Costco rotisserie chickens not good lately

[always_learning]

IMO, with the multiple problems in labor, transportation and production, I think a lot of products right now may not be as good as they were and will be later on. I imagine that could apply to chickens also. After all, they don't grow on trees.

This is what I'm hoping the issue is. I'm calling it a COVID side effect. The supply chain is messed up in so many ways!

We've had many, many years of good chickens from them (we buy a lot fewer now that the kids are out of the house), so I'll wait a while and give them a try again.

I'll keep watching the thread for more info on the whole sodium discussion and what raw chicken we might want to buy.

 

[mpeirce]

We pretty much stopped buying check breasts and switched to thighs. The breasts were sometimes “chewy” and the thighs have more flavor.

 

[4legsgood]

Has any one else had issues with the rotisserie chickens lately?
...
Fast forward to today. We get another chicken and this one won't even come off the bones. I had to throw away a bunch of the breast meat because it's rubbery and striated. ...

In my pursuit of quality chicken, I came across info on something called 'wooden breast syndrome' (googleable), supposed to make the chicken unsaleable but maybe costco let some slip in. It sounds very similar to what you encountered in the second chicken.

https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome

 

[gauss]

Is it possible that a shortage of employees or experienced/trained employees are effecting the chicken quality at OP's Costco ?

Just speculating here.

 

[jollystomper]

Maybe we are not real fussy, or do not have the ability to differentiate as well as others, or location variation - we usually get 1-2 Costco rotisserie chickens per month, and have not noticed any change.

 

[RetiredHappy]

If someone is metabolically unhealthy, they often have high blood pressure due to insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia because they tend to retain sodium. So you want to make sure you don’t have high insulin levels/insulin resistance before you go hog wild on salt.

Unfortunately, based on NHANES data, only 12% of adult Americans are metabolically healthy.

High blood pressure and insulin resistant do not have direct correlation. When someone is diabetic, they don't necessarily have high blood pressure - that's my husband. I am not insulin resisitant, A1C (5.3), fasting blood sugar (under 100), blood sugar 1 to 2 hours after high carb food (under 120) but I have high blood pressure. My husband can eat as much salt as he likes and his blood pressure is normal as always - usually 100-110/60-70.

 

[Badger]

My Costco chickens seemed to have gotten larger and greasy. I quit buying them a year ago. Volume for the buck seems good, but the chickens were gross.

We bought Costco chickens for a few years and enjoyed the convenience of not having to cook. But lately any chicken that we buy whether rotisserie at Costco or fresh at the grocery has lots of fat. Not so good for digestion. I guess it keeps the meat juicy but what a pain in the neck to spend so much time cutting it off.



Cheers!

 

[Montecfo]

My understanding is those are not treated. When the package says "injected with a solution..." they are treated.

Then the answer is that Harris Teeter sells natural chicken breast for $1.99 per pound--regularly.

 

[Another Reader]

Then the answer is that Harris Teeter sells natural chicken breast for $1.99 per pound--regularly.

If only they were in the SF Bay Area...

 

[audreyh1]

High blood pressure and insulin resistant do not have direct correlation. When someone is diabetic, they don't necessarily have high blood pressure - that's my husband. I am not insulin resisitant, A1C (5.3), fasting blood sugar (under 100), blood sugar 1 to 2 hours after high carb food (under 120) but I have high blood pressure. My husband can eat as much salt as he likes and his blood pressure is normal as always - usually 100-110/60-70.

Having a good A1C like 5.3 means you have good blood glucose control, but it doesn’t rule out insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia which develops well ahead of losing blood glucose control.

 

[aja8888]

In my DW's last blood work, her sodium level was very low. Not that she watches her salt intake as we both eat the same foods and she puts additional salt on her food and I don't.

Her Doc was very concerned since if your sodium levels get too low, it could be fatal. She's on a med to help keep her sodium level in a comfortable range. She is not diabetic and has normal blood pressure.

 

[Montecfo]

If only they were in the SF Bay Area...

Try Kroger, Foods co, Ralphs etc. all under same ownership. Like Harris Teeter.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Having a good A1C like 5.3 means you have good blood glucose control, but it doesn’t rule out insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia which develops well ahead of losing blood glucose control.

https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/insulin-resistance-syndrome
- Some signs of insulin resistance include:
A waistline over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women (not me)
Blood pressure readings of 130/80 or higher
A fasting glucose level over 100 mg/dL (not me)
A fasting triglyceride level over 150 mg/dL (not me)
A HDL cholesterol level under 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women (not me)
Skin tags (not me)
Patches of dark, velvety skin called acanthosis nigricans (not me)

Having high blood pressure does not mean insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia. The main cause of high blood pressure is aging and often, hereditary.

 

[audreyh1]

Agreed all the above are good things to check, however to really know whether you have an insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia problem, you have to check your fasting blood insulin. Most doctors don’t do this even though it is a much earlier warning than pre-diabetes - can take 15+ years to go from damaging high insulin levels to pre-diabetes due to the pancreas wearing out. My doctor recommends fasting insulin be below 7 even though the lab gives a higher normal range.

