I buy whole fryer chickens at the local Piggly Wiggly when they're on sale for $0.99/lb.
I get 2 or 3, and put them in the freezer for days when I'm lazy and let the crock pot do the cooking.
SADShooter, it's a simple recipe, but you could make it more complex if you'd like. Garlic cloves come to mind...
1. 1 whole fryer chicken, giblets and neck removed, rinsed clean.
2. One whole lemon.
3. Two or three sprigs of fresh rosemary.
4. One bottle Chardonnay. Merlot or Zinfandel are also great if you want the stronger flavor of red wines and their tannins.
Plop cleaned chicken in crock pot, breast side up. I grind just a smidgen of sea salt and peppercorns over the breast for seasoning.
Slice up the lemon and cover the chicken with the slices. Tuck a couple slices into the cavity, then put the rest between chicken and crock pot sides.
Tuck one whole sprig of rosemary into the chicken cavity with the lemon slices. (Flavors from inside out as it cooks)
Pull the rosemary leaves off of the remaining sprigs, and sprinkle them to cover the chicken as seen in photo.
Add Chardonnay or your choice of wine to cover about 2/3 of chicken. That way, there's plenty for heat transfer, but you're not totally poaching the bird.
The chicken will add its own liquid to the total volume as it cooks, but you want the breast to stay exposed and absorb the lemon and rosemary sitting on top as it all steams into happiness under the lid.
Set the crock pot's heat to Low or High depending on frozen/thawed bird, how soon you want to eat, etc.
You'll know it's done when you grab a leg or wing and it just falls away from the rest of the chicken.
Bon Appetit!
Pee Ess: I strain and refrigerate the liquid afterwards for my own take on chicken stock.