The economics of the whole chicken

[hookied_up]

I accidentally a whole chicken....the whole thing!!

Whut are I sposed to do now?

Roast it in the oven and finish with BBQ sauce maybe?
Soup?
Sammiches?
Chicken quesidillas?

 

[Andy M.]

I accidentally a whole chicken....the whole thing!!

Whut are I sposed to do now?

Roast it in the oven and finish with BBQ sauce maybe?
Soup?
Sammiches?
Chicken quesidillas?

Depending on the size of the chicken andthe number of people you are feeding, you could do all of the above.

 

[GrillingFool]

One tiny consideration when buying breasts... nowdays about 12% of what you pay is for the injected broth. So at $1.99 a pound for boneless skinless chicken breast, you are probably actually paying $2.22.

I buy BSBreasts when on sale. When whole chicks are cheap, I buy them. I am another only the bones go away guy. If I don't make broth, my dogs get the skin and uneaten parts in their meals. They like seeing whole chickens in the freezer, LOL!

 

[homecook]

Just for the record, chickens (whole ones) are on sale this week, BYGO, so I'll be having beer can chicken in my near future and probably pressure cook the other one and turn it into soup. I hope they have a long exp date, I don't want to freeze one, but this is probably a really good buy for someone who would take the time to part them up.

I just did this about a month ago. I saw they were on sale again this week so I bought 4 more. My freezer is full!! I just can't pass up a good deal. I like the breasts and wings and dh and ds like the legs and thighs, although ds will eat anything!! (He's 18)

Barb

 

[AllenOK]

Personally, I buy the 10 lb bag of leg-and-thigh quarters. They're currently running US$6.37 + tax in my patch of the prairie. That works out to 63 cents/pound. I can do ALL sorts of things with those. They come with part of the backbone attached, so I will usually cut that off and save for stock, as well as poach the pieces, pick the meat off, and reserve the bones for stock. I'll even use the broth I get from poaching, in addition to my homemade concentrated stock.

Every now and then I will get a bag of frozen BS Chicken Breasts, as PeppA really likes them. I moan and groan about the cost every time. I can do a lot of nice things with them, but prefer to use legs and thighs.

I used to roast whole chickens. Then, the kids started getting bigger, and a 7 lb bird just wasn't big enough for us. A couple years ago, I would roast two chickens at the same time to have enough. However, the kids have kept on getting bigger, and so have their bellies. Now, if I want to roast a bird, I have to go to a turkey. I only roast Turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have thought about smoking a whole turkey, just never got a round to it.

BTW, CharlieD, I've been using this as my signature here on this board since I joined in 2003. I've been using the same quote as my signature on my hotmail account for 11 years.

 

[Constance]

YouTube - Just A Swinging - John Anderson

Turn up your speakers! Get ready to pat your foot!

Ah---NO!!---- people in the South don't really talk like this.. Well maybe a few

Please notice... momma is in the kitchen cutin up a chicken to fry!

Have Fun & Enjoy!!

I actually remember that song, Uncle Bob. My ex used to turn the radio up when it came on because he knew how much it irritated me. Now, I think it's funny.
Some people around here used to speak that way, but I don't hear it much anymore. My Aunt Ruth in Kentucky used to say she was going to carry us someplace, and then we'd get in the car and go.

Sorry, I'm off subject. I think a whole chicken is definitely the best buy, but for the two of us, Kim frequently buys bone-in breasts and thighs, or occasionally boneless breasts for a certain dish, like a stir-fry. Sometimes, they have big bags of leg quarters on sale, and although you have to cut off a lot of excess skin, that is something you can put in a chicken broth, I think they are a great buy.

Still, I love a whole roast chicken. I can get at least 3 meals from one.

 

[love2"Q"]

i buyt whole chickens from BJS .. they are really cheap ..
and i never get tired of the things you can do with them ..

 

[Uncle Bob]

I actually remember that song, Uncle Bob. My ex used to turn the radio up when it came on because he knew how much it irritated me. Now, I think it's funny.

I hadn't thought of it in forever, but when the lady ask about my "Wang" cooking the whole Wang, Swang, Thang, Came to mind!
Maybe play it for Kim...Maybe a little "Swang" around the room is in order!

Love the value of whole birds!!

 

[Adillo303]

Andy M - I got up and cut the chicken up and froze it. Oops! I boned the breast, then I learned that cooking bone in is more flavorful. I'll go that way next time.

AC

 

[TeonW]

I never thought about that either, I always figured "well, It's cut up right there!" but now that I'm thinking about it... I'd really like some Broth to make dumplings... Sounds like if I Just got the whole chicken, I might have some atm... That and living on campus... no one want's to take the time to steal a whole chicken!

