How much do you REALLY save when you buy a whole chicken? A realistic look at the entire process

Follow me on my other socials!

[DollarTreeDinners]

As far as the cost of the carrots onions and celery, many people use saved peels/scraps. In a pinch just omit them :)

Regardless, the wing cuts I couldn’t include the price of would likely “wash” the potential cost of the vegetables. Making the final price comparison still fairly accurate.

As far as electricity, you would also have to cook chicken cuts. So there is electricity use for both sides. We aren’t comparing raw chicken to a cooked one. And Slow cookers have very minimal electrical use.

My numbers were very conservative, and accurate to the best of my ability :)

[melodieeisenberg]

The cost savings might seem minimal but that stock is GOLD. You can't buy anything close.

[IHATENUMBERS]

I’ve watched dozens of videos on how to butcher a chicken and none have been as explanatory and easy to follow as yours. Other videos seem so fast, I had to wash my hands, pause, rewind and repeat. You explain everything so clearly and take your time. You’re literally the only person I’ve seen who assumes the people you’re teaching are beginners. This beginner is ever so grateful to you.

[lillianbrooks]

5.00 savings for some means a lot. I can't work and don't get help with food besides food banks. So my time invested means an extra gallon of milk or maybe even a snack we could not normally buy. I found your channel by chance and a lot of your videos have become like a food bible to me. Thank you for what you do and know in a lot of ways you are helping a lot of people.

[wondersaiyan]

I love this honest comparison. I cannot tell you the amount of times I see "buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself to save money" when searching for ways to save money on groceries. At my local Walmart, I can buy a fully cooked rotisserie chicken for $5.97, or $3.97 if I get a cold one. I whip up a couple of cheap sides (frozen broccoli, steamed and seasoned, and maybe noodles of some sort) and we each have a piece of chicken with the sides. The rest of the chicken I will cube up and freeze. Great for soups, quesadillas, chicken salad, etc. I can use the carcass for stock, still. Even without the stock, I usually have enough chicken to make several other meals that then have leftovers. My family of three can easily have a whole week's worth of dinners with one $3.97 chicken. After I finally figured that out, I started saving soooo much money. Yeah, we eat a lot of chicken, but the time saved by getting it already cooked and just the versatility of chicken in general means we have more than enough options to keep from getting bored. I'm sure all the bird flu stuff will make the price go up, but the price could literally double and I'd still be spending less than I did before I started utilizing the rotisserie chickens.

[DistractedMindDesigns]

One of the things that I consider a benefit to using a whole chicken is the lack of excess plastic and Styrofoam trays that the precut pieces come in. We love soup and making our own stock is a no brainer. Enjoyed the video and lovely to see the new setup.

[sherrylewis]

60 yrs ago when I was just a kid, my grandma would "put up" chickens for other people. She'd take them from live to not, remove feathers and innards, clean for whole or cut up and package for the freezer. She would do upwards of 30 birds a day, in addition to taking care of her garden, the house and cook all meals for the family. She made me tired just watching her and I was only 8 or 10 yrs old! LOL I do miss her.

[philaphobic]

This feels like such a respectful and responsible way of eating chicken. Really honoring the gift of the chicken's life by utilizing every bit of it, down to the bone marrow and shmaltz. Your stock looks a heck of a lot better than store bought too!

[oldgloryhillfarmturtlewoma]

Before my husband passed away, one of the meat critters we raised was rabbits. I deconstructed and boned every one of those before cooking or freezing. Doesn’t take long to get very good, and quick. Pretty sure one can get good, and quick with chickens. Makes one realize how valuable doing it yourself is.

[jgmt]

We save up carcasses from chickens we cut up, rotisserie chickens, etc. in the freezer, then use slow cookers to create the most delicious stock (adding in carrots, onions, celery leftovers, etc.) We pressure can it so we have plenty to use whenever we're cooking soups, casseroles or whatever recipe calls for it. We've done the same thing with turkey carcasses post-holidays. (Pressure canning also means we're not filling up our freezers.) Great video!

[cclaussen]

Great breakdown! There’s a big benefit to processing your own chicken that reduces your exposure to food borne contamination. Leaving that chicken whole until it gets to your kitchen means it’s been through many less handling steps.

[gillscott]

Thank you for using the time and effort to show the old process in using everything in the animal. I live in Ireland and this is the way my mother cooked chicken and her mother. They didn't cut the chicken up as we didn't have freezers back then, but the whole chicken was cooked in the oven and many meals were made from the roasted meat. The carcass was sieved after boiling, to make sure no bones were left and used for a really great broth with lentils, barley, carrots, parsnips and leeks.and the remaining meat, giblets and meat remaining on the carcass. Even in these times of saving and stretching a meal, chicken is still a very economical meal. I have a local butcher and all the meat is local, so I know where my meat is coming from. I really enjoyed your video and just want to say there is nothing more heartwarming to see you making the best out of a chicken and you know you made it yourself. Even if you said you saved 1 dollar its a good dollar and your family is healthier for it.

