Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: meggeth on July 27, 2013, 12:46 PM
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Just wondering how much people pay for their chicken? I've been using tesco value diced chicken breast, bit expensive I think at around 6 pound for around 800g. At the local Asian store they said they charge only 4pd per kilo.
What price do you pay, and is the chicken from Asian stores usually good quality?
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My opinion on buying chicken from supermarkets is stay away you can pay up to double the amount per kilo than you would from your local butcher, you may think you are getting "a good deal" because you have 4 breasts for x amount but it's the weight. Take a look next time.
Also it's the quality of the meat, there is a difference.
The last chicken i got was 23.99 GBP for 10 kg= 34 chicken breasts of which 5 kg was tikka'd and the other was BBQ'd with no seasoning so it can be used for anything and then froze.
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I use the chicken breast from Farm Foods - 3 x 1kg bags for a tenner (?3.33 per kilo)! The chicken has added water content and tastes very slightly salty, so they must be processing it in a brine solution. It's perfectly fine for curry. I tried the Morrisons' cheap equivalent to this a while back and it was rank by comparison.
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I've recently started getting fresh chicken breasts from my local butcher.
About ?6-7 for three decent sized breasts and good quality.
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I buy mine from a local restaurant wholesaler who sells 10k boxes of frozen fillets starting at 19.99 and rising to 29.99.
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Currently using Asian grocery store butchers @ ?4.50 / kg chicken breast. Big, juicy, and fresh.
Might try frozen next batch to compare price and quality.
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I use asda smartprice frozen chicken breast fillets at
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Between
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I buy mine from a local restaurant wholesaler who sells 10k boxes of frozen fillets starting at 19.99 and rising to 29.99.
This sounds like a very good solution,
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Am I reading this right? Cheap supermarket frozen chicken. Added water and stuff. "Fine", "good enough for a curry", etc. Are you guys being serious? Unbelievable! Bin it. Get down to your local Asian/English butchers.
Rob :)
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Am I reading this right? Cheap supermarket frozen chicken. Added water and stuff. "Fine", "good enough for a curry", etc. Are you guys being serious? Unbelievable! Bin it. Get down to your local Asian/English butchers.
Don't bin it : some poor battery hen had six weeks of living hell so that you could buy cheap chicken. The very least you can do having bought it is to feed it to your cat, dog, or whatever. But do buy free-range for yourself -- onced tried, you'll never look back.
** Phil.
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You are right Phil. Never, ever buy that intensively reared crap. Free range meat should be compulsory in my book. If it's good value you are looking for then you can buy two good sized breasts of free range chicken for ?3.49 from Aldi - probably the best deal I've seen so far. Always buy British and always look at the small print, the unsuspecting among us will be suprised how much halal chicken reared in places like Brazil and Thailand make it to these shores...
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I wonder how many of you who are aghast at the thought of eating "intensively reared crap" eat Indian restaurant and takeaway food and how confident you are of the origin of the chicken you might be served in a typical BIR establishment?
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I have little doubt that much of the chicken served in BIRs and in other low-to-medium end restaurants is intensively reared (much of the BIR chicken comes from South America, I understand). But the point that Mike & I are making is not about what is served in BIRs -- if we choose to eat there, then we have to accept what is offered. But when cooking for ourselves (or for others), we /do/ have a choice; and then he, and I, and Bengali Bob (and I am sure many other members of this forum) would say "make the right choice : buy only free range and then everyone benefits -- the bird (better life), the farmer and the vendor (higher markup) and the diner (better texture, better taste).
** Phil.
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If it's good value you are looking for then you can buy two good sized breasts of free range chicken for ?3.49 from Aldi - probably the best deal I've seen so far.
Interestingly, although the price looks attractive, it is beaten by both of my local butchers. Coxheath regularly has free-range supremes at
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awx9c0qbt48 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awx9c0qbt48)
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i buy wholesale from the same place the butchers buy from, and last case was just over
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Saw a documentary a few years back about processing far eastern chicken in holland, injected the chicken meat with rendered animal proteins (cow, pig, horse etc) to make the meat absorb the water. It caused uproar at the time with certain ethnic groups getting excited about eating pork etc etc. Scientists could determine the source of the proteins by examining the dna. The manufacturers have tweaked their process now and can jumble up the dna strands so the protein source can not be identified. Also, because the meat was processed in holland, it can be stamped with a "produce of EU" badge. As cruel as our chicken production methods appear to be; Im sure its far worse on these far eastern farms.
Support your Local farmer and buy from a local butcher
Nuff Said
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injected the chicken meat with rendered animal proteins (cow, pig, horse etc) to make the meat absorb the water.
Added value, yummy! ;D
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I dont like the chicken from any of my local takeaways. also tried the plumped up stuff from asian supermarket and did not even like it in the tikka.
Buy chicken from local butcher but tend to stick to mutton for curries now.
