Pay attention to size. That's a good whole bird size you have. Size probably has more to do with it than anything. If people are "slow growing" chickens it wouldn't be feasible to try and get them to the size you typically find in the stores. Thus producing a smaller sized bird that is typically better.
Most (if not all) deliberately smaller sized chickens from the big companies are for the fast food industry or whole birds for the rotisserie rack.
Jerod. I noticed several people mentioned fresh vs frozen chicken. I thought I read somewhere that fresh in federal terms allows holding at lower temperatures than 32F. I figured you would know and clarify the terms.
Donw for Fresh Chicken it is not supposed to go below 26-F since meat freezes at approx. 25.5-F. Plants will chill after packaging to about 30-F and hold at 28-34-F or so. It is a Labeling violation to freeze chicken you are selling as Fresh.
It could totally be expectations, but when I get the "air chilled" chicken for the same price as regular at Costco, I think it does taste better. Tastes more "chicken-y" and less watery.
Since the pricing is the same at Costco, I'm not sure how much the air chilled is "worth" to me.
Some of you know I split my time between the US and France. Chicken is not chicken. In general, American chickens are harvested younger so they're more tender and much less expensive--but noticeably less tasty. There are two main types of French chickens: one that's like American chickens (i.e., tender, inexpensive, and kind of bland) and chickens that scratch for bugs, are less tender, tastier -- and more expensive. There's a big difference in coq qu vin between un vrai coq and une poulet.
Sometime I'll tell you about a friend of ours who raises Black Gascon pigs and feeds them acorns, rather than the much more common European White fed on grains. The difference in taste was eye-opening.
I've tried some expensive "all-natural" chickens here in the US and, frankly, the difference between them and regular Foster Farms chickens is minimal. The biggest difference I think I can detect is between air-chilled and water-chilled chickens. That's not the case with French chickens.
Smoker_Boy is right. All chicken is not created equal. Yer friendly stupor market brands usually contain a chemical cocktail like emulsifiers & other goodies that won’t kill ya today. But I am not interested in a slow death by some lab freaks that say “it’s OK” to eat. Not absolute but for the most part ya get what ya pay for. I prefer to pay a farmer than somebody in a lab coat or some group of people dancin & smilin tellin ya there is a pill to help ya.
I remember my grandmothers farm raised chicken being very good. They were processed the day before being eaten. My wife’s mother cooked legendary fried chicken with the cheapest birds she could find at the store. I remember a story my wife tells of her mom filling the trunk of the car with whole chickens when she found a good sale. There are some similarities that may have made a difference. Both wet brined their chicken over night. Both cooked in lard. Both were basically salt and pepper cooks. I realize you’re baking your chicken not frying but I believe my simple tastes would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Like so many other things we cook the person doing the cooking is what makes the biggest difference.
I just opened the chicken and cut it up for tonight’s cook. Not a drop of water came out of the package in the sink! I’ve never had that happen before that I can remember. I guess that’s what air chilled means then, no water [or whatever] in the package? Anyway, I decided to just season it with some Harley’s Texas Style All Purpose Seasoning Salt is the first ingredient so it’ll get about 6 hours of a dry brine before popping it in the oven. It’s supposed to rain later so I won’t be able to follow @willxfmr [or whatever his name is these days] recipe for on the grill.
About once a month, just for practice and to keep my skills up, I'll completely de-bone a chicken to make a ballotine, and make stock from the bones. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfY0lrdXar8) I've noticed that it's *much* easier to do this with an air-chilled vs. water-chilled chicken.
I would think that free range might have more taste than caged chickens. I am not an experiential nor have I made any comparisons. I buy the cheapest store brand. I do boneless skinless chicken thighs because IMO they have more flavor than breast. I wonder if range free might be significantly more tasty.
I’ll know tonight Sunny if it’s worth it or not. I’ve mentioned this before and y’all are gonna think I’m nuts….but I hate chicken thighs! When buying a whole chicken like that, I throw em away……[ducks beer bottles!]
In the US, "free range" doesn't have a strict meaning. In the US, "free range" can mean that the chickens are raised in enclosures that allow them to walk around and scratch up bugs and seeds, but it can also mean that they're raised in large facilities with "access" through a small door to an outdoor patch of gravel. That's better than spending their entire (short) lives in a small cage, but it turns out that "free range" isn't as informative a label as you may want.
