Buy large quantities of whole chickens

>buy large quantities of whole chickens
>disjoint them with poultry shears
>freeze in separate bags
>can make variety of meals involving wings, breast, soups, etc.
>saved tons of cash in the process

Why arent you doing this?

No time for thawing stuff when I get back from work.

how do you freeze it exactly? big ziplocks

Tiny freezer.

buy tiny birds.

But I do. I buy three whole chickens at a time, break it down and freeze whole wings (less wingtips), drums, boneless thighs and boneless breasts, each to be used as needed. The bones and cartilage from three chickens is enough for about a quart/litre of strong stock (or two of weak stock or chicken/vegetable stock). The skin and fat is enough for nearly one cup of cooking grease.
Breaking down three chickens and deboning the thighs and breasts takes me about 8-9 minutes total, and I'm hardly very fast.

Because my mama grows chickens and she cooks an entire one everytime I go to her house and then gives me the remaining parts. These fuckers are so big that we can't eat them all even if we're 6.

The only good meat on a chicken is the breast.

>>saved tons of cash in the process
>Why arent you doing this?
It's not less expensive in my local groceries. Fact. The cheapest is having it cut up for you instead "whole chicken cut up" is the least per pound where I shop, and that's barring any sales on a particular part, as well as well that week, so on any given day the deal is thighs, or cutlets or quarters instead. Also, I don't need all the bones, and all the skin, all the time. I'm not running a restaurant here. I'm sometimes only wanting to pay for what I am actually eating.

I also prefer fresh, not deep frozen most of the time. When chicken is frozen for you in the bag in the stores, such as a bag of tenderloins, let's say, it is flash frozen with a sheet of ice over it. Yes, technology, which I appreciate, as it speeds cooking later, and has a more fresh finished product. It affectsthe dryness of the meat to cook chicken that was thawed, butchered, then refrozen by you, especially if deep frozen.

That's objectively the worst part.

I hate touching raw meat excessively and I don't like thighs too much.

Because a 10 pound bag of leg quarters only costs $6 and is much less effort.

It's meant to just consolidate your raw meat handling. You do it all in one shot and then never again until you run out. Wash your hands once before and then once afterwards and then you're done. If you either can't afford the time or can afford to buy it pre-sorted, then that's your choice though. I like thigh meat typically though.

ah do, baibeh. ah do!

Packs of separate chicken parts are already cheap where I shop.

>Why arent you doing this?
I value my time more than saving a few quid

I pick my battles.

I rarely ever eat food that I haven't cooked myself at home, saving tons of money in the process.

That being said, there are certain things that are just entirely too messy and cumbersome for the amount that you save.

Personally, I don't care for freezing and thawing meat, as I live near many fantastic grocery stores, and I usually get fresh meat/veg at least two times a week.

I can get boneless breasts for $1.99/lb here, and thighs/legs/quarters for less than $0.60/lb, so breaking down a chicken myself really doesn't save much money.

>implying no one works but you
Contrary to popular belief, many-to-most of us aren't NEETs and we manage to feed ourselves just fine. Here's what I do:
take the frozen chicken out the night before, put it into a container and put it into the fridge. By dinner time the next day, it will be thawed out.
It's hardly rocket surgery, user.

Alternately, use your microwave's 'thaw by weight' feature or, if it lack's one, zap it in 10 second intervals, checking between one zap and the next, until it feels thawed out enough, about five minutes.
>b-but I don't have a microwave!
Use the drip method, then. Put the frozen chicken into a bowl and the bowl into the sink under the tap with a slow, steady drip of water coming down on it, emptying the bowl of water each time it fills up and the chicken has yet to thaw completely. Takes about thirty minutes.
>b-but I don't want to waste water!
Then just thaw it out in the fridge the night before, as the first suggestion said.
>b-but what if I forget to thaw it out the night before?!
Cook chicken dishes and freeze them in meal-sized portions, then reheat in the oven (for something like chicken parm or cutlets) or on the hob (for chicken stews or soups).

There's always a way.

because I'd rather buy thighs for less money and not have to eat the other inferior parts of the chicken.

Or I could take less than 10 minutes to hit the grocery store on the way home and get whatever meat is on sale and not have to deal with thawing or breaking down a chicken.

You can just cook meat directly from frozen, there's no need to make any special effort if you forget to put it in the fridge.

Because I prefer meat that hasn't been frozen. Also chicken is already cheap as fuck.

Waste of time u r gay

If you have a pressure cooker

So is Ur mummy

All you're really saying is that you've rather poor knife skills. Breaking down, deboning and skinning a chicken shouldn't take you more than five minutes.
I do it sat in front of the TV while I watch QI or something. It doesn't take much effort. If you have time to browse and post to Veeky Forums, you have time to break down a chicken.

burn

because I don't get an orgasm every time I save one dollar

Depends on the meat and the dish you intend to make with it, but yeah, this is true.

Ineffective use of time and money.

