Greetings Carnivores,
I LOVE chicken. Who doesn’t ??
It’s so versatile and always affordable. And like many other offerings for the dinner table these days, there are ways to make the venerable chicken even MORE affordable.
Buying the whole bird and separating it yourself is often the best way to go but, many times you’ll find Leg quarters (drum, thigh and back attached) on sale and THAT’s when I fill my freezer!
Ahhh … the whole chicken leg quarter 🙂
First thing I do when I get them home is remove the back bone then, separate the drum from the thigh and lastly I bone out the thigh.
I do this because #1, I want the bones for stock and #2, I love, love, LOVE the thigh and boneless is my FAVOURITE part.
I vacuum seal the drums in meal portions then, do the same with the boneless thighs and toss them into the freezer.
Next, I break the back and thigh bones (to expose the marrow), and throw them into a roasting pan and bake them off for a good hour at 375.
When the bones come out of the oven I scrape all that roasted goodness, fat drippings and all into a pot of salted water with a couple of bay leaves, some carrots, onions and celery and bring it to a boil then simmer, covered for a good hour or more. Next, I strain it all and cool it, skim the fat and freeze the broth for soups and sauces later.
So, let’s recap:
20 Chicken Leg Quarters, backs attached $2.18/kg (0.99/lb) total spent $19.97. About a buck a leg. 🙂
Yield: 20 drums, 20 boneless thighs and 12 cups of beautiful, rich, homemade chicken stock.
20 drums at retail price of $6.49/kg, purchased separately will cost you about $22-$25.00
20 Boneless thighs at retail price of $8.49/kg, will run you about $25.00-$30.00
6 Tetra pac boxes of Chicken stock, around $12.00-$15.00
I think you see where I’m heading with this … the value of the whole chicken leg quarter and DIY can’t be overstated.
That’s it for today Carnivores 
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I LOVE chicken as well. Its versatility is unmatched and when on-sale it offers some of the best value around. My knife skills are rudimentary (certainly as compared to yours) so I don’t usually debone a whole chicken. Instead I buy the Family size packs of drumsticks, thighs(bone-in) and whole chicken legs (backs attached), and double/triple up when on-sale..
I used to keep bones for stock, but found I wasn’t using it enough to make it worth the effort and take up the space in my standard freezer compartment. I buy pork and steak in volume as well (so much cheaper), plus I need room for several containers of Ice Cream and individual cones. Love, love, love ice cream.
Ice Cream is a guilty pleasure of mine as well Johnny Vinyl 🙂
This is a great article for those who don’t do this already.
I’ve been buying bulk for some time now and having a large freezer helps cut costs tremendously.
Never tried cracking and baking the bones for stock. Will let the wife know about that one 😉
You’ll love the stock these roasted bones make … thanks for dropping by and commenting 🙂
In Australia that portion of chicken is known as a Chicken Maryland. It’s my favourite piece. I leave the bone in and roast them.
I LOVE these … thanks for popping by Dr Gary 🙂
Always a pleasure Doug
Here’s what I like about homemade Chicken Stock, it’s the schmaltz! That’s what gives any soup or sauce, anything that amazing mouth-feel. I found an eight ounce jar of that golden goodness in the market for $14.99 USD, WOW! And I’m getting that as a byproduct of those lovely Chicken bits, MMM!