Whole Chicken and Chicken Broth in the crockpot

This recipe was a little intimidating to me because I had never before bought a whole chicken and cooked it, let alone make homemade broth.  But this was surprisingly easy(crock pot does most of the work) and very delicious!

1 whole chicken(I bought frozen and let thaw in fridge for 2-3 days)
5-6 cups of hot water(mine would only hold 5 cups)
2 stalks of celery, rinsed and cut into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
1/4-1/2 onion, chopped
1 TBSP parsley
1/2 TBSP peppercorns
1 tsp Real Salt
3-4 dashes poultry seasoning

1. Chop all vegetables and place in bottom of crock pot.
2. Sprinkle all seasonings over vegetables.
3. Rinse chicken and place on top of vegetables.
4. Pour hot water into crockpot.
5. Cook on low overnight(about 9-10 hours).
6. In the morning, take out chicken, be careful because it is so tender it falls apart(Use it for soup or any recipe that calls for chicken).  Take all the meat off the bones and then put the bones back into the crockpot with the broth.
7.  Continue to cook the broth and bones all day about 10-11 hours.
8. Turn crockpot off and ladle broth, veggies and bone into a strainer over a large glass bowl.  You want a strainer with very small holes.  When broth is all strained into the large bowl. Let cool for 30 minutes covered with a paper towel.  Take paper towel off and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in fridge.
9. The next morning the fat will solidify and you can easily scrape it off.  Then your broth is ready for you to use in any recipe.  It is very delicious!

Note:  Some recipes I read said to strain the broth with cheesecloth too.  I didn't have any so I didn't use any.:)  But if you want all the tiny particles strained then you might want to try it with cheesecloth.

Yield:  All the meat from the chicken, plus about 4 1/2 cups of chicken broth.  You can use the broth right away, or freeze it for later use.