Serves: 5
Nowadays, there are so many chicken choices in the grocery store. Should you buy a fryer or a roaster, whole or cut-up pieces, frozen or fresh? Listed below are some facts about different types of chicken and the different ways chickens are grown.
Broiler-Fryer Chickens: This all-purpose chicken weighs from 3 to 3 1/2 pounds, with the best bargain being the whole bird versus buying it cut-up. Larger birds will have a higher ratio of meat to bone. Allow about 3/4 pound (bone-in) per serving.
Cut-up Pieces: Cut-up chicken and boneless chicken parts, such as breasts and thighs, cost more per pound, but they can make getting dinner on the table faster and easier!
Drummettes: Perfect for appetizers, drummettes or drummies are just the meatier first section of the chicken wing. 2 pounds should give you about 24 pieces, but this can vary.
Roaster Chickens: This chicken is a little older and larger than the broiler-fryer chicken, weighing 4 to 6 pounds. Even though these are larger than broiler-fryer chickens, they are still tender and moist enough to roast. Allow 3/4 pound (bone-in) per serving.
Stewing Chickens: This chicken (also called a “hen”) weighs 4 1/2 to 6 pounds and provides a generous amount of meat. It’s a mature, less-tender bird and is best cooked in stew and soup recipes. Allow 3/4 pound (bone-in) per serving.
Rock Cornish Hens: These small, young, specially bred chickens (also called “game hens”) weigh
1 to 1 1/2 pounds and have only white meat. Allow 1/2 to 1 whole hen per person. Look for them in the freezer case.
Amish, Free-Range, Organic and Kosher Chickens: These names refer to the ways the chickens are raised or processed. With Amish, free-range and organic chickens, the emphasis is on raising the chickens without using antibiotics and feeding them a diet free of pesticides and herbicides. They tend to be more expensive than commercially raised chickens. Kosher chickens are processed according to stringent guidelines.
Substituting Chicken Parts
Are you partial to particular parts? No problem. Use your favorite chicken pieces in any of the recipes in this book that call for a cut-up broiler-fryer chicken. Just substitute 3 to 3 1/2 pounds breasts, thighs, drumsticks (legs) or wings for the cut-up broiler-fryer. If you choose to use all breasts or thighs, which are thicker and meatier than other pieces, you may need to increase the cooking time.
From "Betty Crocker's Complete Cookbook, Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today, 9th Edition." Text Copyright 2000 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This CHICKEN BASICS recipe is from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook, 9th Edition Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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