinking...what is she talking about.... $4.00/ lb is highway robbery!  I can go to the grocery store and buy a whole chicken for less than $1.00 per pound and chicken breasts for $2.00 per/lb!  But just remember... you are what you eat!  Which, in the case of those chickens includes hormones, antibiotics, and genetically modified grains.  In order to give you an idea as to where most grocery store chicken comes from, take a look at a clip from Micheal Pollen's documentary Food Inc, that gives a glimpse into what Industrial Chicken Farming is all about.  If you haven't seen it before, I recommend watching it.  It is eye opening and very informative.  I don't think you will look at chicken the same way after seeing it.

If you decided to watch, you may now consider making the small investment of $4.00-$5.00/ lb for a pasture raised chicken.  The next couple of post will be how to use all that chicken in some different dishes.   But for today, lets talk cooking and making broth...both of which are simple!!!

Cooking a Whole Chicken: 
I love coming home to a house that smells of dinner already cooking! Whole chickens are great in the crock pot and don't require a lot of prep work.  I typically will throw in a few smashed up garlic cloves and rub the chicken with my favorite spices.   I leave it in the crock pot all day (8-10 hours) on low and it comes out great every time. I have even put it in frozen and it still comes out perfect.  Once it is done the meat will come off very easily, so I typically take it all off right away even if I am not going to use it all that night.

Broth:

• Chicken Bones
• 1 carrot chopped in large pieces
• 2 celery stalks chopped in large pieces
• 1 large onion cut in quarters
• 1 tsp salt

Once you have all the meat removed, place the bones back in the crock pot with liquids that have cooked off from the chicken.  Add carrots, celery, onion and salt.  Fill crock pot with water and cook on low for 10-12 hours ( I usually do this over night so it is finished in the morning).  Strain liquids into a large bowl and let cool in refrigerator.  Once the liquid is cool, remove fat from the top and divide liquid into freezer bags and place in freezer until needed.