wOULD YOU BUY TESCO VALUE WHOLE CHICKEN OR FROZEN CHICKEN PIECES?

jackyann

skintmum2012 wrote: »

Sorry don't want to highjack post but as there's a lot of people that make stock on here I wanted to ask I made Stock the other week with my Chicken bones after cooking the chicken in the slow cooker but they really where bones so had to add veg after is there a way to make the stock and have veggies cooking with it?

see the chicken soup recipe if you want to make that (looks good!) however, I do think that if making stock, you simply have to throw away the veggies - they have been boiled to death and all the "goodness" (taste & nutrition) is now in the stock.
I have a "stock drawer" in my freezer. Into it goes not just chicken carcasses, but other bones left from roasts etc. When I have celery, any stringy outside bits go in, any carrots getting soft, parsley stalks, tough leek bits etc. When there is enough, I make stock, add a whole onion cut up, but with the skin on for colour & bay leaves. I simmer it on a very low heat for hours!
I reduce the stock so it takes up less space and freeze it in small quantities in the "stock drawer" - so I can always see the ratio of stock to ingredients.
I am never certain if it is actually cheaper, considering the fuel (though using the slow cooker can help, but make sure it boils well before it goes in) but IMO it makes a huge difference in taste (cf: above!)
So I do think it is personal trial & error as to what really works for you & your family.
My dh thinks "all fish tastes the same" but hates stews to be frozen "because it spoils the texture". I can't see the difference with stews and love different fish!

lilac_lady

I'm in the minority here because I buy chicken breasts or chicken fillets when they are on offer, rather than a whole chicken.

I dice the meat and put into several small freezer bags and use when I want to cook stirfries, curries etc.

If I was feeding a family I would buy a whole chicken but as I hate dealing with one, I'll be non MSE here and stick to chicken breasts.

BitterAndTwisted

Variations on a chicken-soup recipe include sweating the onions off first in some butter (most flavoursome) or marge/oil) adding your your stripped carcass, setting aside the meat, add a couple of pints of stock (or even water if you have a fair bit of meat) , add herbs and any other seasonings. Leave some skin as that's very tasty but if you don't like fat floating on the top add only a little or none. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently with a lid on for an hour or two.

Once the liquid has simmered, taste it. If it's watery let it simmer with the lid off until it's intense enough for your liking. Cool and strain. Pick out all the bones, cartilage and skin. Chop your set-aside meat and add it to the liquid. At this point you can add any veggies you like plus rice or those tiny pasta shapes like orzo. Or even beans of some description. Whatever you have to hand, really. A spoonful of pesto sauce can perk things up, especially if you've used tomatoes. Then bring it back to the boil and simmer until the veggies are cooked.

There are hundreds of different soups you can make with a chook and every single one of them can be delicious in its own way.

camNolliesMUMMY

today we have had a roast dinner, i have then taken a handful of meat off and seasoned with jerk seasoning as later on we are having a pizza i had 1pizza base in the freezer, salami and pepporoni that we had left over i had frozen, we also had 1 sausage in the freezer so i seasoned that too and threw ontop of my pizza along with some sweetcorn.

out of the rest i will be seasoning one lot with cajun and the other with tandoori as oh and myself can have these in wraps in the week but i will be freezing them in bags and only taking out what i need as and when, also could do the same again and use on pizzas, or pitta pizzas for ds1.

sometimes i make a curry for oh to take to work so i would add chicken to the sauce and freeze enough in tubs along with rice as a ready meal for him to take to work.

i sometimes use the left over meat to bulk out in a casserole or curry etc so i use less of the frozen chicken breast

chicken mayo sandwhiches mmmmmmm lol
pilaf/benechin/jalloff
biriyani (dont know how you spell it)
soups
pie
southern fried chicken bites- look for a recipe mix and keep in jar so its easy thats what i do.


the possibilities are endless lol but freeze or not it doesnt matter i freeze mostly if im planning on using in the week.

Pink.

Hi miss_emmajane,

As your thread has dropped down the board I've added it to the existing thread on the same subject to keep the replies together.

Pink

squeakysue

Does anyone buy these?
I got a big bag of them yesterday from tesco thought I would give them a go, not sure what the quality will be like, I do sometimes buy frozen chicken breasts and use them in curries etc but have never bought bone in chicken pieces frozen. They are tesco value but thought they might be ok defrosted and marinated then cooked for lunch boxes/snacks in the fridge for my hungry lot!

HelenYorkshire

I've used them before, and they're okay for what they are. Not particularly tasty (compared to free range chicken etc), but certainly fine. You probably won't find a "matching set" of drumsticks, thighs, or legs if you wanted each person to have the same thing! Or if you wanted to do a specific dish that normally uses e.g. whole thighs.

Farway

Hope you will not be too offended, but I used to buy the Asda equivalent for my cat, he loved them, and it was cheaper than cat food, plus I could hide his medication in it

I found slowly cooking in a low heat oven, in tin foil, gave acceptable results

squeakysue

Farway wrote: »

Hope you will not be too offended, but I used to buy the Asda equivalent for my cat, he loved them, and it was cheaper than cat food, plus I could hide his medication in it

I found slowly cooking in a low heat oven, in tin foil, gave acceptable results

Ha ha no not offended, I am just looking at cheap ways to feed my hungry family, especially my sport mad son and other half! Hopefully some protein value in the chicken pieces!

maman

I have these from Sainsburys. Great for a casserole. The contents do vary, my current bag is almost all drumsticks but still fine for a midweek meal. Sometimes there's a quarter chicken portion or two which I use for a midweek mini-roast.