Modern Grocery Store Chicken

[Ribwizzard]

I like to get fresh birds about 5 lbs , and de-bone everything except the drumsticks and wings, then sew them back up and cook on the smoker, just keep flipping them every so often.
When you carve, just cut off the wings and drumsticks, then slice the body like a loaf of bread, getting crunchy skin , with white and dark meat in every slice!

 

[Muss Muggins]

My first real job in high school was at a grocery store. Bagged and carried out groceries, stocked shelves, and helped out in the meat dept. on busy days. One of the busy days every week was chicken day. Chickens came in whole in big thick waxed up cardboard boxes. We would line up on the cutting table, four or five of us. First guy took the wings off and passed it down. Next guy got the leg quarters, passed it down. Next guy took the back, and pulled out the giblet sack. Last guy was the master. We used to cut around the wishbone, making one solid piece of white meat with only the wishbone. We called them "pulley bones," and they were the most expensive part. He carved that out, split the breast, and cleaned up the loose skin all the way around. Back then, if you wanted boneless chicken breast, you did it yourself . . .

 

[nachogrande]

BROWN EGGS MATTER!

It seems whenever I bought/was given fresh eggs, they were brown. ??? Talk amongst yourselves.

 

[Valmet]

Grocery store rotisserie around here is pretty good and on a rare occasion I’ll buy a bunch to cook up myself for chicken salad.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

Friends of mine in NW Arkansas raise chickens, 80,000 at a time.
These usually go to the processor weighing 7+ lbs. They are so
large that some can not walk, lights are on 24 hrs. a day so they
eat constantly and sit in their own waste. Most do not have feathers
on their lower body. The claim is the modern housewife and fast
food places only want chicken strips, hence the huge breast.
We buy organic chicken which will weigh 3-4 lbs. and you can cook
the breast all the way through in less than a day. I use to buy
packages of wings until they got to be a fad and drove up the
price.
If you like the huge breast keep in mind that they have been
pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, arsenic and who knows
what else in the feed which the companies provide.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I prefer thighs, the new breasts seem tasteless.

I hear ya my man.

 

[Wise_A]

Go check out the America's Test Kitchen facebook--you'll see lots of griping about recipes calling for 3.5# whole chickens. Around here, a light one would come in at 5, most are 6.5 or so. Packages of boneless/skinless breasts are usually 5-6 pounds for seven breasts, sometimes only six.

Whole breasts are the same weight, but only five or so per package.

 

[nachogrande]

CONSPIRACY THEORY???

Rotisserie chickens are the ones too old to sell as "fresh"??? Ditto what goes into the soup. (that's when I make soup) We know what Sir Mix A Lot likes. Raising your own chickens, not just to teach your kids to walk/strut confidently anymore? Somebody call myth busters.

 

[bluetopper]

We buy organic chicken which will weigh 3-4 lbs. and you can cook
the breast all the way through in less than a day.

Boy that sounds tasty.

 

[kamloops67]

The color of the hen's ear will tell you the color of the egg. (yes, they have ears). The difference in taste between brown vs white eggs depends on diet. Caged eggs, white or brown, will look and taste the same. Free ranging chickens produce the rich, dark yolks that we all remember from our childhoods. A few bugs and worms in your diet is good for you.

We used to keep our chickens in their pen when grasshoppers got plentiful
Makes the eggs so bitter they are inedible ...blech

 

[wingriderz]

It takes a 24 ounce can of beer to make Beer Can Chicken these days. I'd rather drink the beer and eat grocery store roto chicken.

Dont ever buy a Walmart one

 

[kwselke]

Wow, I did not realize that this topic would draw this many responses. Therefore, I feel compelled to explain how I use this bland form of lean protein.

I use a fillet knife to trim the breast to an inch or less thickness. The trimmed meat is then dusted with seasoning mixes, dependent on what the final use of the meat is intended for.

While the oven preheats to 425 degrees, I brown the chicken meat for about a minute per side in an oven capable skillet. The skillet and all goes into the oven when it comes to temperature. Seven minutes in the oven (times vary due to thickness of the meat), turn the chicken and cook seven more minutes. Remove from oven cover with a foil hat and let rest for three to five minutes.

At this point I have chicken fit for soft chicken tacos, jambalaya, chicken salad, chicken sandwiches, or maybe just dipping roasted chicken in a bit of ranch dressing.

For some reason, I'm now hungry?

 

[Rustyt1953]

Whatever Bubba Blue could do with shrimp, I can do with yardbird.

 

[Skeet 028]

We raised our own last spring and yep the Cirnish cross get rea;;u big and they will take a notion and die. We raised ours a bit longer and got tremendous sized breast. Boned all the breast and kept the usable leg and thighs they all aren't. A decent recipe for chicken breastCut up 2 good sized breasts into small chunks cut a medium onion into small chunks fry in butter or margarine with garlic alt pepper or other spices you may like till browned make a fairly laarge pot of rice..cook a good batch of lima beans I prefer pole limas but fordhooks or even baby limas work. When all done put what you may want to eat in a bowl butter and season to taste and dig in. Simple and easy meal. I also use long grain anwild rice which I like..but usually use Minute rice when in a hurry.

 

[johngalt]

This article makes me less interested in eating chicken:

Why US chickens have to be washed with chlorine | Daily Mail Online

 

[kwselke]

This article makes me less interested in eating chicken:

Why US chickens have to be washed with chlorine | Daily Mail Online

But... One must keep up with modern technology and techniques.


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qNeGSJaQ9Q[/ame]

 

[BigBoy99]

An interesting aside. Many years ago a friend who works at the PA Veterinary School gave us some baby chickens to raise. (My wife want'd to try raising chickens.) There were 6 chickens and they were very young when we got them. The friend who gave them to us said they were part of an experiment to raise chickens with very large breasts since that was the part of the chicken which sold the best in the supermarket. Sure enough as soon as these chicks started to grow up, they began to develop very large breasts. In a few months, chickens were having trouble moving around and we had to butcher them. It was then we discovered that the breast were so large, their legs couldn't support the extra weight and they could barely move. Chalk it up for another experiment which wasn't completely thought out before it was started!

 

[vt_shooter]

Interesting article on those ultra-fast growing chickens:

Our Giant, Fast-Growing Chickens Make For Bad Meat, Activists Say

 

[Golddollar]

How many modern chicken parts can it handle at one time? Big chickens need big pans.

I pulled down my Griswold chicken fryer to answer your question. I measured the bottom of the skillets as having a diameter of 9+ inches. The top skillet has a depth of 2 inches and the bottom skillet has a depth of 3 inches. Hope this helps.

 

[Drm50]

I like barn yard chickens. Store bought frozen - chicken factory tastes funny to me. Those giant breast chickens probably come from operations turning over their laying hens. They use to sell them for rosters. Some of
them are like rubber.