What's Going On with Costco's Rotisserie Chickens?

[mrsstats]

We buy one almost every time we are in Costco. I have not noticed any change in taste and they are still in the same containers on Long Island.

 

[geist1223]

I would like to think this would cause people to step back and question why an entire roasted chicken costs less than a flat of blueberries. .

Nope I just enjoy the Chicken. No only that I refuse to buy Organic. I recently violated this Rule because the "Organic Blueberries" were on sale for $2.00 cheaper per 18 ounces. Boy was that a mistake. They went rotten so fast. I have a T-Shirt that says on the Front "ALL FOOD IS ORGANIC." On the back it says "ALL FOOD HAS BEEN GENTICALLY MODIFIED."

 

[ScoopKona]

¿How is that a negative? More power to us.

Opinion | The Ugly Secrets Behind the Costco Chicken (Published 2021)

An investigator went under cover and brought back disturbing video from a farm growing those famous birds.

www.nytimes.com

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/24/business/costco-rotisserie-chicken-lawsuit/index.html

Report suggests that litter from chicken farms has upped contamination of water • Nebraska Examiner

Report suggests that litter from chicken barns supplying Costco plant is increasing contaminants in Nebraska streams.

nebraskaexaminer.com

They're raising 110 million birds each year in a 400,000 square foot facility. And they're only reason they're doing it is to satisfy a market that equates the word cheap with "good."

Where is Upton Sinclair when you need him?

 

[DRH90277]

Hey, why give Costco a bad time about providing a reasonably priced deal on a simple rotisserie chicken? Some people just like these chickens, and they may also like the "Hot Dog/Drink" deal. It's probably ok.

Does this simple faire differ in taste from the copied product sold at Walmart, Sam's, or my local supermarket?

 

[geist1223]

I'm still do not see the problem. I think it is great that the USA is provides more of its food internally than almost any other Country. That the USA is a net exporter of agricultural products.

Feel free to eat only what you raise and kill in a safe humane manner.

 

[ScoopKona]

Does this simple faire differ in taste from the copied product sold at Walmart, Sam's, or my local supermarket?

It doesn't. That's part of the problem.

There has to be a happy medium between the Buddhist-raised chicken I prefer (because it tastes much, much better), and the industrial squalor birds which stew in their own feces because they are incapable of moving on their own.

This entire "debate" comes from Jim asking "why are the wings on my chicken always broken?" It's a valid question. And diving into the answer leads to more questions. The answer always seems to be "companies have learned that people will buy anything if it is loaded with salt, fat and sugar."

 

[DRH90277]

Opinion | The Ugly Secrets Behind the Costco Chicken (Published 2021)

An investigator went under cover and brought back disturbing video from a farm growing those famous birds.

www.nytimes.com

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/24/business/costco-rotisserie-chicken-lawsuit/index.html

Report suggests that litter from chicken farms has upped contamination of water • Nebraska Examiner

Report suggests that litter from chicken barns supplying Costco plant is increasing contaminants in Nebraska streams.

nebraskaexaminer.com

They're raising 110 million birds each year in a 400,000 square foot facility. And they're only reason they're doing it is to satisfy a market that equates the word cheap with "good."

Where is Upton Sinclair when you need him?

Are you also against the hot dog/drink deal and the pizza? Would a square pizza make you happier?

Do you buy products produced by prisoners and child labor with tiny fingers in China?

 

[ScoopKona]

1) Are you also against the hot dog/drink deal and the pizza? 2) Would a square pizza make you happier?

3) Do you buy products produced by prisoners and child labor with tiny fingers in China?

Numbers added for clarity.

1) Yes -- unless that drink is "water" and not malted poison. And the hot dog simply isn't very good. I make my own. Sausage making is one of my favorite culinary tricks. Nothing like the snap of a real weiner in a real casing made with ingredients you sourced yourself. I also make my own jerky, corned beef, pastrami, smoked salmon and barbecue. All of that is in the same culinary ballpark. My way costs a little more and takes considerably more time. But the results are worth it.

2) No, a square pizza wouldn't make me happier. I like pizza made from 00 flour, fermented for at least a couple days, hand stretched and fired in a stone oven at 320c. The closer it tastes to pizza in Naples, the more I like it.

3) I don't buy many products at all. Mostly agricultural products. (For instance, my coffee pulper was made in Columbia and I bought it from a farmer who was getting out of the business. Most of what I buy is similarly used/upcycled. I don't like being part of the problem if I can avoid it. The last new thing I purchased was a Chevy work truck because it made the most sense for tax purposes.)

