Freezing cooked chicken to preserve texture/flavor
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Last month, I bought a flock of chickens at Safeway for $0.69/ lb RAW. The average chicken was 7# or well under $5.
On Thursday, we had roasted chicken and mashed potatoes and fed four adults.
On Friday, we had chicken and three mushroom quesadillas and fed four adults.
On Saturday, we had chicken and sausage jambalaya and fed six adults.
Tomorrow, we will have chicken salad for four and enough leftover jambalaya to serve as a side.
In my book, that is a better deal than the Costco chicken.
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I like to freeze raw chicken but I do not care for frozen cooked chicken unless it is going in a soup or a stew. I do NOT like the overseasoning that you find in most rotisserie chicken.
I freeze raw chicken parts that I buy fresh from the supermarket. If I know we're not going to use them in the next week or so, I'll sometimes vacuum seal them as well. It really does help prevent freezer burn.
After cooking 15 thighs and the family eats about 5-6 of them, I'll vacuum seal the rest and freeze. I have found that just putting cooked pieces in the fridge doesn't work; they taste less good the next day, and by the 3rd day they're rather unappetizing.
By the way, vacuum sealers run about $80 at the Target or online. I would stick with FoodSaver and not use one of the knockoffs from China. One time I got a $20 knock-off from Ebay that was flimsy and cheaply made and didn't work too well. U get what u pay for!
Or you can get one for more like $100 or $120 at an outdoors camping and hunting store such as Cabela's. Those work pretty well but again it's a bit more expensive.
Target also sells the refills at about $16 per roll. Be careful about buying refills on Amazon; some sellers sell knock-off imitations of FoodSaver bags, including a color inkjet printed label that is literally a copy of FoodSaver logo but is not real (and doesn't work as well).
OP, as an FYI you don't need to defrost cooked meat before reheating. The same also with uncooked frozen meats. The only necessity is insuring the internal temperature has reached the proper level using a meat thermometer.
I've been grilling and refrigerating chicken for my lunches for the week, for probably 20 years. Still do the same think now that I am retired. Never tasted dry to me after reheating. Guess I just love chicken!
I buy them at Fareway and cut them up and vacuum seal them. No problem. I also make stock out of the carcass. That also is vacuum sealed and frozen.
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Originally Posted by A.Typical.Girl
Ah, another Iowan.
In fact, Fareway was where I was yesterday in Waukee at 5pm... the store was empty besides me wandering around looking for some obscure spice. Among all the nearby stores, their chickens are the cheapest, nicely cooked & deeply browned... Hy-Vee is $3 more & the chickens are always unappetizingly beige & undercooked.
They had 10 rotisserie chickens that were discounted to $5, I guess as it was end of day & they aren't open on Sundays & for some reason, no one was out anywhere... maybe the State Fair is still going on? If I had a way to properly freeze them, I was going to ask the store mngr if I could have them all for $4/each.
I make chicken soup, too with carcasses. I even save the skin, which I rarely eat, as it adds nice flavor & color. It's also a good way to use up wobbly carrots/celery since I don't like them cooked, but they do add nice flavor to soup.
Fareway's meat counter was always fantastic.
We section and vacuum seal. And my wife uses the carcass for broth, much of which also goes into the freezer for future use.
Last month, I bought a flock of chickens at Safeway for $0.69/ lb RAW.
That's a great price, especially for a whole flock. I'd probably eat anything for .60-cents/lb!
Quote:
I like to freeze raw chicken but I do not care for frozen cooked chicken unless it is going in a soup or a stew. I do NOT like the overseasoning that you find in most rotisserie chicken.
Yeah, I think I'm going to have to rethink this... I don't like anything about cooked, frozen chicken (& I agree about over seasoning/salting), so I guess I'm just not going to be able to do what I want. Maybe I just don't like it, rather than not being able to find a way to properly freeze it.
What El said above about it not freezing well as it might have lots of brine (sausages, is what she was mentioning), might be the same I'm encountering with cooked chicken. I do know they inject rotisserie chickens with liquids to keep them moist & maybe that texture is still going to be an issue for me even if I buy the vacuum sealer. And, in fact, when I make soup from raw & freeze chicken myself, I don't like the flavor/texture either, so... I guess I just don't like cooked frozen chicken.
