Counting and Carving the Chickens

Only whole chicken, but at least it's organic

Nearly three months ago Costco shoppers picked clean the chicken aisle because of the Fear of Running Out. Recently it looked like FORO had subsided because chicken---not only whole birds but also drumsticks, wings, breasts, and thighs as well as boneless, skinless, organic versions of the same--were back on display.

Over the past week we've noted that only whole chicken was available. That brought back memories of the 1970's and 80's when shoppers bought whole, the same price as two skinless boneless breasts.

Map from meatpoultry.com

As meat processing became more efficient and trustworthy (remember the warnings about salmonella, tapeworm, and mad cow disease?) we lazily began buying only the parts called for in recipes.

The current paucity of chicken parts is likely not due to panic buying but the number of meat- and poultry-processing plants that have closed due to COVID-19.

Now we have to sharpen our knives and bone up on our chicken carving. Gordon Ramsay shows how it's done.