Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

vertical apple hickory roasted chicken

(1 rating)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Nancy Lopez
Amarillo, TX

There are 2 things I love to do - cook and go to estate sales. I always enjoy looking through a kitchen of someone who enjoys cooking as much as I do because there will always be something I can add to my kitchen. At this particular estate sale, I found this vertical stoneware crock for roasting chicken. The idea is the steam from the liquid will cook your chicken from the inside out and keep it moist at the same time. You can find recipes with beer or wine, I didn't have either so I went with ginger ale. But I bet you could use fruit juice, Dr. Pepper or any favorite beverage.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

We love this method of cooking chicken. The prep time is minimal and the results are the most succulent, juiciest chicken. The meat just falls off the bone. Yum!

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(1 rating)
yield 4 -6
prep time 5 Min
cook time 1 Hr 30 Min
method Roast

Ingredients For vertical apple hickory roasted chicken

  • 1
    whole chicken (roaster or fryer can be used)
  • 1 sm
    apple (any kind), diced
  • 1 can
    ginger ale, 12 oz.
  • 2 tsp
    hickory liquid smoke
  • smoked paprika
  • salt & pepper

How To Make vertical apple hickory roasted chicken

Test Kitchen Tips
If you use a soda can rather than the crock (like we did), just place the apples in the can. Then, pour the ginger ale back into the can until filled.
  • 1
    Dice up your apple and put in the circular chimney-like tube.
  • 2
    Add the liquid smoke (I used hickory, but any liquid smoke will do) and pour the ginger ale to the top of the vessel.
  • 3
    Rinse and pat dry your chicken.
  • 4
    Season with smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. You can use any seasoning that you prefer. In this recipe, I used the smoke paprika because I wanted to give the chicken skin a bit of color.
  • 5
    Slide the chicken on to the flavor-filled vessel. Plug the neck hole with a ball of foil.
  • 6
    Place the vertical chicken in your cold oven. Turn the temperature to 375 and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
  • 7
    If you don't have one of the vertical roasters, I have seen pictures of a chicken on a beer can. The end result is a very moist meat. The skin is not crispy because of the tin foil plug. If you omit the plug your chicken skin will get crispy and the meat is more dry.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT