Chicken

[jennyjoan]

do you think chicken is chicken no matter where you buy it. It just a guy from gogglebox said you need to pay a good £15 for a chicken to get a good one. Do you agree.

[Mamyalynne]

That was Giles I think?

I can't comment as I have never bought an expensive top of the range chicken.

[jennyjoan]

it was Giles Mamy - I love them but I do think whilst they live in quite a large house they look so impoverished

[DTCwordfan]

put it this way, I was in the Tesco head office the day foot and mouth broke out. One of the stats that came out was how long does it take for a chicken to grow from the egg breaking to 3lbs?

Answer 5 weeks to oven ready on water and hormones in a battery
or 3 months for organic/free range and no supplements.

I've eaten the latter ever since.

Take your pick.

[shoota]

Corn fed chicken has more taste than 'value' chicken but it is a waste of money if you are going to slather it in curry sauce or similar.

[jennyjoan]

ok DT and have you paid like £15 for one.

[jennyjoan]

shoota I bought the corn-fed and it was appalling to me so never again

[DTCwordfan]

No not down here, the max has been 11 I think for a 4lb+ bird.

[MrsLadyBug]

The only difference I find is if I buy from the butcher they are from a local farm, free range and larger than supermarket chickens. Just a bit dearer of course at around 10euros , but they do taste good.
But I have no complaint about most supermarket chickens just some can be a bit bloody.

[Rockrose]

Depends on what you’re cooking, go for expensive for roast if covering in curry go cheaper but not cheapest

[jennyjoan]

right - when it says on the label free range etc - how can you be sure

[DTCwordfan]

rockrose, for once, I agree with you

I usually get 3 to 4 meals from a 1.75 bird, roast, a re-heat for the other half, the undercarriage and 'scraps' into a risotto or pasta and then the carcass and the rest into a pot for a soup. So they can offer really good value.....

[DTCwordfan]

If it wasn't they would be contravening standards and advertising regulations......

[Old_Geezer]

I don't believe all chickens are of equal flavour. Trouble is you don't get to find out what you have until cooked & tasted. Unlikely to get a good cheap one though; and the suspicion is that cheaper ones are unlikely to have had a good life.

[hc4361]

I much prefer guinea fowl to bog standard chicken, it has much more flavour. I can tell the difference between cheap chicken and free range, quality chicken and if I'm doing a roast only a good one will do.

[woofgang]

I don't think you need to pay 15 quid but they are not all the same.

[tiggerblue10]

Don't know about £15 but I do agree about the quality of the chicken and how it's reared.

My mum bought a cheap chicken once from a certain supermarket and it had no flavour at all. All I could think about was how that poor chicken had been reared after that.

[david small]

A free range, organic fed bird of decent size will be of that sort of price. I wait until it’s on offer, or reduced.

[DTCwordfan]

I agree, hc, but care is needed with the cooking of guinea fowl - it lends itself to some bacon across it for the first 3/4 of roasting.....and a higher heat/longer rest. Good juices though for reduction and flavouring into a jus or gravy....

[diddlydo]

Guinea fowl cries out to be pot-roasted - then it's really moist and succulent.

[retrocop]

15 quid for a chicken? No way.£5 for a chicken in Sainsbury for Roasting, using in a curry or cassoulet is enough.