Equipment:
'88 Vintage Fire Magic gasser with over 4000 cooks to its credit
Large Big Green Egg
18 Inch Weber Kettle (Rescued from neighbor's trash)
Rotisserie for 18 inch kettle
Dyna Glo propane smoker
Pit Barrel Cooker
Smokey Joe with mini WSM mod
Garcima paella burner
Anova Sous Vide
Slaiya Sous Vide (gift)
LEM grinder, sausage stuffer and meat slicer (all gifts)
We eat a lot of chicken, and have different levels of what we buy. For cut thighs, drums, leg quarters and wings, regular grocery store are as good as any. For broiling, or smoking whole birds, the grocery store's offerings way too big, are usually 6 or more pounds, Publix has Springer Mountain Farms whole chickens that are in the 3.5 pound range and are very good. For special occasions, "free range" chickens from the local farm are the available, averaging 2.5-3 pounds. At about $10 a pound, doesn't happen often.
I haven’t bought a brand of chicken in years so I can’t comment on that but once I started buying chicken directly from the farmers I never looked back. The flavor and freshness is not comparable. Generally they are 3.5 to maybe 4lbs. When I’m in PA I get fresh chicken from farmers but here in the city I found a butcher that sources them for me which is super convenient. I did this strictly for flavor but the little I know about mass chicken farming in this country kinda grosses me out so there’s that too.
As far as recipes go I mostly just spatchcock and roast a whole bird or two. Mostly just salt and pepper. Occasionally with some herbs. I love having the leftovers for sammies, stir fries etc.
JC, I watched a video yesterday showing how mass produced birds are raised and slaughtered……not pretty. Now I know for sure I don’t wanna see anything about sausage or hot dog production! 😳
Yeah I haven’t looked at one of those in years but I remember they are sickening to watch. I used to be a vegetarian and I’m definitely not going back to that so buying free range fresh chicken seems to me the best compromise.
All grocery store chicken might be the same, or at least more alike than different, but all chicken is not chicken. My Aunt used to raise them She'd let them scratch around in the dirt all summer and slaughter in the fall. They were rich and flavorful unlike anything you could get at a grocery store. Soup made from them would have a golden broth without the addition of bouillon or chicken base.
Well, after trying the fancy chicken last night, here’s what I thought, which aligns with the same thoughts several people here had. Did it taste better than my previous chickens? Uh, yeah, it had a little more flavor and seemed to be a little more tender also. The differences were minimal though and I don’t see myself buying the premium chickens except for certain types of cooks….maybe for a whole chicken on the rotisserie. One thing I noticed was the lack of those big black veins I’ve always found on my chicken legs or wings, these had none or were not noticeable. [I’m guessing they are veins, not sure]. I never gave much thought to the size of the chicken affecting the taste, which Jerod Broussard pointed out, so maybe part of the improvement was that this was a smaller bird?… in the past I’ve always opted for the larger chickens because of quantity of meat. Most of my chicken cooks are wings anyway, so I’ll probably continue with Costco for that. I’ll just stick with regular birds for my gumbos, casseroles or whatever else. Any type of dish such as those, with chicken as one of the ingredients, I can almost guarantee I wouldn’t be able to tell a difference using a premium chicken.
Anyway, I’m glad I bought the fancy chicken just to find out for myself.
Last edited by Panhead John; May 6, 2025, 08:14 AM.
Panhead John was it over-cooked? I ask because when I switched (at my old job, we had 100% pasture raised birds) I overcooked them a few times.
I go this route with “fancy chicken” because it’s about provenance for me. That’s just my choice on what I eat. Dining out, I have no control, unless I know the restaurant/chef etc.
We have a place called White Feather Farms near us just outside of Reynoldsburg. They have a deli you can walk into, but most of their business is wholesale and bulk sales. We get our fresh turkeys from there for Thanksgiving. You have to order ahead though, they sell out fast.
I reached out to them for bulk chicken and apparently here in Ohio there's Gerber Farms, an Amish company that they carry. The owner Fritz said, the cost is not much different between Gerber and the other suppliers, and he prefers Gerber.
I've had it, no complaints, and it was, in my opinion better than our local stores offerings. By the way, our local stores carry them as well, but they seem to be out of that brand, alot...
They're located in Kidron, Ohio. Looks like they only deal through vendors, and I'm guessing they probably only sell in bulk.
My wife and I have noticed that the chicken we get at our butcher is usually better than what we get at Mariano’s (Kroger) or Costco. And the price isn’t that noticeable either.
Salt is the first ingredient so it’ll get about 6 hours of a dry brine before popping it in the oven. It’s supposed to rain later so I won’t be able to follow @willxfmr [or whatever his name is these days] recipe for on the grill. 
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