There is plenty of great food to be had at Costco. But none of it is frozen pre-cooked (like the cases of corn dogs and similar) or found at the food court. Do you think the CEOs of Costco, or Darden Group, or Yum! Foods eat their own products?

 

[DRH90277]

Numbers added for clarity.

1) Yes -- unless that drink is "water" and not malted poison. And the hot dog simply isn't very good. I make my own. Sausage making is one of my favorite culinary tricks. Nothing like the snap of a real weiner in a real casing made with ingredients you sourced yourself. I also make my own jerky, corned beef, pastrami, smoked salmon and barbecue. All of that is in the same culinary ballpark. My way costs a little more and takes considerably more time. But the results are worth it.

2) No, a square pizza wouldn't make me happier. I like pizza made from 00 flour, fermented for at least a couple days, hand stretched and fired in a stone oven at 320c. The closer it tastes to pizza in Naples, the more I like it.

3) I don't buy many products at all. Mostly agricultural products. (For instance, my coffee pulper was made in Columbia and I bought it from a farmer who was getting out of the business. Most of what I buy is similarly used/upcycled. I don't like being part of the problem if I can avoid it. The last new thing I purchased was a Chevy work truck because it made the most sense for tax purposes.)

There is plenty of great food to be had at Costco. But none of it is frozen pre-cooked (like the cases of corn dogs and similar) or found at the food court. Do you think the CEOs of Costco, or Darden Group, or Yum! Foods eat their own products?

It is good to understand your perspective a bit better. You seem to be happy and committed in your way. Good for you.

Good luck.

FYI - We also don't buy the rotisserie chicken. It's just not for us.

 

[easyrider]

We live in the country and have raised chickens for eggs, meat but mostly for kicks. Chicken wings often break because the bones are hollow. Mystery solved, lol.

Bill

 

[ScoopKona]

It is good to understand your perspective a bit better. You seem to be happy and committed in your way. Good for you.

So many health problems are directly caused by a fast diet*. (Diet with a small d. Not big-D Diet, which is usually treated like religion/cult.)

All the gluten intolerance? Study after study show that's caused (or at least exacerbated) by eating mass-produced, quickly leavened bread. Diabetes? It's exploded in my lifetime. Gout is on the rise. A fast diet is at least partially blamed for all the fibromyalgia.

Average lifespan is retreating.

* Not all fast food is bad food. There are plenty of street foods which are fast, but also healthy. The best "fast" foods are the ones which take a lengthy prep (such as fermenting sourdough) and then come together in minutes. I'm not against all fast food. I'm against the kind of fast food which hurries what would normally be a lengthy cooking process by taking chemical shortcuts. Anything taken out of a box and heated in a microwave, loaded with difficult to pronounce chemicals fits the bill -- all that stuff is just as bad as the Jumbo McWhopper with extra hydrogenated "cheese."

 

[Big Matt]

Very interesting supply chain.

Eggs are hatched
Chicks are sorted and some of them are raised for harvesting
They house the chicks
They feed the chicks until its time for harvest
They load the young chickens into crates and put them on trucks
The trucks take the chickens to the processing plant
The workers unload the chickens
The chickens are hung, decapitated, slit/gutted, quickly run through a vat of hot water, and plucked. They are washed quickly.
Going to a grocery store the chickens are reunited with their innards, bagged and placed in ice, put in boxes and shipped to stores.......or they are cut up and put on trays and wrapped
They are shipped to their destinations and unloaded.

In a grocery store a chicken will sell for about $7.50 nowadays. The funny thing is that everyone in the supply chain made a profit for their part of the profit.

The moral of the story is that we eat about 8 billion chickens in the United States every year. Wonder why chicken breasts are now so cheap as compared to 30 years ago? Wings got more popular than breasts and there are only two on each chicken.

 

[joestein]

We usually buy the pulled chicken meat from the rotisserie chickens that are sold in Costco in a 2.5lb package (used to be 3lbs). It is not cheap at $18 or so - used to be $13. We cut it up and bag it in 1/4 lb portions. We then use it for a salad or soup.

I will say that I notice there are lots of little tiny pieces lately, versus the past and not a lot of large meat pieces as it use to be. Plus the cost has risen from $4/lb to around $7/lb. Might start to look for an alternative.

 

[CO skier]

I will say that I notice there are lots of little tiny pieces lately, versus the past and not a lot of large meat pieces as it use to be. Plus the cost has risen from $4/lb to around $7/lb. Might start to look for an alternative.

