Saving Money on Chicken Buying Bulk Leg Quarters
The lowly leg quarter is the tastiest part of the chicken and can be found for $0.60- $0.75/pound. By saving scraps to make stock, savvy buyers can make meals for 4 for under $2.
Spending Less on Chicken
There are two ways to buy cheaper chicken: buy cheaper cuts and buy in bulk. Leg Quarters combine these two strategies in one purchase. Chicken suppliers divide chickens into quarters—two breast quarters and two leg quarters. The breast quarters contain the wing and breast section (with bones), and the leg quarters contain the drumstick, thigh, and most of the back.
You must first thaw them when you buy a large amount of leg quarters. In my experience, they are often sold in a semi-frozen state. Thaw them to the point that you can easily separate them and cut into them to remove the back portion. Removing the back portion is not difficult. Break the joint between the thigh and back and along the backbone to separate the back portion and the remaining thigh and drumstick.
You will be left with something that resembles the photo on your left. Keep as much skin as possible intact on your leg quarter, but don't fuss with the back. The back portion will go into your "scrap" bag used to make stock or chicken soup
Tip #1 - Save the Back Portions to Make Stock
Every good cook I know has a chicken scrap bag in their freezer. Bits of unusable or leftover chicken go into this bag until you have acquired enough chicken scraps to make stock (two pounds or so).
The process is simple: put 3-4 quarts of water in a stock pot with two pounds of chicken bones or scraps, a roughly sliced onion, two carrots sliced into large sections, and two stalks of celery cut into thirds. Throw in some salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. Cover and simmer for a few hours, strain, skim off fat, and freeze your stock in pint or quart containers. If you have any other common vegetables getting soft in your refrigerator--like peppers, mushrooms, beans, or other mildly flavored vegetables--throw them in your stock pot. Many cooks I know save the skins they have peeled off of carrots or the bottom of celery stalks for the stock pot (they put these items in a Ziploc bag in the freezer until ready to use).
Now, let's do some simple math: even inexpensive chicken broth costs $2+ a quart. You have saved at least $6 by making three quarts of stock. This is the cost of the entire bag of chicken quarters. But you have 8+ pounds of chicken in addition to your 3 quarts of chicken stock.
Tip #2 - Freeze the Remaining Thigh/Drum Quarters
The remaining thigh/drumstick sections (about 8 pounds) should be divided into usable portions and frozen in Ziploc bags.
I like to put four quarters in a bag, but I sometimes put only two if I'm cooking only for myself. How you group your leg quarters is up to you. But get them in the freezer quickly unless you plan on using them immediately.
Thighs/Drums vs. Chicken Breasts
Now that you have a wealth of thigh/drum quarters in your freezer, you may wonder how to use them in recipes. The answer is to use them for everything. If a recipe calls for skinless and boneless chicken thighs, separate the thighs and drums (you might want to do this before freezing them) and skin and bone the thighs. I use chicken leg quarters in all my finest recipes, even Coq au Vin. It takes real skill to cook a chicken breast that is not dry and stringy. But a leg quarter is more forgiving: it is much harder to overcook, and the skin protects you from dry or overcooked meat.
I NEVER buy chicken breasts. If I need cooked chicken breast, I buy rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club or Costco. If I'm cooking with raw chicken, I buy leg quarters.
I believe a family of 4-5 generous chicken meals each month from 10 pounds of raw chicken quarters and a rotisserie chicken. The cost for these two things is around $11. I don't know a better strategy for saving money on poultry.
댓글