What's with grocery stores? It's not hard to clean a chicken

[mtgguitar]

You know those Rotisserie Chickens in grocery stores? They're pretty tasty, pre-cooked and cheap. Hell they're hot and fresh too, can sit outside right after buying it and chow down.

I'm cheap and like to make my own food.

 

[Maynar]

You know those Rotisserie Chickens in grocery stores? They're pretty tasty, pre-cooked and cheap. Hell they're hot and fresh too, can sit outside right after buying it and chow down. Feed some to the birds for irony.

come in different flavors like Rosemary, or Touch O' Honey,....stuff like that.

Well I love these things, they're inexpensive (yes I'm eating one right now),..and you can save the carcass and make some killer homemade chicken soup with it. Which I do every time....since I'm cheap and like to make my own food.

So I've bought at least 20 of these things in the past couple/few years. And it doesn't matter what store I get it, it doesn't matter what State I get it (IL or MD),...the bird isn't clean.

It still has its neck and tail on it.

Ok that's easy enough to ignore,..just more meat for the soup. But most people I know don't like seeing the neck or the tail.

But beyond that,..every single bird has still had its organs buried in the thigh meat. And tonights was no exception either.

Granted I've butchered 100's of chickens in my time,...I had a part time job as a kid cutting up chickens all day long,...so I know the ridge on either side of the spine above the thigh meat, where organs like to hide.

And consistently every single time I get one of these chickens I end up looking up inside it and seeing the organs. It's easy enough to reach in with 2 fingers and trace the little channel they're in and scoop them out,..but really...every single chicken I've bought?


I'd have been fired if I left guts in the bird.

I guess quality levels have changed.



Not a big deal, maybe I felt like bitching about something tonight to offset all this good humor I'm in lately. But it dawned on me how weird it is that I have not gotten a single chicken in two different states that was clean.

Maybe people just don't know the difference. Maybe they think that little lump of grey is mystery meat.





.....I could probably take a pic of the spine channel and the guts if someone wants something to look for in their own bird? idk,.....ya'll are weird like me wouldn't surprise if someone wanted pics.


But yeah,...what's up with these dirty chickens, maaaaaaan. I expect top notch quality for my Five Bucks!


I can't complain though, honestly. 5 bucks is nothing. The bird ate more than 5 dollars in food in it's life. I'm surprised how cheap a whole cooked bird is actually.


But yeah man! Guts in muh Foodz!!! Rage11! who do I sue over this triggering trauma!? Thanks Obama! <---I can say that now, right? He's no longer relevant?

I'm onside with all that, Mal. But my personal experience with the local groceteria is, if you want good rotisserie chicken from this source, get there before noon. Earlier the better, actually.

At 12:15, that chicken dries up like you wouldn't believe (well to be fair it has been on the spit for at least 4 hours at this point, so not all that surprising).

Thus, get in early for best selection.

 

[electric head]

Yikes..
I am not feeling so good right now...
and sure as hell not going to look inside this bird...

I buy one every week and my wife and I nibble on it throughout the week..

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Yup that's it.

Spin it around and look inside. Down by the bottom of the opening on both sides of the spine it should be clear. There should be two clear tracks running along each side of the spine about 3/8s wide.

If you see any meat or dark color, reach in with two fingers about 2" in, push down next to the spine on both sides and drag your fingers out while pushing down. You'll pop out two kidneys.

I've done this on every single bird I've gotten in two different states.

Like i said they're mostly gutted but they skip this one step. Everything else pretty much comes out in one nasty lump of guts, but the kidneys require that extra step.

The only reason i know about it was because my boss when i was a kid drilled it into me that the thighs need to cleaned too.

For anyone in NY the chicken place i worked at was called Pudgies. They have (had?) clean chicken.

Kfc popeyes etc.... Not so much.

It's not a big deal but,... The more you know and all.

Most people don't want to accidently eat a kidney i think.