Breaking down a chicken takes five minutes and gives you two wings, two drums, two thighs, two breast-halves (IE one whole breast) and lots of stock bones. Costs $5.
One whole breast costs $7.

The amount of time it takes you to thaw out a piece of chicken for Tuesday's dinner is the 3 seconds it takes you Monday night to take it out of freezer, put into a container and put into the fridge.
15 minutes of time to get 6 breast halves, 6 thighs, 6 drums, 6 whole wings and enough stock bones for a litre/quart and a half of stock + 3 seconds for each time you want to cook it is less time than the 10 minutes it would take you to buy 6 breast halves on the way home on the 1st of the month, 10 minutes to buy 6 thighs on the way home on the 8th, 10 minutes to buy 6 drums on the way home on the 12th and 10 minutes to buy 6 whole wings on the way home the 27th. And the whole chicken route would cost you around $16. Just buying 6 breast-halves alone would cost the same.

>Breaking down a chicken takes five minutes and gives you two wings, two drums, two thighs, two breast-halves (IE one whole breast) and lots of stock bones. Costs $5.
>One whole breast costs $7.

While I agree that you can save some money, your pricing is off, at least in my area.

Breasts are sold regularly here at $1.49/lb, cheaper on sale. A whole breast does NOT cost $7 (it's cheaper), and a whole chicken here is NOT $5 (it's more expensive).

Legs/thighs/etc. are under $.60/lb, so I doubt there's even cost savings there.

>Why arent you doing this?

Because I either spatchcock the fuckers and smoke them whole, or simply buy a bunch of thighs for curry.

It's scientifically proven to be the best nutritionally.

>caring about nutrition
It's like you're TRYING to prolong your life

Yeah pal.
You hit the nail on the head.

I'm not poor (like OP) so Im not going to spend my free time getting covered in raw chicken and spending even more time doing washing.

I don't eat chicken that often and when I do I normally roast it whole. I get where you are coming from though since my butcher will sell you 1/4 1/2 or whole cows for way cheaper then it would cost for all the meat you get from them.

Around here, a split, bone-in breast is 99¢-$1.49lb on sale. Regular price, it hovers around $1.99/lb. Whole (IE not split) has no discount.
Boneless at regular price is $3.49/lb nowadays, often higher. It's $1.99-$2.49/lb on sale.
Average whole breast weighs about 2,2lbs, about half the weight of a whole chicken. At $1.99/lb, that's $4.38 or so for a whole breast. A whole, boneless, skinless breast (IE two breast-halves) at $3.49/lb at 2lbs total would be right around $7.

A whole chicken is 95¢/lb here and they average 5lbs or so each as the breast makes up about half the weight of a whole chicken.

Wings, which you glossed over, are $2.99/lb and go on sale for $1.49-$1.99/lb the week of Superbowl Sunday. If you don't mind frozen or shopping at discount grocers, you can get them that week for as little as $1.33/lb, sold as a 3lb bag of frozen wing portions for $3.99. It winds up being even slightly cheaper than that because there are no wingtips in the bag.

Drums and thighs are both routinely on sale at 49¢/lb around here and a standard price hovering around 99¢/lb. Leg quarters go for as little as 29¢/lb (srsly) but usually 39¢/lb. That's for frozen. The standard price for fresh leg quarters around here hovers around 79¢/lb. They are, by far, the cheapest way to eat chicken meat.

However! Buying whole birds gives you meat, skin, bones and cartilage and includes giblets (for gravies and/or dirty rice) as well as the most coveted bits: the tenderloins and the oysters.

Because I just buy 5lb bags of chicken breast every couple weeks and keep em in the freezer?

At this point you're not trying to help anyone else, you're justifying all the fucking shit you do

sounds like you're trying to justify being lazy and dumb with money, tbqhwy family, and only niggers are that lazy and dumb with money, nigger
but i guess it doesnt matter anyway since my taxes pay to keep you fed

Because chicken is literally so cheap my dude

meanwhile whole chickens are .69c a pound while giving you a carcass to make 2qts of stock (3.50 for kitchen basics chicken stock)

Those prices are nigh unbelievable.
>kitchen basics
I've never bought stock before, but I do see KB stock cubes at the supermarket. I've never used that brand in particular, but if you have, tell me something: are the cubes soft, like Knorr cubes, or hard and crumbly?

Sorry bud. Never bought the cubes. The liquid stock tastes like dishwater.

>almost 1/5 of the weight of your bird is added saline solution

No, thanks.

Well fuck my face and call me faggot. That's a damned good price for chicken.

>liquid stock tastes like dishwater
At least it tastes like something.
I've tried food other people have made with storebought stock and it's always been bland as fuck compared to homemade stock. If there were a single brand of storebought stock that came close, I'd be all over it like Jews on a markdown, but there isn't.

1) It's no different than brining the chicken before cooking it because that's literally what it is.
2) It's still under 70¢/lb pre-saline, which is a damned good price.

Those prices are pretty average for Sprouts 2bh