Buying

It's easy to misjudge how much chicken to buy when hosting a smaller group or a larger crowd than usual. Here are some simple measures:

• Bone-in chicken: One pound (0.45 kg package) of raw chicken will serve approximately two or three people. For 4 people, purchase about 32 ounces (0.90-1 kg) of chicken.
•  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: One pound (0.45 kg package) of raw chicken will serve approximately four people.
•  Roasting chicken: A 4-to-7 pound (1.8-3.7 kg) chicken will serve approximately five to seven people.
• Chicken wings/drumsticks: One pound (0.45 kg package) of raw chicken wings or drumsticks will serve approximately 1-1½ people.
• Whole turkey: It is always a good idea to allow for 1 pound of uncooked turkey per person. A 12-pound (5.44 kg) turkey will feed a table of 10-12 hungry people.

Choose packages that have been well-chilled and tightly wrapped without any tears or holes. Always look for the packaging and best before dates to ensure you are getting the freshest product, as quality and food safety decrease after these dates. Keep your poultry as cold as possible on its journey from the supermarket to your home refrigerator by buying it last on your shopping list and asking the cashier to pack your meat with other frozen items.

We currently have 2 grades in the poultry industry; Grade A and Utility.

Typically Utility birds may have a part missing like a wing or a drumstick or they may have a piece of skin missing. A Grade A bird should not have any parts missing and should have a good skin covering.

At Granny’s our farmers do their best to ensure all of our birds are grown to the highest possible standard of quality.

Seasoned boneless skinless chicken breasts or Individually Quick Freezing (IQF) chicken breasts were originally developed for restaurants. They do not dry out when held for a long time during restaurant service and they are more economical and convenient than fresh chicken breasts. The sodium tripolyphosphate helps to keep the water in the meat.

They have become popular in grocery stores mainly because of their low price point but also because they are convenient to use a few at a time.

We are trying to phase out our high sodium high water content version and are working a healthy, reduced sodium version that also contains Omega 3 through flax. Keep an eye out, hopefully they will be in stores soon.

You have really asked 2 different questions here. Chicken thighs would give you the most meat but chicken drumsticks are usually the most economical to buy (lowest price per kg). There are lots of good feature prices out there for both if you watch for them. It is usually more economical to buy thighs or drumsticks with the bone in as opposed to buying them boneless.