The economics of the whole chicken

[Mr_Dove]

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?

 

[sattie]

I guess you could be on to something there. I like buying the whole chickens because I can cut it up how I would like for my cooking/recipes. Some chickens get cut up into parts. Some, bigger parts. Just depends what I have on the menu. The best thing I like about buying whole chickens is having the carcass left over to make chicken stock. On the occasions where I cook a whole chicken... there is always enough chicken left over to make chicken tortilla soup.

I think it is a bargain for me. Only being two in my family, a whole chicken goes a long way for us!

 

[Uncle Bob]

I agree with Miss Sattie....The bird enters my front door whole, and only the bones exit the back door. There is no waste. Chicken backs, wig tips etc make excellent stock. I also buy parts --- mostly bone-in breast --when the price is right. I also look for "wangs' on sale for those times when I wanna have a "wang' cookin. I buy thighs on occassion for some "stew" type recipes we like!!

 

[Andy M.]

I've never done an exact calculation of cost per pound.

If you buy a quantity of whole chickens on sale for $0.69 to $0.79 a pound and have the skill and willingness to break them down, you have the option of boneless and skinless breasts and thighs or bone-in breasts and thighs plus wings and drumsticks. as meal components.

You also have the backbones, gizzards and hearts, along with the bones fropm the other parts either before or after they are cooked all to make a stock. That leaves the livers. You can use those to make chopped liver for sandwiches.

Around here, none of the cut up chicken parts are as inexpensive as whole chickens, either when they are on sale or not, so you would think there is a gain. Especially when you include the broth that can cost $2.00- $3.00 a quart to buy in a carton or can.

None of this is important if you are not willing to do the work.

 

[quicksilver]

Uncle Bob, please tell me what a "wang' is. No clue. I would have thought wing but for the " ' marks.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Uncle Bob, please tell me what a "wang' is. No clue. I would have thought wing but for the " ' marks.

A "Wang" is a wing!....A slang term maybe...

Wouldn't you much rather --- be sittin on da front porch jes a swangin----than to be sitting on the front porch just a swinging???

Tell da truth now!!!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Uncle Bob, please tell me what a "wang' is. No clue. I would have thought wing but for the " ' marks.

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!!

 

[jabbur]

I tend to buy boneless skinless breasts frozen for baking and I get whole birds to cook up for stock and shredding the meat to use in recipes that call for already cooked chicken. I'll cook two birds at once, save the broth, remove the meat from the bones and package it up into small containers and freeze it.

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

1.99 a lb? wow nice

my birds our here are about .79 -.89 cents also and i prefer to buy the whole bird.

I jsut do so much with it that it produces more buying it whole then paying someone to hack it apart and doing all that for me.

 

[Jeekinz]

I'm another that prefers whole chickens. A boneless skinless breast is about as exciting as watching Days Of Our Lives in slo-mo.

 

[babetoo]

i use both. for one person, the boneless thighs and breasts are just the ticket . also wing.
usually do roast chicken only when having guests.
store bought roast chickens are good for a meal or two. then soup or white chili . plus the skin is a guilty pleasure. i got one on friday for only five dollars. oh yes good for sandwiches as well.

 

[Robo410]

boneless skinless on sale...sure get them. But, much less flavor without the bones and no soup or stock to be made.

Obviously, the whole bird is cheaper than parts at equal pricing, but sales change that. However, the whole bird does things the parts can't do.

 

[miniman]

Cooking a whole chicken gives me a meal, then cold meat for sandwiches for my children's lunchbox. There may also be one or two more meals using shredded chicken. We buy free range chickens from our local farm shop, so they are more meaty and yield more than the average supermarket chicken.

 

[CharlieD]

You can't compare whole chicken to boneless, skinless chicken breast. It's like apple and oranges. However you can get chicken breast of the whole chicken. I do not like red meat very much, but I do love meat. "Save plants, eat meat", have you heard that slogan? That is about me. I can't live without meat. So whole chicken is what I usually prefer. So I can have variety. But if you ask my daughter, well, one of them, she only eats chicken breast made into schnitzel. No soup, no baked, no grilled or any other types of meats or cooking methods. So she'd probably agree with you. Who needs all that waist of chicken? So it all depends on what you like and what you normally would cook.

 

[Adillo303]

Y'all have done it again. I have been working all week and weekends for 3 weeks now. No time to cook anything and I am out of bread. No complaint, I need the work.

Anyway, I did shop Friday and bought 2 whole chickens. I sat around last night bemoaning that I had to cut them up and freeze them before going to bed. I was beginning to second guess not buying parts.

You have provided me with so many reasons to buy whole chicken that I feel great about it.

Thanks - AC

 

[Andy M.]

Y'all have done it again. I have been working all week and weekends for 3 weeks now. No time to cook anything and I am out of bread. No complaint, I need the work.

Anyway, I did shop Friday and bought 2 whole chickens. I sat around last night bemoaning that I had to cut them up and freeze them before going to bed. I was beginning to second guess not buying parts.

You have provided me with so many reasons to buy whole chicken that I feel great about it.

Thanks - AC

Stop typing, get off your lazy butt and go cut up those chickens.

 

[pacanis]

I'm a parts person. I like to buy what I like to eat. I like the thighs and I like the wings, so that's what I buy, hopefully on sale, then I load up on them. The only time I buy a whole chicken is when I plan on cooking it whole, and mainly because it's easier to balance on a beer can than five thighs are . Then I will do something with the meat I don't particularly favor; sandwiches, soup, chicken & biscuits. If I bought whole chickens and cut them up myself, say to get five thighs for a grill session, I would never use up the breasts at the same rate and end up with a stockpile of them.
So economically speaking, I would just as soon pay a little more and use it all, than pay a little less and have parts taking up room in the freezer. I haven't gotten into the whole stock making thing yet, or I may rethink this. Or if I switch my dogs back to a raw diet.

 

[suziquzie]

I love roasting whole chickens, they do well in our house.....
exept the thigh....
Dh does not like them, in a green eggs and ham sort of way.....
he does not like them in a soup
he does not like them in pie...

you get the idea.

kids eat wings and legs, then they're full. We eat the breast.
thigh stays on the carcass for broth and then tossed.

Not economical in my book... but it works.

 

[LadyCook61]

If it is on sale I would get the whole bird, roast it , if any left over meat, I make into another meal or a salad.

 

[pacanis]

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.