 

[bilbarstow]

I long ago discovered the same thing, Mal. In fact, as a kid I worked in a fast food restaurant that was primarily a chicken place. All the frozen chickens we got had the kidneys still in. We were told not to worry about it, the cooking "took care of it".

I figured that there was some logic to that, besides the fact that organ meat is eaten by lots of people (not me !). Now if they had left the stomach/intestinal tract, well I'd definitely consider that to be a "dirty" too far.

Easy solution, just learn how to separate the "eatin' part" from the "not eatin' it" part as you go along. You don't eat the bones, do you ? You wouldn't expect them to be removed for you, would you ?

Ya' just can't get good help these days, amiright ?

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Yeah I'm sure it's a speed thing, like it would take too long to clean them all properly.

Guess with some things I'm a stickler for the details.

 

[EDS1275]

those deli guys stick the chickens over each shoe and skate around on the floor for laffs before they go on the rotisserie

 

[KP11520]

Nope..... Doesn't bother me at all. They can leave the feathers on it too.

I d/won't buy them.

Here on Long Island, some places sell "Murray's" Chicken. Killer good. And that's all we eat and that means cooked at home. Unfortunately, it's expensive, so we watch for sales at Fairway. YUMM.

Anybody selling a rotisserie chicken cooked for $5 ain't using anything good!

http://www.murrayschicken.com/about-murray/

 

[Brians Evil Twin]

friggin raccoon got into my pond early fall. grabbed one of the fish.

ate it's eyes. left everything else.

That's gross. And wasteful too, you should have at least fried up the rest of that 'coon.



BTW, they leave the guts in chickens for the taste they add and as a treat for the dog/cat.

 

[Alligatorbling]

those deli guys stick the chickens over each shoe and skate around on the floor for laffs before they go on the rotisserie

you were not supposed to tell anyone that.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

Every chicken I've bought from a supermarket has been cleaned. Maybe that's another upside to being Canadian?

I ****ing love these chickens though. When I'm done with them all that's left are the bones, and not even all of them. I eat the spine.

 

[SteveGangi]

the tail we knew as 'the popes nose'

my mom was crazy about the necks. the only parts of the chicken she really liked

We call it the "parson's nose", same thing I guess.
It's tasty. The neck is tasty too, it just takes a bit of time to get all the meat off it.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

you know...the spine is pretty much one thing you should never eat.

something about spinal fluid, diseases, etc.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

you know...the spine is pretty much one thing you should never eat.

something about spinal fluid, diseases, etc.

Meh, I'll take my chances.

Lemmy made it to 70 strapped to the front of a freight train, I figure I can do alright eating the occasional chicken spine.

 

[fett]

I happen to love my grocery store. It has the cooked chickens. Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy them than to buy a whole chicken that you have to cook. I am semi-famous for my "Cheap Meat" finds. The notion that people don't have the time to cook is a Gold Mine for me. Today is an example. Lots of ham. I'm talking Butts and Shanks and Shoulders. I know that Butts rule. So what? Mark it down and offer 50% down from that. My two Butts were 34 cents per pound. I gave one away to my stepson. He lives a half mile away. He was very happy.

 

[Marshall & Moonshine]

I've done a few. Feathers stink after being dipped in the boiling water. Is there a better way for that?

 

[Ed B]

The rotisserie chickens we get have no issues. I cut them up and definitely would have noticed if things were left behind.

That said. We use the innards and neck for making broth while we smoke our turkey on Thanksgiving. I wouldn't eat it, but it makes great broth! We strain and save it for my brother in law who eats it all. Loves it.

And I agree about these chickens being awesome. I love them and couldn't make one myself for less money. My mom would be glad to hear someone saves the carcass and puts it to good use. We toss it.

 

[LP121]

No one would ever eat chicken if they saw what happened to them at a chicken plant.

 

[Marshall & Moonshine]

No one would ever eat chicken if they saw what happened to them at a chicken plant.

Why?