Maybe I just need to freeze raw only & leave it at that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
By the way, vacuum sealers run about $80 at the Target or online. I would stick with FoodSaver and not use one of the knockoffs from China. One time I got a $20 knock-off from Ebay that was flimsy and cheaply made and didn't work too well. U get what u pay for!
Or you can get one for more like $100 or $120 at an outdoors camping and hunting store such as Cabela's. Those work pretty well but again it's a bit more expensive.
Target also sells the refills at about $16 per roll. Be careful about buying refills on Amazon; some sellers sell knock-off imitations of FoodSaver bags, including a color inkjet printed label that is literally a copy of FoodSaver logo but is not real (and doesn't work as well).
TY for the advice. That's really good info that I hadn't thought about, but I have noticed that since Amazon began allowing "verified sellers" who all seem to be Asian co's who sell inferior merch, I've had to return 80+% of purchases in 1-yr's time, to the point that I'm now avoiding Amazon.
I've received small bistro sets with no holes to put in screws (the bloody nightmare of 18 emails back & forth with someone lacking in English skillls, with them telling me to drill my own was what broke me finally), clothing that was wet, obviously previously worn & wreaked of mold & even canned Genova tuna that didn't taste like Genova & had an odd flavor & texture. I don't know what I was eating, but I'm guessing a kitten was missing it's dinner that night.
I think I've got my answer... which is to forget the cooked chickens. So, I also don't need the vacuum sealer either. I was trying to find an easy way to have already made, frozen meals, but yeah, I just don't like them.
Oh, well... I do appreciate all the advice & thank everyone for contributing.
I've been grilling and refrigerating chicken for my lunches for the week, for probably 20 years. Still do the same think now that I am retired. Never tasted dry to me after reheating. Guess I just love chicken!
I don't find it dry either (soggy, not dry) but yeah, you probably like chicken more than I do... I'm more a beef eater (ribeye, specifically), but due to $$costs$$, I need to find other options at least 1/2 of the week.
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Originally Posted by WoodburyWoody
Fareway's meat counter was always fantastic.
My local Fareway's meat counters (there are 2 within walking distance) have gone down in quality recently. Yesterday, so much beef & bacon was dried out & discolored, I couldn't believe they had it in the display case & had to go to Hy-Vee for beef. And, you probably already know, their costs are above with other stores charge. I've yet to find an optimal place for thick steaks in surrounding areas. Honestly, WalMart, where I hardly ever shop, has the best quality meats by far (& it's not really what I'm looking for), of any market nearby & I've got a good 10 stores within just a few miles.
I got VERY spoiled when I lived in Boca Raton, FL. There are 1-2 restaurant supply stores that allow individuals to come in to shop... most don't. Most of the public don't know about them, or that they are welcome to shop, too or are aware of their oddball hours... usually something like 4am-noon. Of course, the stores are always in strange locations, like in a deserted area behind storage units or a warehousing district & are in the worst, most dangerous 'hoods in the area, so you've got to be super careful visiting.
I'm not kidding... I like very thick ribeyes, like 3" thick. I could buy a hunk of meat so large, I'd get 12 ribeyes for $50. I'm embarrassed now that I used to complain about eating ribeye steaks everyday, lol. Oh, the horror, lol.
No I would never go to all that trouble of buying 3 rotisserie chickens, prepping and freezing them to save $3.00 especially when they don't even taste moist a few hours later and sometimes not at ALL if they were sitting at the store for hours. And only the breast would be worth it, if that. Let alone after freezing. Freezing leads to a 22% moisture loss.
I'd just buy chicken raw, brine it fully then freeze it in some of the brine.
No I would never go to all that trouble of buying 3 rotisserie chickens, prepping and freezing them to save $3.00 especially when they don't even taste moist a few hours later and sometimes not at ALL if they were sitting at the store for hours. And only the breast would be worth it, if that. Let alone after freezing. Freezing leads to a 22% moisture loss.
I'd just buy chicken raw, brine it fully then freeze it in some of the brine.
Yeah, I'll nix the whole thing. I wasn't really trying to save money as much as time... it's all in the previous posts, so I won't reiterate. I don't think bothering with freezing cooked chicken is worth it's while at all for me, so I'm just going to forget about it.
And, again... I don't have a problem with dry chicken... it's overly soggy, but a moot point at this point.
Thx everyone. I made my decision, so I'm good. I appreciate the input. You can keep up the convo, but I'm over & out. 10-4.
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I'd probably eat anything for .60-cents/lb!
