Should you remove skin from whole chickens before putting in crock pot?

Removing the skin from an entire chicken before popping it into the crock pot can add a lot of extra work to a dish you prefer to simply pop into the crock pot before heading off to work in the morning. So is removing the skin from a whole chicken actually worth the end result?

Yes! There are a few reasons for this. First, the skin can actually inhibit the flavors from penetrating the meat underneath with the seasoning of the sauce in the crock pot. Removing the skin means you will have a more flavorful chicken at the end of the hours of cooking.

Some people believe that the skin helps protect the meat from overcooking in the crock pot. But in actuality, crock pot recipes are designed to not overcook meat. So as long as you are following the recipe, your chicken should not be overcooked when you have removed the skin prior to cooking.

Lastly, removing the skin from the chicken means your entire dish will be lower in fat, since there is skin in the fat as well as the fact there will be a significant lower percentage of fat that the chicken (and sauce) will be cooking in over those hours.