1/9/07 | Albertson’s Roast Chicken
[ Currently Eating: A Crazy Chili Burger ]
Living in a world of convenience is sorta nice. That old saying “A chicken in every pot” which we take for granted today, was a far-off dream a few centuries ago. Nowadays, you can get chicken prepared Every Which Way But Loose. Uh, sorry Clint… those words just popped out.
Anyhow, the birds I’m talking about here are whole roasted chickens that you can buy in the deli dept of just about any supermarket. I know that you can get buckets of thighs, drumsticks, breasts and wings at KFC, Pollo Loco, etc. Probably even cheaper. But for some reason, I’m a sucker for these ready made and packaged roasted medium sized chickens. Just grab and go. Come on picnic peeps, there’s a fricken HANDLE for easy carrying - you have to like the handle.
Actually, the main reason I tend to pick these up is that when I hit the market, it’s usually right before eating lunch. I forget which Manifesto number that one is: Do Not Go To The Market On An Empty Stomach. I always ignore my own advice, though… and the deli just smells so good.
These chickens are actually very hit or miss. The one pictured above is from Albertson’s and is around $4-6 (I believe it used to be cheaper and/or varies in price). I’ve often got them at CostCo though I forget the price, and Ralph’s, Vons and other supermarkets.
Most of the chickens are entirely edible, though I’ve rarely had a standout. The biggest problem is definitely not the lack of flavoring - it’s the brining process and resulting mushy meat. In order to stop the breast meat from drying out and to allow it to keep longer under the heat lamps, they brine these pretty heavily. I’ve seen roast chickens with different flavors, but the usual is a mildly seasoned bird as far as herbs and other flavors go.
Where the trouble comes is the salt. I’ve had Roast Chickens that had meat that tasted like it’d been soaked for 3-4 days in salt water. So far, my order of preference for these chickens is CostCo, Albertson’s, Vons and Ralph’s last. I don’t think I’ve ever had a CostCo chicken that was really bad. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever had a Ralph’s roast chicken that was really GOOD. Alberson’s is a pretty safe bet and since I happen to do most of the shopping there, that’s where I pick up the majority of birds.
The dark meat of the chicken is usually pretty decent. The wings are very, very hit-n-miss and it’s almost as if they don’t expect anyone to eat them. The skin is usually not extra crispy, because it’s sealed up in it’s moisture retaining container. But I can live without that.
I usually buy one for lunch, and eat about 1/3 of it. The remainder gets used for other things such as Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas for dinner (excellent!) or Chicken Meat Omelettes the next morning. I often try and make a stock with the bones, although it won’t make a very good one or very much of it - since the carcass is small. I think the fact that you can use it for multiple meals is one of it’s bigger selling points. But you could probably roast your own chickens for cheaper. And if you’re just going to eat chicken for one meal, you’re definitely better off just getting a big bucket at KFC…
Price:$4-6
Cheap Eats Score: 6/10
January 10th, 2007 at 1:22 am
It’s worth mentioning that you can freeze the carcasses and save them up until you have enough to make a decent amount of stock.
January 10th, 2007 at 7:59 am
You can generally get the chickens on sale at Albertson’s for less than $5.00. The king of all rotiss chickens, though, are Wal-Mart. They seem to inject the bird with the seasoning so a lemon-pepper chicken actually *tastes* like lemon pepper!
Albertson’s is usually pretty good. I’ve had much better luck with the rotisserie chickens than the fried ones (which have given me an upset tummy more than once!).
January 10th, 2007 at 9:48 am
lee - very true, that’s a good way to get even more mileage out of it…
adam - i think you’re right about the price.. i had lost my receipt and couldn’t remember. The Wal-Mart isn’t very close to me so i haven’t tried it yet, but sounds interesting.
January 10th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I love using the breast meat to make a chicken salad with the following day, especially if you buy an unseasoned chicken! As far as it being less expensive to make them at home, I have one of the home rotisserie machines, and it actually works out to be about the same price either way. Sometimes it is better to buy the chicken on sale, and hey-sometimes you just want the convenience ! As an aside though… I’ve never been able to make omlettes with chicken meat….just seems slightly odd to me….
January 11th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
I used to eat these all the time when I was crashing at my friend’s house. We didn’t have much cash, so we usually just ate it on a corn tortilla with some crumbly Mexican cheese and salsa verde. One chicken made a lot of tacos, and it was pretty good too.
January 12th, 2007 at 12:44 am
i love albertson’s fried chicken it is so good all nice and moist and yummy and they have this bbq sause that is so awesome. and the nice thing is that i can usally get 8 pieces and bbq sause for about 5 bucks
January 13th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I actually like the birds at Sam’s the best. They’re bigger than most and much cheaper. I use the chicken for everything! Chicken BBQ sandwiches, chicken and biscuits, chicken burritos, chicken nachos…..
You get the idea.
January 16th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Those are great. Especially if you’ve worked a super long day and don’t feel like cooking anything.
January 18th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
You actually can’t make your own more cheaply. Whole chicken will run you up at $2.99 a pound, usually, and the whole thing usually will cost $8-9. Then add in the cost of gas (an hour, hour and a half) or electric, and you’re probably at $11, 12, 13? Buying it already roasted is definitely cheap eats. Meijer has a discount off their chickens after 5 PM — $3.99. If you live on your own, you can eat it for days, use it in recipes, etc.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I used to pick these up all the time. My husband and I would just stand around the kitchen counter picking pieces of chicken off of it. We eat with some french bread and some veggies (raw or cooked frozen veggies).
February 20th, 2007 at 6:41 am
I’m a big fan of Costco chicken myself- $4.99 each. They also do wings, turkey breasts (much better than any processed turkey for making turkey salad and sandwiches!), and last week I found myself fighting with a group of Chinese women for the last barbecued pork tenderloin.