P.S. Triglycerides above 100 can mean elevated heart disease risk. My doctor prefers that it is below 80.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Agreed all the above are good things to check, however to really know whether you have an insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia problem, you have to check your fasting blood insulin. Most doctors don’t do this even though it is a much earlier warning than pre-diabetes - can take 15+ years to go from damaging high insulin levels to pre-diabetes due to the pancreas wearing out. My doctor recommends fasting insulin be below 7 even though the lab gives a higher normal range.

P.S. Triglycerides above 100 can mean elevated heart disease risk. My doctor prefers that it is below 80.

I agree that the lower the triglycerides the better. My goal is to be at about 70 the next time I go in for my lab test.

 

[bmcgonig]

I agree that the lower the triglycerides the better. My goal is to be at about 70 the next time I go in for my lab test.

I was delighted to get my triglycerides down from 150 to 56 over a year or so doing low carb.

However the calculation for calculated LDL is :

Total Cholesterol- HDL - (Triglycerides/5)

So the fact that my Triglycerides decreased by about 100 made by Calculated LDL increase by about 20. Color me very confused by that

 

[Montecfo]

interesting how a good thread became a medical one.

Good info though, just an observation.

 

[Sunset]

Agreed all the above are good things to check, however to really know whether you have an insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia problem, you have to check your fasting blood insulin. Most doctors don’t do this even though it is a much earlier warning than pre-diabetes - can take 15+ years to go from damaging high insulin levels to pre-diabetes due to the pancreas wearing out. My doctor recommends fasting insulin be below 7 even though the lab gives a higher normal range.

P.S. Triglycerides above 100 can mean elevated heart disease risk. My doctor prefers that it is below 80.

I've had the fasting blood glucose test each year.
Why don't doctors do the fasting insulin test instead ?

 

[Koolau]

Upon taking a statin, my triglycerides dropped to "normal."

Returning you now to our discussion of chickens.

 

[Gary 1958]

Many items at Costco are losing quality and value.

They put a green price tag on something to signify organic and raise the price by 25%. How do you make an organic burrito?

The cost of the Kirkland brand items is higher than the name brand ones sitting right next to it.

Buying fruit isn't what it once was. They would have large bags of Washington apples for a reasonable price. Those haven't been around for two years. Now it's 12 apples in a tray with an organic label with a cost higher than two bags of the other apples.

The quality of clothes has been declining but the prices are still good. I guess they haven't figured out how to put an organic price on jeans yet.

 

[audreyh1]

I've had the fasting blood glucose test each year.
Why don't doctors do the fasting insulin test instead ?

Because the ADA in their infinite (un)wisdom doesn’t call for it in spite of it being a far better and earlier marker for warning against diabetes.

Doctors knowledgeable about metabolic disease do use it. Unfortunately that’s a very small percentage of doctors because it’s not taught as standard of care.

 

[Koolau]

Many items at Costco are losing quality and value.

They put a green price tag on something to signify organic and raise the price by 25%. How do you make an organic burrito?

The cost of the Kirkland brand items is higher than the name brand ones sitting right next to it.

Buying fruit isn't what it once was. They would have large bags of Washington apples for a reasonable price. Those haven't been around for two years. Now it's 12 apples in a tray with an organic label with a cost higher than two bags of the other apples.

The quality of clothes has been declining but the prices are still good. I guess they haven't figured out how to put an organic price on jeans yet.

I have not noticed this in any general way. It's true that (IMHO) "organic" is only a buzz word in reality and doesn't offer anything (to me) that's worth the up charge. BUT, stuff we always buy seems not to have dramatically increased in price (with a few exceptions.)

What bothers me at Costco is finding something I really like and then they no longer stock it. I asked once and they indicated its usually NOT that the item doesn't sell enough to make it worth Costco's handling it. It's more often that the supplier can not supply a retailer of Costco's size on an uninterrupted basis (IOW Costco is so successful that some supplier can't keep up and that upsets customers who come in, only to find supplies exhausted.)

I don't know if this is universally true, but I guess it makes some sense. YMMV

 

[USGrant1962]

I have not noticed this in any general way. It's true that (IMHO) "organic" is only a buzz word in reality and doesn't offer anything (to me) that's worth the up charge. BUT, stuff we always buy seems not to have dramatically increased in price (with a few exceptions.)



What bothers me at Costco is finding something I really like and then they no longer stock it. I asked once and they indicated its usually NOT that the item doesn't sell enough to make it worth Costco's handling it. It's more often that the supplier can not supply a retailer of Costco's size on an uninterrupted basis (IOW Costco is so successful that some supplier can't keep up and that upsets customers who come in, only to find supplies exhausted.)



I don't know if this is universally true, but I guess it makes some sense. YMMV

+1

No noticeable change in pricing on normal stuff (other than the recent general inflation) and aggravated when stuff we like disappears.

 

[Sunset]

I really liked the white leather running shoes Costco used to have for about $15. They were good quality and cheap.

After some years they changed them, people reported the quality dropped, and now they no longer carry them (When I was there last just over a year ago).

 

[Chuckanut]

+1

No noticeable change in pricing on normal stuff (other than the recent general inflation) and aggravated when stuff we like disappears.

I really like a certain brand of avocado oil mayonnaise and I found it at Costco at a good price. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they have another avocado oil based mayo.

I already make my own ketchup. I should probably learn to make my own mayo. It's not that hard.