About this episode
"A whole chicken is one of the most economical things you can bring into your kitchen" Jamie Waldron, Butcher The chicken, the whole chicken, and nothing but the chicken! Pasture-raised, ethical meat is a popular catch-phrase nowadays, but can it really be affordable? In this episode we will show you that it is, and how becoming fluent in "whole chicken" will make your meals more nutritious, delicious, easy AND budget-friendly . We'll also bust a few chicken myths and share how we utilize whole chickens - including the odd bits - in our kitchens! Love what we're doing and want to access to our library of audio, video and downloadable extra content? Our podcast is sponsored by our patrons and listeners who also are supported by the extra content that we share over at our Patreon community! For $12 a month (or equivalent in your currency) you'll be helping us with the costs of recording, editing and putting this work into the world. And you'll get to be part of our world on a deeper level - we've got a monthly intimate patron-exclusive podcast called Kitchen Table Chats and we also share cooking classes, extra interviews and much more. Check out www.patreon.com/ancestralkitchenpodcast for all the details! Here's what we cover: 0:00-5:20 Intro, what we last ate and welcome new patreon community member 5:20-15:00 Chicken price comparison organic/conventional in UK and US; astounding difference in whole chicken/breast price, challenges of organic certification "Whole chickens and supermarket chicken breasts are incomparable in terms of both nutrition and cost" 15:00-24:00 Nutritional content, craziness of industrial animal raising and what do we (and should we) feed chickens "Give a store label 0% of your trust" 24:00 onwards: Practicalities in the kitchen "I love the idea of freezing shredded chicken in stock" 25:00 -29:00 How to cut up a whole chicken before cooking, including information on the Patreon chicken video! 29:00-38:50 Cooking a whole chicken 38:50-49:45 The 'extra bits': Head, feet, neck and broth, including the value of broth obtained from a whole chicken "$72 of broth from one single whole chicken" 49:45 How Andrea uses her chicken meat Resources Mentioned: Flavio is Alison's farmer Our stock episode Piper's Farm in the UK Polyface Farm (Joel Salatin's farm) To access our Patreon video on an alternative way of cutting up a whole chicken which divides the meat equally between each portion Jamie Waldron Jamie Waldron parting a chicken video - notice in the video the original butcher left the chicken butt ON and just cut the gland OUT. At the end he does a demo without any background talking. Home Butchering Handbook: Enjoy Finer, Fresher, Healthier Cuts of Meat from Your Own Kitchen (A Living Free Guide) by Jamie Waldron Another way to cut the whole chicken, including backbone . Doesn’t evenly portion meat, though. "Get to know your farmer, build a relationship - don't pay attention to something stamped on a label on a supermarket shelf" Additional Resources Not Mentioned: If you are ready to deep dive into chickens, this trio of books will set you off and running : Your Successful Farm Business by Joel Salatin (yes - non-farmers should be reading this, too. If you are ready to explore the ideas of redemptive farming, this book will open up an entire universe. It will pack in way more than you expect!) Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin (again - not planning to raise chickens? Good! You will benefit from this book just as much as a chicken farmer will. Know thy produce... and understand why pastured poultry and ancestral farming is so healing to the land. Again - it's gonna have more in it than you think!) Plucked! The Truth About Chicken by Maryn McKenna - go deep into the murky world of chicken factory farming and get a grasp on why factory farming is a toxic production system with no sustainable future, If you like us and use Apple Podcasts, please leave us a review! Here's how: Open the Apple Podcast app Find Ancestral Kitchen Podcast in your library (you can search for it) Scroll down to 'ratings and reviews' Click on 'write a review', choose how many wonderful stars you would like to give us (!), title your review and then, in the lower box type a review of up to 300 words. Thank you. We really appreciate you taking the time to support us! Thank you for listening - we'd love to continue the conversation. Come find us on Instagram: Andrea is at Farm and Hearth Alison is at Ancestral Kitchen The podcast is at Ancestral Kitchen Podcast Original Music, Episode Mixing and Post-Production by Robert Michael Kay