boiling a chicken

I have never boiled a chicken before and was just wondering how to do it.


Do I need to prepare it in any special way beforehand?


How long does it take?


Can I use the water afterwards as stock?

I would recommend that you try Soy Chicken, boiled with a liberal dose of soy sauce. You can get recipes from everywhere, including the internet. When eaten cold it's almost undetectable from roast chicken, other than the fact that the fat in the chicken is easily identified and removed. It's a much healthier choice than other methods of cooking chicken.


Here's one I plucked from the internet earlier:-


1/2 cup vinegar

1 head of garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1/2 tablespoon salt

2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 chicken - cut up


In your slow cooker combine vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt and soy sauce. Add chicken. Cover and cook on high for one hour. Add water. Lower heat setting to low and cook for 4 to 5 hours.

I like the sound of the soy chicken - a bit of extra flavour but still healthy - only prob is I don't have a slow cooker - do you reckon I could just simmer it in a normal covered pot instead?


Thanks!