If the idea of cooking a whole chicken in the oven seems daunting, make it in the crock pot instead. Super easy and delivers a super moist, tender chicken.
Stuff the chicken with the thyme and lemon halves and sprinkle the outside with salt.
Cook on high for 3 hours (increase time to 4 hours for a 5 pound chicken).
Using a meat thermometer, make sure the chicken is cooked to 160 degrees (the times on different slow cookers may vary).
Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into pieces (this allows the juices to redistribute and the chicken to remain extremely juicy).
Note: The skin on the chicken won’t be golden because this is more of a steaming method, but the meat will be outrageously moist, tender and juicy.