What am I supposed to do with a whole chicken??

One comment/question we hear often is, “Why don’t you sell more chicken parts. I don’t know what to do with a whole chicken.”

I totally get it!  I felt the same way when I started buying whole chickens from a local farmer in Richmond before we moved here to Appomattox and started raising our own poultry.  As sophisticated, modern humans, we’ve gotten very used to just going to the grocery store or warehouse and grabbing a few armloads of pre-packaged meat cuts perfectly portioned for each meal. Those tidy little packages fit so nicely and neatly onto that freezer shelf and into our weekly meal planning.  They require little extra planning, thinking, or work.  Who can argue with that?  Well, I can, of course.

There were several reasons why I made the choice to leave that mile-long checkout line to join the local, small farm food movement in the first place.  First and foremost, for me, it was a matter of conscience.  The more I learned about the practices of the factory farms and packing plants, the more I considered giving up meat entirely and becoming a vegetarian.  The treatment of the animals and the extremely detrimental impact on the environment really tainted meat for me.  However, my family and I love meat. A lot. So, we really wanted to find another option.

The second big reason I moved to buying from a local, regenerative farm was health and nutrition.  Commercial food is losing its nutritional value and flavor.  This is likely due to the loss of soil quality over time as industrial agricultural practices have leached the nutrients away.  Regenerative farming practices put it back.  The proof is in the taste (and the nutrition facts if you’re into that sort of thing).

One more good reason was the packaging.  The packaging for individual cuts is wasteful and adds to the heap of plastic and styrofoam that will still be here when the pigs fly by and the cows come home.

So, getting back to the point…what’s with all the whole chickens??  The reason small farms offer so many whole chickens is a matter of resources and economics for the most part.  As small farms, we are usually working with our hands and some small equipment to process the poultry that we sell.  Unlike the factory farms where a chicken isn’t likely to see a human being at any point along the conveyor belt from hatching to butchering or even thereafter.  Most commercial poultry is processed using massive, expensive equipment, allowing hundreds or thousands of birds to be processed very quickly.  This is one reason supermarket chicken is generally less expensive.

The more processing and handling that goes into the products, the higher the price tag is going to be.  Therefore, the most economical product to buy will be that whole chicken.  Buying whole chickens will SAVE YOU MONEY!

When I stepped into the strange new world of whole chickens, the only thing I knew to do with them was to roast them.  This is a perfectly good option, don’t get me wrong.  There’s nothing quite like a perfectly roasted chicken with beautiful, golden, perfectly crispy skin.  However, I have learned that the possibilities are virtually limitless and you can only eat so many roasted chickens before you never want to lay eyes on another one.  Buying whole chickens opens up possibilities you don’t have when you buy cuts.

Depending on how or when you buy the chicken you have some options right off the bat.  If you buy the chicken from the farmer on processing day or soon after, you can get it fresh, meaning never frozen.  This gives you the option to easily part the chicken yourself when you get home and either eat it right away or package it up and freeze it for later.

Parting out the chicken is not as scary as we might think.  It is completely within your abilities, I promise.  In fact, you may be surprised to learn that long ago, before the widespread, mundane convenience of the supermarket, humans knew how to do this and did it often!  Shocking, right?  There are many YouTube videos and books detailing how this is done.  Here are some now!

This is a really quick, simple one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UyyLRqah3E

Here’s a longer one. The dude in this one gives you the whole story and lots of other reasons why you should buy whole chickens and even shows you what to do with them.  Let me tell you, the chicken broth and fried chicken skins alone make it worth buying the whole chicken! YUM.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTNEjPOixKY

One thing that I like to do is cut the chicken in half, right down the middle of the breast and alongside the backbone.  You do need a decent pair of poultry scissors for this but they’re well worth the investment.  This gives you two, nearly equal portions that can be thrown into many recipes with no further prep.  I either cut it in half prior to freezing or after thawing and plan a couple of chicken recipes for that week to use them both up.

Another interesting fact is that even though a recipe may call specifically for 2 pounds of chicken breast or thighs, it is possible to just throw in one of your chicken halves, cook it, and pull it off the bone when it is done.  That was a jagged little pill for me to swallow because I’ve always been a by-the-recipe, color-inside-the-lines kind of gal.  Not very adventurous in the kitchen if you will.

“But the recipe calls for chicken breast.  You can’t just throw in an entire half chicken, thigh, wing, bones and all!!”  I thought incredulously, to myself as I tossed in the whole thing purely out of scarcity of other ideas.

As it happens, you can.  And it tastes even better most of the time!

Of course, this isn’t possible with every recipe.  You obviously aren’t going to have a lot of success cooking chicken enchiladas with an entire half chicken on top.  Nevertheless, an Instant Pot recipe for chicken and rice, or chicken noodle soup, which calls for a certain amount of chicken breast?  That is what I am talking about.  Those have been some of the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten.  And what’s more?  The chicken falls off the bone after pressure cooking or slow cooking, making it very easy to deal with, not to mention tender and delightful (make sure to check temp. for doneness).  The usefulness of the chicken doesn’t end there!  Save all of those bones and add them to the Instant Pot once more with some water, veggies, and salt and pepper, cook for another 2 hours and you’ve got the most delicious chicken bone broth imaginable.  At this point, the veggies, bones, cartilage, and other parts you no longer want can be mashed up and fed to the dog.  The bones take on a chalky consistency and just mash right up.  Bam, no waste and more money saved!

I hope this has inspired you to place your order right now and grab your Purple Mockingbird Farm pasture-raised, organic-fed, regenerative whole chickens and get to cooking!  We do offer a limited selection of parts as well if you’re not quite ready to take the leap.  We just added a fresh batch to our freezers this weekend so stock up now!  Click the shop button above to order or click here.

Appomattox, local food, Lynchburg, pastured poultry, VA