Where is the best place to buy a chicken from?

[VivaLeBeaver]

They're all so bloody tasteless. Last one I got was a taste the difference Sainsburs one and it still tasted of nothing. Would a much more expensive one from the butchers be any better?

Even the fanciest, slow-reared, corn-fed, organic, free-range, whatever whatever chicken is still potentially pretty boring and requires careful cooking and the addition of plenty of fat and flavours to get it going. If you want real flavour in poultry you have to go for game, I think. Pheasant is rather nice.

Thats maybe where I'm going wrong then. I just bung them in the oven with a bit of olive oil on top and wrapped in tin foil.

IME it makes a big difference if it is organic, rather than just free range, but less difference whether it comes from a supermarket or a nice butcher.

I agree with Cogito that adding flavours is a good idea. I do the Jamie Oliver thing of sticking garlic and herbs under the skin of the breast, it is lovely.

also does the skin crisp up properly if you cook it in foil?

You do need to add flavour to them as chicken really isn't strong tasting. You'll get a bit more flavour with better quality ones but not a lot. The dark meat (thighs are good) again provide a bit more flavour (but is greasier) but still aren't strong tasting.

It all comes down to what you add to it.

For a basic roast chicken I stick half a lemon up its bum along with some fresh time. Squeeze the other half of the lemon over the chicken. Season chicken with lots of freshly ground black pepper and small amount of salt. Drizzle with olive oil. I tend to make gravy with shallots and white wine. You can add roasted garlic cloves as well, cooked and then smooshed into the gravy.

You can use a jointed whole chicken to make coq au vin - easy slow cooked meal.

I like to pair it with chorizo, spanish style with lots of onions and peppers, chilli and paprika in a tomato sauce. Can do it with a mexican twist and turn it into fajitas.

You can also do a whole chicken rubbed with spices that would go brilliantly with a nice salad/couscous/flatbread.

Even wrapping it in parma ham and stuffing it with goats cheese is something.

TBH we don't eat much chicken because other stuff (pork in particular) is nicer. Even my fussy-prefers-everything-bland ds finds plain chicken dull.

oh the shame even with my spelling
you want to shove thyme up its bum - not get metaphysical

we like our roast chicken covered in olive oil and rubbed with sea salt and paprika powder.

pre-heat the oven to as hot as it can go, put the chicken in for 20 min. then turn right down to 150 (fan oven) for 15 min per 500g. baste a couple of times.

makes for a juicy bird with crispy skin.

I agree that organic is best.

Wow, some fab ideas and I'll certainly give them a go. I agree that other meat probably is nicer but dd refuses to eat any meat apart from chicken. We're pretty much a meat free house but I do insist on a roast chicken for Xmas.

Will make sure I get an organic one and do something more exciting with it than normal. Thanks.

If I'm doing a roast chicken I stick several cloves of garlic and some ripped up bread up the bum. You get lovely garlic chicken and you can eat the garlic bread which is all yummy and scrummy and almost sticky from sitting inside a chicken for a couple of hours.

I roast mine with salt and a bit of butter & olive oil. I don't buy organic, but get free range, a whole FR chicken from Aldi is about a fiver.

Paprika is a good idea :)

I'm always banging on about the M&S rotisserie chickens (the brown ones) that come in their own roasting dish (but usually the juices spill ove!).
They are lovely and sweet and make a great gravy (and 1/3 off at the mo).

I hate finding wobbly bits of fat in my chicken which is getting very common these days.

I buy M&S organic for Xmas and Aldi free range the rest of the year and - unsurprisingly - no globby bits.

Organic from your local butcher of farm shop. And don't expect to pay less than £12 - a good chicken is a wondrous thing, with much better flavour and texture. And a family of 4 should be able to get at least 3 meals from it.

Have you tried capon? it's a male chicken and has a much better flavour.

A good butcher will do them, their bigger than a hen bird but not huge.

I've never tried capon, will have to see if the butcher in our village does them. Have just bought a free range chicken from Aldi and will have a trial run this weekend with lemon, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and see how it goes.