Why not just buy the whole chicken for $4.99 and pull/cut it into the size pieces you prefer? I have never weighed it, but there must be at least a pound of meat, maybe two, from the whole chicken. That would make it $2.50 - $4.99 per pound.

 

[joestein]

Why not just buy the whole chicken for $4.99 and pull/cut it into the size pieces you prefer? I have never weighed it, but there must be at least a pound of meat, maybe two, from the whole chicken. That would make it $2.50 - $4.99 per pound.

Because the chicken is already pulled off the frame. It is a lot easier than pulling it off the chicken. Mostly clean - but sometimes a bit of cartlidge or bone. I am actually thinking of SousVide some chicken breasts instead.

 

[Bucky]

Because the chicken is already pulled off the frame. It is a lot easier than pulling it off the chicken. Mostly clean - but sometimes a bit of cartlidge or bone. I am actually thinking of SousVide some chicken breasts instead.

We tried buying the pre plucked cluck just once. Was too dry and rubbery. We usually buy two of the rotisserie ones and I pluck em. We bag them in small portions for tacos, salads, snacks, etc.

 

[Brett]

We also use leftover rotisserie chicken for chicken salad, casseroles, tacos, etc

 

[joestein]

We tried buying the pre plucked cluck just once. Was too dry and rubbery. We usually buy two of the rotisserie ones and I pluck em. We bag them in small portions for tacos, salads, snacks, etc.

The pulled meat from Costco is never dry or stringy. It is very moist and sometimes a tiny bit salty. Maybe pulled meat at the supermarket is dry - but not at Costco. It has just gotten expensive and has too many tiny trimmings, rather than big chunks.

 

[Glynda]

My problem with their chicken is that it always red inside near the bones. I've read that it's cooked and I've even cooked it some more but it is still red. It's just too ingrained in me not to eat chicken that is red. I just can't.

 

[Panzerman45]

Just bought a Costco chicken yesterday. Same as always, big, nicely prepared and only $4.99. Taste the same as always.

 

[easyrider]

Because the chicken is already pulled off the frame. It is a lot easier than pulling it off the chicken. Mostly clean - but sometimes a bit of cartlidge or bone. I am actually thinking of SousVide some chicken breasts instead.

I put on gloves and place the Costco chicken in two small zip lock bags and freeze them. I toss the wings and skin. It's handy as a base for a quick meal.

We do sous vide chicken breasts occasionally. The first time we did this I thought they weren't cooked all the way through. The second time they came out a bit dry. The third time I sliced the chicken breasts into thinner halves meaning the chicken breast was two sliced from inside to outside. I cooked it for an hour at 143. The seasoning was salt , pepper and butter. It makes a great base for many recipes or is great as is. This is now my go to recipe.

Bill

 

[joestein]

I put on gloves and place the Costco chicken in two small zip lock bags and freeze them. I toss the wings and skin. It's handy as a base for a quick meal.

We do sous vide chicken breasts occasionally. The first time we did this I thought they weren't cooked all the way through. The second time they came out a bit dry. The third time I sliced the chicken breasts into thinner halves meaning the chicken breast was two sliced from inside to outside. I cooked it for an hour at 143. The seasoning was salt , pepper and butter. It makes a great base for many recipes or is great as is. This is now my go to recipe.

Bill

I was thinking for 150 degrees as a test run. I read that 145 is minimum. I agree with salt and pepper, but do you think butter does anything?

 

[easyrider]

I was thinking for 150 degrees as a test run. I read that 145 is minimum. I agree with salt and pepper, but do you think butter does anything?

My first batch of chicken breasts was cooked at 150 for about a hour but they were too thick and were really pink inside so I finished them on the stove. The second try was at 165 for a hour and it was juiced out and kind of dry. Now I cut the breast thinner and go 143 for a hour and toss them in a pan with oil for a sear. I got the butter idea and the 143 cook time from a you tube video. If you like butter you will like butter on the chicken you sous vide. You could always do portions and see what taste best. I tried Yoshida Teriaki and it was ok. Soy sauce and brown sugar was ok. Pink salt, pepper and butter is now my go too for chicken breast.

The chicken breast is sliced into two halves and is about 3/4 of an inch thick.

Bill

 

[ScoopKona]

"How to get everyone you know sick 101."

 

[easyrider]

"How to get everyone you know sick 101."

Hi Scoop. I bet you have a good recipe for sous vide chicken breast. If you feel like sharing a couple that might be good for a party of 8 and include side dishes I'm all in. If you have a beverage that goes with this all the better.

Bill