Whole Chicken Meal and Broth!

To be honest I had never done this before so I wasn’t totally sure it was possible. I wanted to try though and figured the worst case was it would be weak broth. Boy was I mistaken! 

I took a small 2.5lb whole chicken, covered it in salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, added to my slow cooker then added enough water to cover about half of it. 

Then I added juice from 1 lemon, probably about 2-3 Tablespoons. 

Put the slow cooker on low and set for 6 hrs. I was home at around 4 hrs and checked it. It was already tender and falling off the bone. 

So I took all the meat and skin off the bones and added the bones back to the broth. 

Added a couple carrots and garlic cloves and let it simmer for another hour or so. 

We ate the meat for supper and it was so tender and flavorful even Cameron my anti chicken man loved it! 

Then I strained the broth and put it in the fridge overnight. 

The next morning I honestly could not believe the amount of jiggle it had! That little 2.5lb chicken had all the gelatin you could ask for! The more jiggle after refrigerated the better the broth. It will have more nutrients and more flavor! 

Because of our chicken growing issues this fall we have around 270 of these 2-3lb whole chickens that we can only sell in state. So I wanted to see how they would cook up and what would be the best way to get all the bang for your buck! 

I would highly recommend cooking them like this! You get a meal or 2 plus broth for another couple meals! I ended up with 7cups of amazing broth! 

We would like to sell these chickens at our cost and in bulk portions. If you are in Missouri and would be interested in stocking your freezers with amazing quality Non-GMO, pasture raised chickens please reach out to me at jacquelyn@cjwpinoranch.net 

If you are out of state and want to give this a go we still have some USDA processed whole chicken on the website that are 3.5-5lbs! They would definitely make you a more than a meal 2 for a family of 4!