15 Kitchen Hacks that Will Save a Long Ton of Cash

Hey Amanda,

1. When you Buy Chicken, Buy an Entire Chicken

I know what you're thinking. The price isn't that different after you factor for skin and bones.  Well, thanks to Texas's Extension Service, I factually disagree.

Meat yields per pound of purchased Chicken parts
Whole Bird------------------------- .7 lb per pound  (with skin) .58 lb per pound (without)
Boneless Skinless Breast---- 1 lb per pound
Boneless Breast----------------- .89 lb per pound
Thigh-------------------------------- .66 lb per pound
Boneless Thigh------------------ .84 lb per pound
Drumstick------------------------- .67 lb (with skin) .58 lb per pound (without)
Wing--------------------------------  .54 lb (with skin) .33 lb per pound (without)

So, to find the boneless skinless meat price for your whole bird multiply it's price per pound by 1.72 so you can comparison shop between meat cuts. Don't look at me like I'm crazy, your phone has a calculator on it.

A trip to Wal-Mart and a tappity-tap on my phone verified that meat from Whole Chicken was still 54% cheaper than boneless, skinless breast meat.  Shoot.

That doesn't even touch the savings in supplemental goods from the whole chicken, namely the heavenly cold-kicking, best-tasting chicken stock you have ever imbibed, and schmaltz (e.g. Jewish Lard).

And now your thinking, yeah, but it takes so gosh darn long to take those bones out....

Riddle me this. Do you have ten minutes to save a bunch of money and make the best chicken noodle soup of your life?

For the remaining 14 hacks, see Part 2.

You're  welcome,
Stephanie

Schmaltz: n. rendered fat from chicken, frequently used by Jews in cooking as an alternative to butter in meals where meat will be served to avoid breaking Kosher laws of separating meat from dairy. Use with noodles, rice, roasted squash or potatoes, to fry hasbrowns or eggs,to grease pans and pots.... wow, that was quite the run-on sentence.