Chicken breasts price comparison

terra_ferma

chubbster_1 wrote: »

The problem I have is the amount of added water many of these contain. When you cook them, all that water seeps out leaving a smaller piece of meat so it seems a bit like false ecconomy to me to buy the cheaper stuff with lots of added water. Anyone know what the water content is like on the different brands mentioned?

water is not declared I believe (but not entirely sure) that it's due to hormones fed to the animals, not added later, so it's not an added ingredient.
waitrose's breasts are not great, they shrink quite a bit.

terra_ferma

davetrousers wrote: »

...an Organic chicken has something like 25% fewer calories than an intensively reared chicken (and 10x more omega 3).

can you reference please? never heard this before, and 25% is a very high.
I should think it would have more calories because it has less water (using weight of raw meat),which is not bad in itself as it would be the same once cooked.
But can't really think a reason why it would have fewer calories, if you compare like for like (cooked, lean chicken breasts for example).

geordie_joe

Originally Posted by davetrousers
...an Organic chicken has something like 25% fewer calories than an intensively reared chicken

terra_ferma wrote: »

can you reference please? never heard this before, and 25% is a very high.

Organic chickens are 25% smaller, so they are bound to have 25% less calories than other chickens.

Now if he'd said "Kilo for Kilo they have 25% less calories" I would have been interested.

easy

terra_ferma wrote: »

can you reference please? never heard this before, and 25% is a very high.
I should think it would have more calories because it has less water (using weight of raw meat),which is not bad in itself as it would be the same once cooked.
But can't really think a reason why it would have fewer calories, if you compare like for like (cooked, lean chicken breasts for example).

geordie_joe wrote: »

Organic chickens are 25% smaller, so they are bound to have 25% less calories than other chickens.

Now if he'd said "Kilo for Kilo they have 25% less calories" I would have been interested.

I'm working so don't have time to find the reference right now, but I too remember reading that Organic chicken has fewer calories per Kilo. This is because intensively reared birds are bred/fed to put on weight quickly, and that weight is made up of a higher proportion of FAT. The meat in organic birds (or birds fed a regular diet and allowed to move about naturally) has a lower fat content.

ETA I'm pretty sure that was mentioned in Hugh's series, which it seems is still available to watch her http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hughs-chicken-run/4od

geordie_joe

easy wrote: »

I'm working so don't have time to find the reference right now, but I too remember reading that Organic chicken has fewer calories per Kilo. This is because intensively reared birds are bred/fed to put on weight quickly, and that weight is made up of a higher proportion of FAT. The meat in organic birds (or birds fed a regular diet and allowed to move about naturally) has a lower fat content.

So, you can get anyone to believe anything, not by what you tell them, but by what you don't.

OK, so the organic chicken has less fat, so it has less calories because meat has 4 calories per gram and fat has 9.

But the organic chicken also has 10 x more omega-3, which has 10 calories per gram.

So, weight for weight, you are removing something with 9 calories per gram, and saying it has less calories. But not mentioning you are replacing some, if not all of it with omega-3 which has 10 calories!

terra_ferma

I think there are a lot of good reasons people could mention why eating organic is good for you, but fewer calories is not one of them, no matter how you put it
..one of the reasons people should not believe in everything that's posted in these forums, unless backed up with some evidence. If I make claims that are not fairly common knowledge/established fact I try and include a link.
if you don't have time to double check your sources, then don't post...

Jamc4659

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

are frozen breasts as good as using fresh ones? ive never used frozen ones but would like to,do you cook them from frozen?

The frozen work well but it depends on what you are making. They can be a bit water-filled. But do work well for chicken shish kebabs. That is mainly all we use them for. We marinate them with a little oil and tons of seasoning ( marinated for at least 4-5 hours) they come out nice and juice and great. But they wouldn't be good if you were wanting them for home made chickenkKiev's for example. They can sometimes fall apart.

Over all we use them for chicken salads, stir frys, Kebabs and home made chicken burgers and as a substitute for beef in chilli. But if you want the chicken to be breaded in anyway I would say go for fresh.

Asda well their frozen breast ( smart price) for about £3.90 (ish) p/kg.

Fresh Chicken I tend to get from my local butcher as it runs me about £5.50 p/kg for free range chicken breasts.



Personally we don't eat much in the way of chicken. We eat more fish, pork & beef. And I actually haven't bought chicken in a couple of months, but I will be again soon.

bearcub

We normally buy a whole chicken from local breeders, or chicken thighs from Morrisons. However, we did a large shop in Morrisons last week, but forgot to get any chicken pieces. We won't go into town for another month so, as we'd a Co op leaflet last week with the offer price of chicken breasts, after careful consideration, we did buy a pack. We don't have an Aldi on the IOW, and Tesco and Waitrose are 15 miles away. (Not that I'd EVER shop at Tesco.) It's a case of balancing need against price of petrol, really.

elantan

does anyone know the price per kg of chicken breasts at Costco? trying to decide if it is worth the 50 mile round trip ( would buy mince as well)

joeyboy

Personally I find a few butchers in my area are cheaper. One has a bit of a "special offer" at the moment, though really he's been selling them at this price for a few months, 1lb of skinless chicken breast for £2.80. So It's a bit under £6 per kg at the moment. Another often does it where it works out at £7 per kg roughly for us, and to be honest if the butcher and supermarket cost roughly the same, I'd rather get it from the butchers.

Also if you have a Halal butcher their chicken is often cheap, though clearly whether or not you agree with their method of slaughter may impact your choice. In saying that how are chickens generally killed at slaughter houses? Electrocution? I knew but I can't remember now... They must be too small and fragile for a bolt gun..