Actually more like questions.
With beef and steak, there's a huge quality difference based on the breed, how the cattle are raised, fed, cut, etc. Even the federal government has lent its clout to choosing different steaks (for better or for worse) with a legal and bureaucratic rating system for each carcass. This system seems to work quite well, especially considering it involves a government bureaucracy.
With chicken/poultry, the bureaucratic process seems to revert back to form, and is a total meaningless ****show. Starting with eggs, it's my understanding that there are ratings for "organic", "free range", "cage free", "pasture raised", "hormone free", "antibiotic free", etc. etc. etc. At best these are meaningless, more likely they are misleading. I personally find industrial chicken farming disgusting, and by no means am I a squeamish hippy. The ratings are also kind of meaningless when it comes to the quality of the eggs. The best eggs I've found in the super market are by happy egg, but I consider them overpriced. The best eggs period come from a family friend who brings us their eggs.
Where I haven't found a quality difference is with the meat itself. The $0.99/lb genetically modified, hormone fed, industrially raised chicken tastes afaik the same as other chicken meat, and you usually get more for it... or possibly I've never had good chicken meat. I haven't noticed differences between grocery stores, or ever had chicken where I thought "oh yes this is fantastic". I would still choose with my conscious: choosing properly raised chickens over the industrial disasters that abhorr even the farmers. Again, I'm not particularly a hippy. The problem is, even there I don't know how to choose. Is anyone here choosy about their chicken? How do you choose what chicken to buy? Have I never tasted a proper farm-fresh amazing chicken? Is there a kobe chicken somewhere?
Finally I don't quite understand grocery store pricing. I've seen the price of cuts of chicken range from $0.49/lb. to $4/lb. depending on what's on sale, and how it's been butchered. The leg quarters are the cheapest at $0.49/lb (now $0.69/lb after inflation) in a 10lb. bag. It's usually the boneless skinless filets when they're not on sale that go into the $4/lb. territory. I will also see differenet farms marketed. Kroger calls it "heritage farm", other grocery stores have different farms, but again, I've never noticed any difference between these. What does surprise me is that whole chickens are not the cheapest. The cheapest I've seen "whole fryers" are $1.29/lb. This surprises me for two reasons taken together: 1. I would expect these require hte least amount of work/butchery on the part of the slaughterhouses and butchers, 2. the individual parts: thighs, breasts, drumsticks, can often be had for under $1.29/lb. There's currently a superbowl sale on chicken wings for $2/lb. that makes no sense to me at all: The whole nation wants chicken wings, you don't get very many wings from a chicken, and the other cuts aren't on sale. Maybe they were the week prior? Maybe next week? I'm definitely going to stock up regardless, even though these chickens were probably raised under the worst conditions.
Finally, what can I do with chicken skins? I like to buy the 10lb. bags of leg quarters, but it's always a chore cutting and deboning them at home. It's a ritualistic thing: separate the drumsticks, debone/deskin the thighs, make stock/broth out of the bones, freeze/grill the rest. I now have a quart ziploc bag full of frozen chicken skin and I'm not sure what to do with it. I see people fry the chicken skins and eat that, but that's not really something I want to do. Also, I noticed the drumsticks from the leg quarters are smaller than the drumsticks when bought in drumstick packs at the grocery store. Those must be special drumstick chickens that they don't use in the leg quarter packs.
Sorry for the long post, here is a picture of a chicken:
With beef and steak, there's a huge quality difference based on the breed, how the cattle are raised, fed, cut, etc. Even the federal government has lent its clout to choosing different steaks (for better or for worse) with a legal and bureaucratic rating system for each carcass. This system seems to work quite well, especially considering it involves a government bureaucracy.
With chicken/poultry, the bureaucratic process seems to revert back to form, and is a total meaningless ****show. Starting with eggs, it's my understanding that there are ratings for "organic", "free range", "cage free", "pasture raised", "hormone free", "antibiotic free", etc. etc. etc. At best these are meaningless, more likely they are misleading. I personally find industrial chicken farming disgusting, and by no means am I a squeamish hippy. The ratings are also kind of meaningless when it comes to the quality of the eggs. The best eggs I've found in the super market are by happy egg, but I consider them overpriced. The best eggs period come from a family friend who brings us their eggs.
Where I haven't found a quality difference is with the meat itself. The $0.99/lb genetically modified, hormone fed, industrially raised chicken tastes afaik the same as other chicken meat, and you usually get more for it... or possibly I've never had good chicken meat. I haven't noticed differences between grocery stores, or ever had chicken where I thought "oh yes this is fantastic". I would still choose with my conscious: choosing properly raised chickens over the industrial disasters that abhorr even the farmers. Again, I'm not particularly a hippy. The problem is, even there I don't know how to choose. Is anyone here choosy about their chicken? How do you choose what chicken to buy? Have I never tasted a proper farm-fresh amazing chicken? Is there a kobe chicken somewhere?
Finally I don't quite understand grocery store pricing. I've seen the price of cuts of chicken range from $0.49/lb. to $4/lb. depending on what's on sale, and how it's been butchered. The leg quarters are the cheapest at $0.49/lb (now $0.69/lb after inflation) in a 10lb. bag. It's usually the boneless skinless filets when they're not on sale that go into the $4/lb. territory. I will also see differenet farms marketed. Kroger calls it "heritage farm", other grocery stores have different farms, but again, I've never noticed any difference between these. What does surprise me is that whole chickens are not the cheapest. The cheapest I've seen "whole fryers" are $1.29/lb. This surprises me for two reasons taken together: 1. I would expect these require hte least amount of work/butchery on the part of the slaughterhouses and butchers, 2. the individual parts: thighs, breasts, drumsticks, can often be had for under $1.29/lb. There's currently a superbowl sale on chicken wings for $2/lb. that makes no sense to me at all: The whole nation wants chicken wings, you don't get very many wings from a chicken, and the other cuts aren't on sale. Maybe they were the week prior? Maybe next week? I'm definitely going to stock up regardless, even though these chickens were probably raised under the worst conditions.
Finally, what can I do with chicken skins? I like to buy the 10lb. bags of leg quarters, but it's always a chore cutting and deboning them at home. It's a ritualistic thing: separate the drumsticks, debone/deskin the thighs, make stock/broth out of the bones, freeze/grill the rest. I now have a quart ziploc bag full of frozen chicken skin and I'm not sure what to do with it. I see people fry the chicken skins and eat that, but that's not really something I want to do. Also, I noticed the drumsticks from the leg quarters are smaller than the drumsticks when bought in drumstick packs at the grocery store. Those must be special drumstick chickens that they don't use in the leg quarter packs.
Sorry for the long post, here is a picture of a chicken:
