Are Costco chicken breasts a good deal?

[kgtest]

I can get just about any costco chicken to taste amazing.

season with Lowry's salt, garlic salt, and sea salt.

Grill 12min on each side @350... the key is to season the cut open side of the breast first and put that side down on the grill.. by the time the bird heats up to the point it's dripping...around the 11min mark, you flip it and that cut open side is now on top, keeping the juices in for another 12 minutes solid while it keeps cooking.

I've had a LOT of compliments on this method.

[Red Badger]

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Originally Posted by bclover lol, a little antidote to this story. I live in an area that has a few Amish farmers markets. on the weekends the Amish bring their wares to the market to sell. anyhoo there is a poultry, meat market, produce. you get the idea. Well one Saturday I mentioned to the girl that the wings where a little "small". Whew wrong thing to say, she had heard that complaint one to many times and I was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. she let loose..lol "chicken wings are NOT supposed to have the wings span of a 747, a normal chicken is NOT supposed to crumple under it's own weight, a normal chicken breast should not have the circumference of a 16 inch pizza". lol, as me and the other ladies at the counter slowly back away, she huffed off to the back. First and only time I have seen any of the Amish get mad. back on topic, op I'm don't shop mega warehouse stores for the above reason. I like my c hicken to have a taste and not be chewy, rubbery tasteless meat. bigger is not always better so I'm willing to pay more for better quality. Is it a good buy? maybe, is it a decent quality? probably not.

+1 - - - and what Dave said.

We stopped buying factory chickens years ago. I don't think they are my kind of value. I also detest the conditions that they are raised in. We try to shop at our Farmers Market, small farm operated stores, and farms themselves. At the farmers market, we have standing invitations to visit the farmers whom we patronize. Big-Agra is a race to the bottom, and the USDA part of the pit crew. Besides, I also think that food is our "first medicine." We pay a good bit more this way, but I grew up on a farm and I have beliefs about how animals should raised.

There old an old farming adage about the voiceless animals having their say about how we treated them, when we stand for Final Judgement. I think that there may be a grain of truth in that.

[Montecfo]

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Originally Posted by kgtest I can get just about any costco chicken to taste amazing. season with Lowry's salt, garlic salt, and sea salt. Grill 12min on each side @350... the key is to season the cut open side of the breast first and put that side down on the grill.. by the time the bird heats up to the point it's dripping...around the 11min mark, you flip it and that cut open side is now on top, keeping the juices in for another 12 minutes solid while it keeps cooking. I've had a LOT of compliments on this method.

Agree.

Only difference for me is I use a meat thermometer to make make sure everything is just right.

That way it is never tough or dry.

Brining also helps a lot.

[Potstickers]

I don't brine my chicken, but I do salt the heck out of it..at least 3 hours before cooking it. Flavorful and not wet.

Bone in for the win.

[kcowan]

We switched from breasts to boneless, skinless thighs and have never gone back. Usually BBQ them. Freeze the second pack.

[reneeh63]

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Originally Posted by audreyh1 Well, I brine my chickens in salt water before smoking them. Is that a problem?

Well, since it's your very own "homemade" salt water (and fancy brine, at that) that makes it A-OK!

I do think folks can get a little picky about some stuff and manage to think other stuff (that's important to other people) doesn't matter. We all have our things that we won't compromise on - what's silly is to think our own ideas are always best (not talking about you, Audrey)

[reneeh63]

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Originally Posted by kcowan We switched from breasts to boneless, skinless thighs and have never gone back. Usually BBQ them. Freeze the second pack.

Definitely like the flavor and versatility of thighs - and you can count on them to be juicy with a better price.

[Badger]

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Originally Posted by eroscott That is hilarious. Not only sodium chloride but dihydrogen monoxide. Warning that when I opened the bag I also detected oxygen, nitrogen, argon , carbondioxide, and other gases!

Tastes like chicken!

[Another Reader]

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Originally Posted by Badger Tastes like chicken!

Not really. It tastes like poor quality chicken that has been oversalted to make it "taste" better. I prefer quality chicken that tastes like chicken did 40 years ago. Try Sprouts boneless skinless chicken parts. Good flavor, no wood.

[kcowan]

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Originally Posted by reneeh63 Definitely like the flavor and versatility of thighs - and you can count on them to be juicy with a better price.

Don't spread the news because the price will go up!

[Bir48die]

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Originally Posted by 24601NoMore Can't comment on chicken breasts as we haven't bought them from Costco, but did get some Tenderloin from Costco and it was not great..and we paid $15.99/lb when I could have bought a whole tenderloin from my fancy specialty butcher for $12.99/lb - ultimately it would have been close in cost / lb even after trimming and butchering.. I haven't yet found any proteins at Costco that are "worth it" (well, maybe their Pork Shoulder or MAYBE baby back ribs) compared to other sources, FWIW..obviously pays to shop around and compare not only price but quality..the net differences in cost in my experience are pretty minimal, but the quality differences are very noticeable. And when DW and I were eating the Costco tenderloin last night and commenting on how "meh" it was, I quickly forgot about the few pennies per lb I MIGHT have saved over other sources..I'd gladly have paid another $1 or $2 per lb for better filet..

I couldn't disagree with this more. Costco had by far the highest quality of meat as compared to any conventional grocery stores. I dealt with them fow many years and I know of their standards. Now in most parts of the U.S. people don't have access to a local butcher so this is the best alternative.

We buy the breasts and tenderloins all the time and put in the freezer for later use. Due to the thickness of the breasts I have begun pounding them down for uniform thickness and don't overcook.

[Badger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader Not really. It tastes like poor quality chicken that has been oversalted to make it "taste" better. I prefer quality chicken that tastes like chicken did 40 years ago. Try Sprouts boneless skinless chicken parts. Good flavor, no wood.

Actually the pre-salting before packaging is not so much for flavor than it is for making the potentially dry chicken breast more moist.


Cheers!

[Another Reader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badger Actually the pre-salting before packaging is not so much for flavor than it is for making the potentially dry chicken breast more moist. Cheers!

Haven't had that problem with Sprouts...

[zinger1457]

I've only been a Costco member for a few months but one observation is that healthy foods do not seem to be a high priority. Walking through my local Costco yesterday and doubt if 20% of the shoppers would pass the obesity guidelines, most leaving with a cart full of junk. Some good healthy food is available but certainly a lot more of the unhealthy stuff, and always in bulk.

[Another Reader]

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Originally Posted by zinger1457 I've only been a Costco member for a few months but one observation is that healthy foods do not seem to be a high priority. Walking through my local Costco yesterday and doubt if 20% of the shoppers would pass the obesity guidelines, most leaving with a cart full of junk. Some good healthy food is available but certainly a lot more of the unhealthy stuff, and always in bulk.

Yes. Processed, oversalted, overpriced junk food. And the nuts and candy tend to be stale.

The only processed food I buy is the occasional chemical-laden rotisserie chicken. Their bakery products are full of garbage ingredients. The cakes have a strong chemical flavor. The Safeway bakery has better (but not really good) quality at lower prices.

There are a few really good things at Costco. The Kirkland dry cat food is not bad and is reasonably priced. I buy some low sodium frozen mini wontons when they are on sale. They make a good soup base. For awhile they carried Pacific low sodium chicken bone broth. Toilet paper and paper towels on sale are decently priced. I bought a lot of FEIT LED light bulbs at the Tempe store when SRP offered great up front rebates. But overall, Costco is full of overpriced junk.

[Badger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 I've only been a Costco member for a few months but one observation is that healthy foods do not seem to be a high priority. Walking through my local Costco yesterday and doubt if 20% of the shoppers would pass the obesity guidelines, most leaving with a cart full of junk. Some good healthy food is available but certainly a lot more of the unhealthy stuff, and always in bulk.

I bet you can find the exact same number or more of obese shoppers in every grocery store in the country. The Costco in my area has a very large selection of fresh fruits and veggies as well as a variety of choices in their meat and fish section in addition to a number of frozen fruits and veggies with many of them being organic. Even the packaged, non-perishable food selection shelves have more healthy products than your typical grocery store. I agree that there are many products in the snack and cracker area (like every grocery store and convenience store) that are not healthy selections. But that is the shoppers choice to buy or not. That is none of my business.
I'm just pleased that they have a large selection of healthy food choices for my purchases.
A number of years ago when they came to my area I was unfamiliar with the company but after browsing the store I was impressed enough to become a member. Enough so that my $63/share of stocks that I bought are now almost $300. That tells me that a large number of people are thinking the same way.


Cheers!

[joeea]

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Originally Posted by Carpediem Everytime we go to Costco we always buy the 6 pack of the chicken breasts (2 breasts in each pack). To be honest I haven't done any comparison research at our local grocery stores to know if this is the best deal. Does anyone else buy Costco chicken breasts? Is a good deal? Are there better options?

How much do you pay? Whenever you want ask about the term "good deal" you have to state the cost.

It's a good deal if you paid less for the same item than you could have elsewhere. Otherwise, not so much.

[joeea]

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Originally Posted by Carpediem Yes, I've heard of this and we have noticed the Costco chicken breasts are more 'rubbery' or 'harder' than they used to be.

Do you prefer rubbery, hard chicken?

[Another Reader]

Sprouts routinely has boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.99 a pound. That's a "good deal." Thighs are the same, and occasionally they will drop to $1.69 or even $1.49 a pound. The only use for thighs is grilled on the BBQ with lots of sauce or for cat food, because no one here is overly fond of dark meat.

[Clone]

Local store had split chicken breasts, bone-in with rib meat on sale for $0.88/lb. We bought about 12 # of them over the week. After trimming, the effective price for boneless/skinless is realistically more like $1.25/lb. They were very good, and the trimmings all went in the insta-pot to make chicken stock. They were quite thick, so I filleted them out to make some tenderloins as well as the chicken breast cuts.


When I was a kid, we would raise chickens, butcher and sell them. About 100 per year. Now, they would throw us in jail for doing that! There is still a butcher shop about 50 miles away that will butcher chickens. It used to be common for local butcher shops to actually process beef. Inspections and regulations (which we, the consumers, demanded) have almost eliminated those operations. Most of those 'butchers' are processing hanging halves that are purchased from the large packers.


The 'local food' movement is bringing back some of the ability for the small producers to legally process animals for resale.