Finding a Chicken to Smoke


 
T

Terry Gandy

New member
Recipes for Beer Can Chicken call for a 2-1/2 - 3-1/2 pound chicken. I've searched all over, even my local Butcher, and could not find a chicken under 5 pounds. I decided to by a 7# chicken. Where do you buy your chickens?
 
I know what you mean, I have not seen a chicken under four and a half pounds since the '70's! The American preoccupation with bigger breasts has reached the chicken ranch. I can find 5# birds pretty easily but, not much smaller.
I don't know if it's a national "bigger is better" thing but, I used to get more, smaller, breasts in a package. Now it's five the size of a small turkey. It's kind of frustrating sometimes, I end up splitting one with my wife. Fine for her but, from a presentation standpoint, not always quite enough for me and a second one is just a waste.
I have a friend who just goes ape for beer can chicken, call me a hard case but, my spatchcock is far and away superior in my opinion. Maybe she does not do them "right" but, I'd rather drink the beer.
 
Smaller chickens are typically called "fryers" and the larger ones, "roasters". And it is often harder to find fryers. The result with either seems to be pretty good tho'.
 
It's hard to find fryers BECAUSE THEY SEND THEM UP HERE!! That's the only kind we get is 2.5 to 3 lb. I don't think I've ever even seen a 5 lb chicken.
 
So glad to hear that someone else was thinking and going through the same thing as I was, sorry Terry, lol. I've made this same comment to my wife, Mom and brothers too for the last 4 months are so. I can't find the small fryer size chickens in the store around here either. It's crazy! I just get the larger "fryers" that most stores have and cut them in half when I smoke chicken, but really wish I could find the smaller true fryers for this.

foots
 
Maybe in Texas they are fryers at that size but, north of highway 40, I think I'd have to special order "pullets" for a three pounder.
Just poking a little fun. Now it's about "time" rather than "size" in poultry production. Breeding for breast size, fast weight equals profit.
Heirloom poultry? Talk about a "niche market"!
There's a producer here who claims "All Natural" which honestly means nothing but, they sell for more than I feel is fair market. They are not organic, heirloom, fed on only naturally resourced red worms and Peruvian blue corn or really as far as I can tell anything special. If I am speaking out of school I apologize but, as far as I know "organic" has parameters, "natural" does not.
My mother used to talk about how poultry had become "flat" in her life. It makes me think about the difference in taste of "Wild" and farm salmon, I used to like the farmed stuff but after living in the Pacific Northwest, the farm product tastes like "Purina fish chow" to me. The relatively new "Black Pearl" product from Scotland is a darned close second to wild!
Let's face it, over farming/breeding is kind of turning people's palates into neutral zones.
Sorry, kind of go off on a rant there.
Maybe I had too much bacon!
 
Tim;
I really get what you are saying. I was raised on a farm and we had true free range chickens. They actually ran loose during the day and fed off what they could get and wanted in the way of bugs and worms. We fed them chicken feed, of course, but they were free to partake of the natural world. They roosted in their chicken house during the night (safe from predators) but roamed freely. They tasted considerably different than chickens today. MUCH richer in fact.

However, all of that said, we can get fryers from a butcher shop not too far from me. In fact, we have LOTS of good meats within driving distance. We live in SW Ohio just north of Cincinnati, Ohio and have access to a couple of rural counties and their produce. The only thing we can't get is "old fashioned" beef. We have about given up on beef. We have excellent poultry, fish, and REALLY good pork but beef (unless you are willing to pay a near King's Ransom for high grade beef) is not very flavorful. We have just about quite eating beef. Frankly, I don't much miss it.

Rant over!:rolleyes:

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
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Robert McGee said:
We have just about quite eating beef. Frankly, I don't much miss it.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
Click to expand...

Wow, I was afraid to say it but you just brought me out of the closet. What with beef prices so stinkin' high for so long, my tastes have switched mostly to pork and chicken too :) . In fact, although I may have "thoughts" of a nice steak as a once-in-a-while treat, I think "hmmm, maybe I'd enjoy some fried/baked chicken instead."
 
My local warehouse store (BJs) sells Purdue fryers in a two-pack for $0.99/lb. The pair is usually 8-10 pounds, but for some reason, they almost always package one big one and one small one. Trying to find a pack with two equally-sized chickens takes a while.
 
Every now and again, I get the taste for a slab of beef but, not as often as I once did. Maybe for my birthday I will do a standing rib roast or something else fun and festive! Maybe a leg of lamb!
 
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Unless they changed Aldi's always sold fryers or try a Mexi-mart ( that's where I buy mine lately)

Tim
 
Interesting about Canada. I much prefer fryers. They show up in our local markets infrequently. I buy every one that I can find under 4.5 lbs, which isn't many.
 
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