Rotisserie Style Chicken in a crockpot

A great way to save money and make some really great meals is to use whole chickens. You can get whole chickens at Costco for $.99 a pound and if you watch the ads for your local grocery stores you can get them for around $.69 a pound, sometimes even cheaper. I used to only buy chicken breasts because they are easy, and I am grossed out by raw meat so the thought of pulling the bag of giblets out is so disgusting! HOWEVER, the price difference is huge! Chicken breasts are anywhere around $2.99 a pound! I looked into whole chickens a little more and found that it can be so easy, so good, so cheap, and there is so much more that you can get out of it!
Here is what you need:
Crockpot
Whole Chicken
Seasoning
That's it! You can use any seasoning you like. You could do lemon pepper, bbq style, the possibilities are endless! I used a steak rub which has: sea salt, crushed black peppercorns, dill seed, coriander, red pepper, garlic, and paprika. You do not need to add any water to this! The best part of this is the natural juices that come from this! It is so moist and so tasty!
Pull out the giblets and rinse your chicken in water. Place your chicken in the crockpot breast side up and tuck the wings underneath. Sprinkle your favorite seasonings on top.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours. Do not uncover it while it is cooking because that will lower the temperature and will make the cooking time longer. It is done when the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.

Notice all of the broth in the bottom! I didn't add any water at all!
Cut the chicken and serve. The left overs can be put in a bag in the freezer and can be used in all kinds of things!

Don't stop there! Make your own chicken stock*! Put the bones and skin back in the broth,

fill the rest of the crockpot with water, turn the crockpot on low and leave overnight. You can add carrot, onion, and celery for more flavor. A really frugal tip is to use carrot peels and the ends of onions and celery for the flavor but save the rest of the veggies for soups and other meals.

In the morning strain off the stock and run it through a cheese cloth to remove some of the fat. Let it cool and then put it in containers and freeze!

*Chicken stock is different than chicken broth. Chicken broth is made by boiling the meat. Stock is made by simmering the bones overnight and it releases the gelatin in the bones. When stock is refrigerated it becomes a thick jelly texture. I thought I had done something wrong the first time because I was expecting it to be like broth when cooled, turns out I made a good high quality stock my first try!