Since I live in NYC, in a large apartment building, there’s no such thing as having a Memorial Day BBQ in one's backyard....because my backyard is 6th Avenue. So I decided to create the BBQ flavors and tastes in my slow cooker, and pretend like I was having a BBQ (the things us New Yorker’s do…sometimes I'm not sure wheather it's creative or pathetic...)

I decided to make a Slow Cooked WHOLE Chicken, something I’ve never tried before. Usually I will just slow cook parts of a chicken, but like any cooking, when you cook something on the bone, you elicit so much more flavor. With that being said, I also added to the flavor by using this awesome Marinade and Injector. Stubb’s Marinade and Injector come sold together - it’s like a doctor’s syringe, that you fill with the marinade and then inject into whatever meat you’re cooking. I must admit, it was super fun to play Doctor Sara for a few minutes and inject my chicken like it was a sick patient in need of a chipotle blood infusion.

With this slow cooked chicken, I paired it with my own Homemade BBQ Sauce (recipe below) - but feel free to pair it with your favorite sauce (not to keep plugging Stubb’s, but they have one of my favorite BBQ sauces as well). I topped all this BBQ-ness with some thin sliced avocado and sandwiched it between two slices of my favorite bread (try Sourdough, Pane Tuscan, Ciabatta….)

Stubb's Marinade and Injector - super awesome for internal meat marination!

Inject in 6 places per side of the chicken (2 shots in the leg, 4 along the spine):

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Prep Time
5 Minutes
Cook Time
15 Minutes
Total Time
20 Minutes
Yield
5-6 Cups

Ingredients

  • 4 tsps Garlic Powder
  • 2 tsps Onion Powder
  • 2 T Dijon Mustard
  • 2 T Chili Powder
  • 1/4 tsps Black Pepper
  • 1/2 tsps Salt
  • 1/2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 tsps Liquid Smoke
  • 1/2 Cups Water
  • 1/2 Cups Honey
  • 1/2 Cups Light Corn Syrup
  • 2 Cups Ketchup
  • 2 T Brown Sugar

Directions

  • In a sauce pot combine your vinegar, liquid smoke, water, honey, corn syrup, ketchup and brown sugar. Over a medium heat stir to combine all ingredients.
  • At this point, add in your garlic powder, onion powder, dijon, chili powder, pepper and salt and stir. Cook for at least 10 minutes stirring often.
  • Now you need to taste it — I added some more salt and actually a little bit of Cayenne to give it a little kick. You want to cook it to the point where the vinegar isn’t super noticeable.
  • Once you have it where you want it - let it cool overnight - the melding of the flavors really comes together when you let it rest and develop!

Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Prep Time
10 Minutes
Cook Time
4 Hours
Total Time
4 Hours
Yield
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

  • 5 Pound Whole Chicken
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 3/4 Cup Stubb's Injectable Marinade
  • BBQ Sauce
  • 4 Avocados (sliced thin)
  • 16 Slices Sourdough Bread

Directions

  • Season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a slow cooker, breast side up. Using the Stubb's injectable marinade, inject each leg twice, and along the chicken's spine about 4-6 times. Season the outside of the chicken with salt and pepper.
  • Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.
  • Carefully remove the chicken meat and shred in a large bowl. Ladle about 1 cup of the chicken jus from the slow cooker into the meat and toss together to keep moist.
  • To assemble the sandwiches, toast your bread, top with shredded chicken, your favorite BBQ sauce, and a sliced avocado.