Yes, this week I bought two ten pound bags of chicken quarters at Walmart for $4.30 each. For the math impaired that is $.43 a lb 🙂 Even if a solid half of that is stuff I have to throw a way like skin, bones, fat etc, I would still only be paying $.86 a LB, which is cheaper than you can buy any other kind of chicken. And although there is a lot of waste, I don’t think it comes anywhere near to half of the weight.
The way I process the chicken is to boil it (making yummy chicken broth in the bargain) let it cool, then pick all the meat off of the bones. I then measure the meat into 1 cup portions and freeze in zipper style freezer bags. Ta-da! I’ll have plenty of meat for MONTHS for any recipe that calls for chopped chicken. (my favorites are chicken & stuffing casserole, chicken chili blanco and stir fries)
Since I have been very busy this weekend I cooked the chicken in two batches in the largest crock pot. I put them in yesterday evening and let them cook all night, then I put the meat into a big pot I have and out into the garage fridge to cool I strained the broth and put it in the fridge to separate. Then I put the second package of thighs into the crockpot and put it on this morning, by the time we get home this evening it should be totally cooked, and I can put that away to cool while I pick the meat from the stuff that has cooled all day.
Is this a bit of a pain? Yes. Is it messy? Yes. Does it save money? YES!
If you think that boneless skinless chicken breasts around here on a very good sale go for $1.69. At a $1.26 per lb difference for 20 lbs that makes a savings of $25.20. (or if you even figure at half of it being waste that is still $12.60). Even if you compare it to buying a whole chicken on sale at $.89 a lb, that is still a savings of $.46 a lb and $9.20 (I would assume that the amount of waste in a whole chicken would be somewhat similar). All of this is not even taking into account the fact that I will wind up with the equivalent of 6 or 8 soup can sized portions of fat free chicken broth to freeze and use later.
I have bought chicken quarters for years when they go on sale in the spring. (One year I got them for .29/lb, unbelievable, I bought 10 packages). I had stopped doing that now that its just me and the kids half the time. I will be looking around again shortly though, I have never cooked them right away, just cut them up and froze them. Good idea.
Wow…what a buy. I would love to see your chicken and stuffing recipe!
Sunday must have been chicken day!
I’ll have to fire up the crock pot, get my hands dirty, and put your suggestion to work.
There’s a Walmart around here somewhere…
It would have never occured to me to poach the chicken before freezing it. What a great idea! I will definitely use this in the future. Thanks!!!
Hi Jenn,
I have been doing this for a while too, though I add celery, onion, and carrot and a bay leaf to the stock pot. I started doing this because I wanted to use chicken broth instead of water in my soups(good frozen soup makes my life so much easier). 20 lbs of chicken quarters must have been a chore, though!
Patricia, it is a chore! But then I have that wonderful stuff in the freezer-it makes life so much easier.
I feed 14 feral cats on weekends, holidays, whenever the other guy is off sick, etc. Pay as little as .29 per lb. I remove all skin and fat as best I can with hands and scissors. I’ve been using 2 slow cookers for years. The meat, after 9 or 10 hours on high, just falls off most of the bones. I pick the chicken off very carefully and thoroughly. The cats just love it! Cheaper than canned cat food! Just got a new big pressure cooker. Going to try it, since it is a whole lot faster. Some grocers charge close to $2 per pound…shop around. I go to Save-a-Lot, Bravo etc. When it’s real cheap, I stock up. Sure beats the price of ground beef!