Slow Cooker Poultry Has So Much More Flavor When You Position The Bird This Way

Even as a fan of white chicken meat, I can understand why many folks play it safe and go with the dark. When white meat is juicy, it's divine, but when it's dry, it's like having sawdust in your mouth. There are plenty of tricks to keeping chicken juicy on the grill and in the oven, but when it comes to using a slow cooker, it's all about positioning your bird correctly.

Lynne Just, the consumer test kitchen manager at Hamilton Beach, suggested that people go against their instincts and invert the chicken when cooking low and slow for better texture and flavor. "Cooking a whole chicken breast-side down in a slow cooker can improve flavor by making the white meat moister and tender," Just told The Takeout. "During the cooking process, the fats and juices from the fattier dark meat (the thighs and legs) trickle down and baste the breast meat."

Of course, this won't solve all your flavor issues. "This method doesn't add flavor in the way seasonings do, but it enhances the chicken's natural taste by ensuring the breast meat is succulent and juicy," Just said. Avoiding slow cooker seasoning mistakes by adding fresh herbs at the right time or substituting dried herbs for fresh ones using the correct ratio is where your depth of flavor is going to come from. But cooking the poultry upside down ensures the white meat has a superb texture and a sufficient essence of chicken.

You shouldn't be putting skin-on chicken in the slow cooker – unless you're a fan of soggy chicken skin — so you don't necessarily have to worry about the texture of the outside. Still, Lynne Just recommended keeping the poultry off the bottom of the crock so the meat itself doesn't become overly saturated with liquid. "I prefer to elevate the whole chicken off the bottom of the crock to keep it from sitting in its own juices," she said. "This gives the chicken better overall flavor and texture."

There are a few ways to accomplish this, but Just insisted that elevating the bird should be viewed as an opportunity to introduce more flavor to the meat. "You can use a rack, or even better, vegetables like carrots, celery, and potatoes, which can add to the overall flavor of the chicken." If you don't have a rack that fits inside and the dish you're making doesn't call for slow-cooked veggies, crumpling aluminum foil into some balls and setting the whole bird on those will do the trick.

As is the case with any other dish, consistency is key. Just had one other tip to share regarding positioning that helps ensure the poultry comes out of the slow cooker showcasing the same flavor and texture throughout the bird. She said, "Tucking the wings and securing the legs keeps the chicken a uniform shape, which promotes even heat circulation and ensures all parts cook at a similar rate."