saving money on chicken

[themelclub]

Speaking of cutting up chicken...Why is it that I can't seem to find a cut up whole chicken anywhere, anymore? I have to buy pieces already cut up and packaged for fried chicken. Have you tried to cut up a whole chicken? I always seem to have these little "funky" pieces left over and a huge breast that no one seems to want to eat! Any suggestions?

[Old_Knitter]

I would love to buy a whole chicken and separate the pieces but I have never attempted to do it.

Is there a stratgy to cutting the bird up?

[gsison]

I often buy whole fryers aroung the Thanksgiving holidays.  So many people are buying turkey during this time that the price of chicken goes way down in supermarkets.  I then freeze it and cook with it later.

[lorisoard]

   I can't believe how high groceries are anymore.  I buy whole chickens and cook them in my large crock pot (usually two of them).  The first night, our family of four eats on one chicken plus sides.  I then pick the meat off that chicken and refrigerate the other whole chicken.  The next day, I add barbeque sauce and we have BBQ sandwiches for lunch.  For dinner that night, I cut off filets from the second whole chicken and fry them up in a little butter with onions.  Sometimes I'll add some lemon pepper or other seasoning.  I pick off the rest of the chicken and use in a casserole or to make chicken and dumplings etc.  

If I catch them on sale, I can get a whole chicken for 2 or 3.00, so for around 6.00, I have meat for 4 meals.  Not bad.

Lori

[emily1067]

I'm not really into cutting off bones and skin...so I buy lots of chicken breasts when they're on sale.  The grocery store has them for half off or more very often.  I NEVER pay full price for chicken!

[mawatts]

I buy several whole chickens, cut them up at home, remove skin and bones.  The chicken pieces are packaged for the freezer.  The skin and bones are put into a large dutch oven with water to cover, onions, carrots, celery and a sprig of parsley, salt and pepper.  It boils for a couple of hours, I remove the bones and skin and let it cool, skim off the fat, and pour it into icecube trays then into containers for the freezer.  The broth is used for soupstock, and also added to twice baked potatoes for a better flavour than butter (I think)!
But you can come up with all kinds of ideas to use it for and it is virtually a free grocery item.

[Esther Kirk]

I buy whole chickens (on sale this week for .47/lb) and separate the parts.  Put legs together, wings together, and breasts together.  I figure that I buy the whole chicken for not much more than the legs, thighs, and breasts would cost separately.  The cat appreciates the backs if I don't give them to my aunt for soup!

[1234]

I know chicken boneless chicken breast cost is so high...just a note about this, however...you would have to weigh the skin and bone to see how much you really saved.

[Brenda V.]

I was grocery shopping today and boneless breast of chicken was $4.99/lb.  The split chicken breasts with bone and skin on was $.99/lb.  I bought the split breasts and took the bone and skin off before freezing.  For fifteen minutes of my labor I saved $4.00/lb.  Since I bought several packages ( a total of approx. 5 lbs) I saved $20.00!!!!!  Unbelievable!!