 

[Claire]

I can still buy leg and thigh portions for well under a dollar a pound (last time I bought them it was 39 cents). I noticed our local grocer has whole chickens for 99 cents a pound this week. This is worth it IF someone eats the dark meat, and IF you rescue all the bones and make stock. Most of the time, though, my husband will only eat the breasts. I agree with some who say those frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts are boring. The meat is much more flavorful if you cook it skin-on and bones-in. But for convenience sake the breasts are easy, and you don't throw much away.

 

[Jeekinz]

We had a herb roasted chicken last night. Since we both prefer dark meat, the legs and thighs are gone. The breast meat is my lunch today AND will be part of tonights dinner, either a chicken ziti or chicken and spinach lasagna rolls. The best part is, I don't have to cook the chicken!

 

[IronSides]

Chicken is so expensive here - I am lucky to find it on sale for $2.99lb

 

[Bcooper]

Whole chickens are the way to go! I do beer can chicken on the bbq with them.

 

[nappi]

I roasted a whole chicken a few weeks ago (beer can method). it came out smokey and delicous but it got me to thinking about the economics of whole chickens. Based on my estimate of how much meat I got off the whole chicken it doesn't seem that much more economical than buying boneless, skinless breasts when they're on sale ($1.99/pound).

We usually stock up on about 20 pounds of chicken breasts when they're on sale.

Has anyone else found whole chickens to not provide that much savings?

what is the beer can method

 

[ChefJune]

Beer Can Chicken is when you open a can of beer and set your whole cleaned and prepped chicken ON the can, and then roast it, either on the grill or in the oven. The beer in the can flavors the chicken and keeps it incredibly moist.

I cannot remember the last time I bought parts of a chicken other than wings or livers. I'm sure it was when I was teaching a class that included a "boneless-skinless" recipe. I never use those things at home. I'd rather cut up a chicken and cook the pieces on the bone, following the "b-s" recipe. And I don't use tasteless (imho) supermarket chicken, but I still don't like "b-s" breasts.

OTOH, wings, now that's another story.... (Especially for Sunday's game. )

 

[Bcooper]

what is the beer can method

Nappi,

The way I do it is:

Season the chicken under the skin with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and diced cilantro leaves.

Set up the grill or bbq for inderict cooking. (Coals or heat source beside not under neath the spot where I am going to put the chicken.)

Open a can of beer (what ever kind you like) pour off about a quarter of it (or drink it while you are prepping the bird and grill) put some of the seasoning you use on the bird in the beer (maybe a tablespoon or so) and insert it into the cavity of the chicken.

From this point on the chicken will have to sit on the can and be propped up by the legs for stability.

Place on grill where there is no heat source under neath and close lid on the grill/bbq I usualy have my temp guage reading at 300 to 325 and I cook for about 2 hours.

If you have a good sized serving platter and you are not being fancy, I serve the bird a platter, can still in it sitting up and let people pick what they want off the chicken.

The steam from the beer keeps the chicken moist, the seasonings really penetrate the meat because they were applied under the skin and it always gets rave reviews.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[PanchoHambre]

whole chickens are the cheapest trick in the book....they are super affordable and can be made so many different ways. They provide all sorts of bonuses as well....probably the easiest cheapest way to put a great meal on the table.

For a long time I was intimidated by the whole chicken...now I find making one to be a simple pleasure and cant believe I used to buy those pre-cut chicken breast strips.


of all the ways I still like stuffing em and roasting em best

 

[kitmonster]

I buy whole chickens cause I want to know where they've come from. You can tell a lot more from the condition of a whole bird than some lump of pink meat. Whole birds normally have some details, like breed, where it was reared and how it was reared. Cheap chicken meat tastes of nothing and just becomes a texture to absorb flavours. I'd much rather spend 3 times more and get something that tastes of chicken. Cheap chicken is not good for the farmer, the bird or the chef.

 

[Kevin86]

We raise our chickens and butchers cost stays way down if he bags roasters whole. So we do whole 6-10 lbs birds all the time out of the freezer. We’ll roast it up on say a Sunday for dinner then have meat for meals for the week for 2 of us no problem. We prefer the dark meat so it goes a leg and a thigh to our Sunday dinner. The rest gets pieced, shredded, sliced, etc into a 9x13 with a lid. Then sandwiches for my lunch, quesadillas for dinner, casseroles and so on if it’s a smaller bird and meat is lower mid to end of the week I pull out the drippings and stock and make a big roast soup for a couple days.

We do the same with roast beef, beef, pork and turkey to. We often get a craving for something so some nights we switch from chicken to ribs or steak or tacos etc so on. But there is soooo much variety based of each animal not counting our favourites to keep things from getting boring. Also try a new dish you find somewhere in your week to spice things up.
I work crazy hours in the summer and fall so doing this is a huge timesaver for any dish if the slow roasted meat is always ready.