Slow cooked chicken thighs

sooty&sweep

Hi

Don't give up !
Even the best, most experienced cooks will have few disaster stories !

Jen

[Deleted User]

I will put a complete chicken around 1.5-2 kilos over night in my SC and its falling off the carcass in the morning.about half a cup of water/stock is more than enough to keep it moist.Then all the meat is used up in curries ,shredded for salads or lasagnes (I like chicken lasagna for a change ) Once cold and frozen its fine when defrosted.You could make lots of meals for the freezer from one chook.Aldis do a 2KG one for about £4.00 which will virtually give you (if you are on your own ) about 7-10 portions for meals from the freezer for days when you don't want to slave over a cooker.simply take a meal out and stick in the fridge in the morning and its ready to whizz in the m'wave when you get home at night ,no different than a ready meal,but a darned sight cheaper, and you know whats in it as well I drain and when cooled use the stock, once the fat has been skimmed off for soups ,nothing goes to waste in my house :):) I agree two chicken thighs were a bit small to cook in the SC I would have cooked a tray of them and used all the meat that I didn't eat to make a curry .With lots of veg chucked in it will stretch to several meals for the freezer

MallyGirl

I think that volume is an issue - 2 thighs is just not enough, as others have said. I have a fairly small SC at 2.5l and I would slice an onions first and put that in the bottom. Then 6 thighs would probably make a nice layer. On low for maybe 6 hours - I might throw in a garlic clove, sprinkle on some smoked paprika, that sort of thing. From this I wuld expect a small amount of chickeny oniony juices to be left to drizzle over the serving.

bouicca21

I do mine in a real oven and cook the veg - sweet potato wedges, courgette etc - on another roasting dish at the same time. Quick, easy, delicious and healthy.

jackyann

Another issue is the temperature that slow cookers reach. I can't remember the figures.
I have a very old & reliable slow cooker that I love. However, it's now a bit big for 2 of us, so I bought a new, smaller one. Even on a low setting it cooks way too fast!

2 tips for OP:
1. marinade the chicken thighs all day, and cook them when you get in, as suggested. Or, leave in the marinade in the slow cooker and set the timer, also suggested. don't worry about bacteria - chicken can be out of the fridge for up to 12 hours as long as it is then cooked through.
2. get a meat thermometer. This not only helps to know when something is cooked through, but does enable you to be sure of the safe temperature if you re-heat chicken - and re-heating once is fine for healthy adults.

And I agree about learning from our disasters! I have a feeling that those of us who are old enough to have learned before the easy availability of ready meals & take-aways just didn't have any other options!