Do you get more meat from one large chicken or two small chickens?

norabatty_2 · 4 September 2013 at 4:22PM

Just wondering what is more economical - to buy two small birds (e.g. 1.3kg each) or one large bird (e.g. 2.2kg)?

So far, I have only ever cooked small birds (about 1.3 kg) and usually end up with 550g - 650g of edible chicken from a small bird plus stock.

I'm not sure if large chickens have the same proportions of bones/fat/meat as small chickens do. Does anybody know how much cooked meat you should get from a large chicken?

I do appreciate that this question makes me sound like I have no life whatsoever, but would be interested to hear your views all the same.....

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Mojisola · 4 September 2013 at 4:25PM

I've never weighed the bones but I suspect that two lots of bones would weigh more than one lot from a bigger bird.

geordie_joe · 4 September 2013 at 5:35PM

I suspect that the percentage of meat/bones would be the same in two like for like chickens where just the size differs.

However, a quick look at the tesco web site shows that larger, but similar in quality chickens are about £1 per kilo more expensive. So even if you do get a little more meat from a bigger chicken you will be paying more per kilo for it.

norabatty_2 · 5 September 2013 at 5:34PM

Thanks for your replies. I suspect that my next trip to Mr S will involve purchasing a large chicken and then doing some cooking, dissecting, weighing and calculating. I'll let you know my findings!

kippers · 5 September 2013 at 6:58PM

norabatty wrote: »

I do appreciate that this question makes me sound like I have no life whatsoever, but would be interested to hear your views all the same.....

I obviously have no life either as I was really interested in the answer lol

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

compmad1 · 5 September 2013 at 7:14PM

I'll be very interested in the results of your experiments!

geordie_joe · 5 September 2013 at 7:16PM

kippers wrote: »

I obviously have no life either as I was really interested in the answer lol

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You think you have no life! I sat and trying to work it out, even went checking the price of chickens

I was actually interested in the answer, and they do say you should exercise your brain now and then

inspace · 5 September 2013 at 8:57PM

Grrrrrrrrrrrr I want to join the sad crew also - first thing I thought when I read the title was - wow very good question hehehe.

If no one completes the experiment I will feel compelled to lol my guess is on the big chicken - even more so if its like a small turkey

welshbookworm · 5 September 2013 at 9:03PM

Pulls up a chair and joins the rest of the sad crew.

My vote says a 2kg bird will have more meat than 2 x 1kg birds

cybervic · 6 September 2013 at 3:17PM

I used to buy one big chicken, cut all the meat off, freeze them, and finish them slowly (only cook for two.) for some strange reason I've always though 2 small chicken is more expansive than a big bird. I'd be really interested to know too.

geordie_joe · 6 September 2013 at 4:38PM

cybervic wrote: »

for some strange reason I've always though 2 small chicken is more expansive than a big bird. I'd be really interested to know too.

I thought that too, and it is sometimes but not others.

For example, a value chicken is £2.48 per Kilo. A 1kg chicken costs £2.48 and 3 kg costs £7.44.

But for similar type larger birds, where no smaller one is on sale to compare, the price per kilo is around £1 more.

I think this is because it costs more to feed/rear a chicken the bigger it gets. i.e. it takes a certain amount of food to get a chicken from hatching to weighing 1kg, but it would take a lot more food to get that chicken from 1kg to 2kg, and even more to get it up to 3kg.

Do you get more meat from one large chicken or two small chickens?

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