Organic Chicken observations with PR0N

[Bluesman]

There are a few threads going on about the merits of Organic, or Free Range, Chicken. With some of the comments I was inclined to cook one of these birds and see for myself. Let's start with the ingredients. One chicken, Montreal chicken rub and some EVOO.



The price is what always steered me away from this, but non-withholding to my better judgement I took the plunge. This is no cheap bird......



A few observations. The packaging was far superior to anything the store does. The chicken was packaged in a durable tray and vacuum sealed in a heavy duty plastic. Now worries of this one leaking all over the grocery cart. It had a whiter skin and the smell I usually get from ordinary chicken was not present. It was also trussed very nicely so little to no pre-rub preparation. So far I'm impressed...........



I chose to cook indirect over some KBB on my Performer at 325*. And pull it at 160* breast and 170* thigh IT. Has a great color and smells fabulous.




Off the grill tented and rested for 10 minutes and then sliced. Not really going for a plate shot here. The aroma was vastly different than I am used to. There was far less juice than normal but everything was very tender and the wings and drums pulled right off.



Conclusions: While this bird has some definite pluses in packaging, appearance and aroma the discerning factor is taste. The comments I read had mostly talked about how the taste and flavor was vastly superior to regular chicken. My wife and I had dinner and concurred...........Nice try but no cigar. It was drier, which could be remedied with a brine, I think. However I cooked this like I have many other chickens with no brine. The flavor was not that different to get me to pay more for an Organic chicken. Unlike the difference in beef, were I will pay more for a choice cut, this doesn't fit into that category.

Bottom Line

Find good chicken on sale and enjoy. This is not worth the money.

[2000milesofsmoke]

Looks good. Did I see $4.49/lb? Out of curiosity what does chicken regularly cost in your area.

[aawa]

great thread! Thanks for the review on the organic chicken.

[DeepElemCue]

Thank you!!! Was the skin bite-through?

[Bluesman]

Originally Posted by 2000milesofsmoke

Looks good. Did I see $4.49/lb? Out of curiosity what does chicken regularly cost in your area.

Depending on the sales. I can get thighs for $1.00 to a $1.50 a pound in a 10# bag. Whole chickens usually run about $2.50/lb.

Originally Posted by DeepElemCue

Thank you!!! Was the skin bite-through?

Yes the skin was very bite through. The absence of the fat would do this as I expected.

[bluetang]

Great synopses! I have often wondered about those birds.

[columbia1]

Thanks for saving me the time and expenses of doing my own test comparison. It was on my list this week.

[DeepElemCue]

This seems like a good deal to me. May have to give them a try.

http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/st...oductId=739586

[SmittyJonz]

Chicken ain't worth more than $1.99/lb or I'll buy real meat.

[leanza]

Pricey for sure. Nice looking cook.

[landarc]

Nice cook, the bird looked great.

The chickens I have been buying have been pasture raised, no idea if organic or not. Not cheap at all. My experience has been they taste better, smell better and cook up better than the supermarket chickens do. Never thought they were drier at all.

[unzippy]

No point injecting or brining cheap chicken - it's already been injected with growth hormones, antibiotics and other terrible stuff.

[Phubar]

Oh yeah...that looks good!

More expensive chicken from the wholesalestore over here costs about 15 euro's...instead of 5 euro's.
The 5 euro one tastes cheap compaired to the more expensive one.
Most of "us" buy the cheap watered down chicken...I'll prep it and eat it but it's not the same as the more expensive one.

[fantomlord]

Originally Posted by Bluesman

Depending on the sales. I can get thighs for $1.00 to a $1.50 a pound in a 10# bag. Whole chickens usually run about $2.50/lb.



Yes the skin was very bite through. The absence of the fat would do this as I expected.

do you have a Hyvee by you? their birds are around $0.88/lb, or Costco has them for $0.99.

[BecknCO]

Originally Posted by unzippy

No point injecting or brining cheap chicken - it's already been injected with growth hormones, antibiotics and other terrible stuff.

Thanks for the review! I've also been thinking about trying one. We always get a fresh organic turkey for Thanksgiving, and we can taste a huge difference (also seemingly a lot less fat) than the regular butterball variety, but I have always been wondering about the organic chickens.

The ones we buy at Kroger/King Soopers are always Foster Farms All Natural. They are pretty good but not spectacular by any means (but only $1.49/lb not on sale). The thing is that all chickens can be considered "all natural" and still have some type of crappy injection/brine in them. It's been illegal for a very long time to give chickens hormones or such.

Here's one of those Foster Farms "all natural" ones I did last night, along with some "all natural" turkey legs.