Anyone Ever Heard Of This Brand Of Chicken?


 
Rusty James

Rusty James

TVWBB Emerald Member
Smart Chicken

I tried for the first time recently, and it is different from other brands I've eaten before. I smoked some marinated legs, and they reminded me of wing meat. The stuff is pricey though. A whole chicken is about $20.00. I have to wait for markdowns. :eek:
 
l believe you when you say it tastes different (and I assume you mean better ). I usually get the stuff that's on sale but will on occasion try what's deemed to be "better quality" meat and I can definitely tell the difference--no antibiotics, air-chill, etc.

Seems not necessarily more "chickeny", just better.
 
The best chicken I have found is Sanderson's farms, we get it at Safeway. Nothing added, no salt, no water, nothing at all just 100% chicken. Excellent flavor and when on sale $.89 a pound you just can't beat it.
 
Rich Dahl said:
The best chicken I have found is Sanderson's farms, we get it at Safeway. Nothing added, no salt, no water, nothing at all just 100% chicken. Excellent flavor and when on sale $.89 a pound you just can't beat it.
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I've heard of that brand, Rich, but I haven't seen it in these parts yet - unless I'm not looking hard enough.
 
Around here, I see Harvest Farms, Harvestland, and Coleman organic chicken. All of these brands are better than Tyson, and private label chicken, in my taste tests. (fried, grilled, or smoked)

Mass-produced chicken has changed much over the years for the worse. A while back, a co-worker from Trinidad said it took him a long time before he could stomach American chicken. Thankfully, some poultry producers are bucking that trend and producing a better product now.
 
Rusty,

I believe TVWBB member Thom Emery has used Smart Chicken before. That is, if I recall a conversation a couple of years ago regarding competition bbq meats. Thought he purchased it at a specific high end market in Orange County (CA).
 
Only way I'm by me a smart chicken is he can make me some money... Other wise I'm buy a gorcery store chicken and and have some Supper.
 
JBooker said:
That all I buy if it's available. Beats the hell out of the Tyson stuff.

It has a wide availability for us here in Nebraska since its a Nebraska company.
https://www.smartchicken.com/
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Considering how good Smart Chicken is, I wouldn't be surprised to see other poultry producers copy their technique.


Years ago, there was a popular local brand called Holly Farms that was purchased by Tyson. I think Tyson resurrected the brand, but I have yet to try any of it.

Holly Farms used to operate fried chicken restaurants in this area, too, but Tyson closed them down as well. If I'm not mistaken, Holly Farms restaurant chain was the first to introduce fried potato wedges to the fast food market. Their potato wedges were some of the best I've ever eaten.

HollyFarmsSalisbury1.jpg


Holly Farms appeared on NASCAR racers as well...

CaleYarborough-1976.jpg
 
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Rich Dahl said:
The best chicken I have found is Sanderson's farms, we get it at Safeway. Nothing added, no salt, no water, nothing at all just 100% chicken. Excellent flavor and when on sale $.89 a pound you just can't beat it.
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+1 on the Sanderson Farms Chicken.

For those who live on the West Coast and Pacific NW, WinCo carries Sanderson Farms chicken also.
 
Yes, I can get Smart Chicken here in San Jose and I've used it. It's quite good. You can read all about their process here. The most noticeable difference is that their chickens are air chilled, not water chilled. As a result, you are buying chicken, not water. By contrast, our popular California regional brand, Foster Farms, says their chicken contains 6% retained water. Some brands are even higher.
 
Chris Allingham said:
The most noticeable difference is that their chickens are air chilled, not water chilled. As a result, you are buying chicken, not water.
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Their whole birds look scrawny after they're vacuum packed, but I'm sure they have plenty of meat on the bone. I hope to try one soon, but it'll have to be a marked down bird.

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I found a local grocer that sells Sanderson Farms chicken (Bi-Lo), so I'll be checking them out soon.

EDIT: Just found out that Sanderson Farms recently opened a new chicken processing facility in St. Pauls, NC. My wife's folks are from that area.
 
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