How to Poach a Chicken

A poached chicken can be one of the most versatile foods you have in your kitchen. It's a painless task, especially if you have a crock pot. Once you finish, you have meat for sandwiches, salads, hot dishes like chicken and dumplings, or even just a bag full of chicken meat to keep in the freezer for a rainy day. A bonus is the gorgeous broth you'll have when you're done.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Chicken (whole or in pieces)
• Pot deep enough to hold the chicken plus an inch
• Liquid to cover the chicken
• Flavoring vegetables (optional)
• Flavoring herbs and spices (optional)

1. First you must rinse your chicken. Trim any hanging pieces of skin or fat, but don't skin the chicken before poaching. Make sure you remove the bag of giblets and neck if you're using a whole bird.
2. Put your rinsed, trimmed chicken into the pot so that it is completely contained.
3. Add any flavoring vegetables or fruits that appeal to you. Add them to the cavity, or in between the pieces, or around the perimeter of the bird. The standard is onion, celery and carrot, but parsnips and turnips are also good candidates. Don't forget fruits like lemon and orange, even cranberries. These are things that will add flavor to the chicken, then be discarded (or liquefied as part of a gravy or sauce).
4. Add any herbs or spices that strike your fancy. Classics are bay leaf, parsley, thyme or marjoram, rosemary, even garlic. Other possibilities are things like fresh ginger, juniper berries, or sweet spices, like cloves. Citrus peel is a great addition. Don't forget pepper and salt, if you can use it.
5. Now, fill the pot with water (or other liquid) to cover the chicken. Water is the standard, but you can also use wine for part of the liquid. You can also add fruit juice or soy sauce. You can even use chicken stock or broth, to end up with a double-strength broth.
6. Cook the mixture, barely simmering, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and pulling away from the bones. Allow it to cool in the broth, then remove the meat from the bones and skin. Remove the fat from the top of the broth.

Tips & Warnings

• The best way to do this is overnight in a crock pot. Put it together, turn it on low and let it do it's thing.
• On a stove top, allow about two hours on a low flame for a whole bird, less time for pieces.
• Once you've disassembled the bird, you can put the meat in one freezer bag, and the broth in another. Freeze the broth flat, and you'll have it on hand in an easy-to-store form. You can also freeze the broth in ice cube trays, then store the cubes in a bag.
• Don't let animals get hold of the cooked chicken bones. They can splinter and be fatal to dogs and cats and others.