[MoniBahaa]

Pro tip: the liquid that ends up collecting under the schmaltz is pure gelatin. Add it to the stock you're making to make it more unctuous and luxurious.

[ВалерияС-щн]

I live in Russia and we have had frequent outbreaks of avian flu on chicken and turkey farms lately. According to the law, it is forbidden to use a number of antibiotics in feed and injections for meat. therefore, now the cost of a pack of breasts is almost twice the cost of the same amount that you can cut from 2 chickens.

I love the days when we buy 2 chickens for butchering (my husband doesn't, he's got to butcher ahaha). since I don't eat thighs and legs, I leave 2 legs and wings (without tips) for 1 separate dinner, pre-marinating them and freezing afterwards. I divide the breasts into "steaks", and all the rest of the meat (from thighs, legs, trimmings) I chop into small pieces and make cutlets from them (meat, 1 egg, a little flour, mayonnaise + sour cream, cheese OR herbs, spices). try it, I think you'll like it. these cutlets are enough for 2-4 days for 2 people. and I cook their bones and fat in the same broth as you. if you are too lazy to boil, then I cook for 4-6 hours and strip the meat, which then goes into the salad.

[Sterling]

Every so often my local grocery store will run whole chicken on sale really cheap. Recently I got them for 79 cents a lb. When they are cheap I buy a few and put them in my chest freezer. Yesterday I put a whole one in the crock pot to make shredded chicken for some freezer casserole prep.

[olliecat]

I subbed to DTD a long time ago. I don't think this channel had 10k followers.
With this economy and living in a place where the closest store was a DT, and my car broke, I was shocked to realize I actually could feed my family of 5 out of a dollar store.
It's only gotten better and better. For a long time I had no idea of Rebecca's name.
I've seen hundreds of videos/TV shows of people breaking down chickens. I even worked for a butcher shop, I always thought I was doing something wrong. I can't do scissors, I make a mess and waste too much. So I appreciate seeing someone do it with a knife, reminding me that we all are comfortable in other ways, and that don't make me wrong.
I'm so impressed with these videos, and even more impressed with how "normal people" these videos are.
Thank You Rebecca. These videos have made me feel like I'm not stupid.
Putting smaller parts in the freezer to "save up", knowing I'm not holding back from my kids only making 2 breast.
These videos really feel like value added to my family.
Keep up the good work. You rock Rebecca!

[Airflyte]

I’m an old lady who’s been cutting up her own chickens forever. I love the way you do it! I learned a lot from you. I enjoy cutting up my own chickens and making my own broth but your way is more organized than mine. So satisfying! I can’t wait to get home and do this.

[dwynn]

We buy the double pack of whole chickens at walmart and my husband smokes them in the smoker. That takes approximately 2 to 4 hours depending. then we bring the chicken in and it is literally falling off of the bone! I have never done the bone test to see if we got all of the collagen out or not, I will have to pay attention next time we smoke some! but we debone all of the meat and separate it, then I take the carcass with veggies and make my stock, usually on the stove! There is alot of broth when we take the chicken out of the smoker, so I use that broth plus the carcass and add more water in a stock pot, I let that simmer for probably 2 hours then we strain everything out using practically the same method that you used! Then we freeze everything except for the carcass and the veggies we used to make the broth. It is time consuming, but we will have more than a months meals out of those 2 chickens! We use souper cubes for the broth, usually 4 cups at a time and have 2 of those, so we have around 8 cups of broth. And you do want to dilute it! It is very strong and after you refrigerate it, it does turn to jelly, or some of it does! So there is your collagen! thanks for sharing! xoxo

[sarahanne]

Hey, Rebecca! LOVING this video! Definitely gave me the confidence to try this myself! Wanted to give you a heads up that when you use antibacterial spray like 409, it needs to sit for about 30 sec to a minute before you wipe it up to really kill the bacteria! My microbiology professor taught me that and I've never been able to forget it 😂 just thought I'd pass it along!

[KateMoranHere]

Great video! I usually buy a whole chicken a few times a year mainly so i can use the leftover carcass to make really good stock. Couple questions:
- How long do smaltz and aspic last in the fridge?
- Do you think you could have gotten more stock out of those 2 carcasses? Like if you used 2 slow cookers and just put one carcass (and veggies) in each?
- Have you ever tried using the necks (either chicken or turkey) in rice and beans? Just feels like another way to stretch them into another meal.