Don't Make This Simple Chicken Mistake With Your Slow Cooker

There are a lot of reasons to love using a slow cooker. You can easily use it to make one-dish and one-pot meals, allowing you to save time on clean-up. The slow-cooking process can tenderize even the toughest meat. You save energy by not using your oven. Plus, you can enjoy the warmth and fragrant aromas emanating from the pot in your kitchen all day long. Unfortunately, there are disadvantages of a slow cooker as well. Because you're not using high heat, it's impossible to get a golden crusty exterior on whatever meat you're cooking. In fact, because chicken skin doesn't crisp up, many say leaving the skin on is one of the avoidable mistakes you can make with your slow cooker.

Slow-cooker recipes often suggest using skinless chicken thighs or breasts, or instruct you to remove the skin before adding it to the slow cooker. Instead of getting crisp and juicy, the skin becomes rubbery and unpleasant to eat. Some recipes suggest cooking chicken stew with the skin and bones on but removing both before serving. But anyone who has ever made chicken soup, a braised chicken, or a stew with the skin on knows that the skin adds flavor and moisture to most dishes. 

There are, however, ways to get the flavor and moisture of chicken skin even when slow-cooking. One way to use a Crock-Pot like a pro is to brown the meat before putting it into the slow cooker. You can do that with skin-on chicken as well, cooking it just long enough to sear the skin but not cook the meat itself. Another option is using a multifunction cooking appliance like the Instant Pot 7-in-1 Cooker, which allows you to saute meat right in the pot before turning on its slow-cooker function. Another option, included in Chowhound's round-up of the 15 best slow cookers money can buy, is the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker PRO. The Ninja also allows users to saute chicken before slow cooking.

Whether you slow cook your chicken with the skin on or skin off, the appliance will surely help you make succulent chicken dishes in the simplest way possible. It's a win-win either way.