Barry
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Natterjak. For the record no I don't eat in BIR establishments but not just because of the provinance of their meat...
I think regarding the free range issue it's just a case of ethics and taste. I personally do try to avoid all establishments that don't actively source free range produce. Eggs, chicken, pork or whatever. What they serve says a lot about how they think. Are they concerned about giving their customers the best or maximising profits? So no KFC, Subway, and god forbid Nando's! but it is hard. It's in the public's power and interests to reduce intensive farming. Just vote with your wallets. Of course some people just don't give a toss either way..
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Sadly not everyone can afford to buy free range, organic or in bulk.
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With the price of food increasing yr on yr it's always good to shop around.
I done a bit of research and found the below link, looks like good value
http://www.musclefood.com/chicken-breast-fillets-bulk.html (http://www.musclefood.com/chicken-breast-fillets-bulk.html)
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Sadly not everyone can afford to buy free range, organic or in bulk.
This is also true but IMO meat should be a luxury. People expect to have meat on their plate every day when in truth too much of it in our diets is detrimental to health and the public's demand for cheap meat sadly means more pressure on the farmers to deliver, welfare and quality standards drop and scandals such as BSE and the horse meat ones occur. The message is simple eat better quality meat but less of it. I couldn't afford to have it all the time myself either. I might have it once, maybe twice a week and even then it will most likely be the least favoured cuts.
I came on this forum to learn about making curries, not to get into politics but this is a subject I feel strongly enough about to air my views. I have always been one to think of the bigger picture before I buy, not just meat but veg, fish, everything.
For an enlightening read on the subject the River Cottage Meat book takes some beating.
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I agree with you in part, Mike. The only place where I would respectfully disagree is w.r.t. eating meat on a daily basis. For me, a dinner without meat (or without fish) is not a dinner, with perhaps the sole exception of masala dosa which are (IMHO) in a vegetarian league all of their own. I think I could, if forced, live as a vegetarian in India, but not here in the west where vegetable dishes, quorn and tofu leave me completely cold. Yesterday's /Telegraph/ has a very interesting article on the first-ever stem-cell burger, which may well represent the future for everyday meat ...
** Phil.
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Each to their own Phil. I love my veggies and could (and do 90% of the time) live happily on them alone. Ratatoille, vegetable soups, tomato and garlic based pasta dishes... A madras without chicken would be painful though...:) And yes Quorn and Tofu are both vile lol... Stem cell burgers....whatever next?..
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Sign of the times really. Supermarkets killed the high street etc
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Local Family Butchers are very thin on the ground in my town, have virtually disappeared over the years.
Likewise the demise of the Wet fishmonger,
cheers Chewy
Our family butcher/fishmonger charged me forty quid for a shoulder of British lamb a few years ago, then I found I could get it for about half that price direct from the slaughterhouse that he uses, they have a retail shop on site.
After that I bought an organic chicken on a Saturday which was putrid by Sunday, and now he portions up his fish and sells it from a deep freeze. So much for the family friendly efficient grocers!
It's Tescos, Sainsburys or Waitrose now as I have too far to drive to get to Chelmsford market each weekend.
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I very rarely cook with Chicken breast now, preferring thighs which are a little more forgiving when storing overnight and then reheating.
I do like duck breast though and they can make a fabulous Ruby!
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Keep your eyes open for farmers markets and food festivals in your area and get to know your local smallholders selling at them. You can get very good quality meats often for less than you would pay at the butchers or supermarket. They tend to specialise in proper breeds aswell. Even my local prison rears/grows top notch produce that it sells through its farm shop. Food for thought maybe...
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Keep your eyes open for farmers markets and food festivals in your area and get to know your local smallholders selling at them. You can get very good quality meats often for less than you would pay at the butchers or supermarket. They tend to specialise in proper breeds aswell. Even my local prison rears/grows top notch produce that it sells through its farm shop. Food for thought maybe...
Much as I like farmers' markets for the atmosphere and the "step back in time" experience, I have yet to encountered one where the meat is not over-priced w.r.t. the local butchers. Perhaps there are places in the country where it is more economical to sell from a stall than a shop, but here in deepest Kent that would appear not to be the case.
** Phil.
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I live in an area where there is a big Asian community. I go to the halal butchers. I pay anything from ?1.80 to ?2.80 per chicken breast. They are big juicy breasts! When I make chicken tikka, I get 20-25 cubes of meat from one breast. Excellent quality.
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Meg, it would be much cheaper buying whole chicken breasts and dicing it yourself as they charge extra for doing it for you
Just wondering how much people pay for their chicken? I've been using tesco value diced chicken breast, bit expensive I think at around 6 pound for around 800g. At the local Asian store they said they charge only 4pd per kilo.
What price do you pay, and is the chicken from Asian stores usually good quality?
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We pay about $10.99 a kilo for chicken breasts and $11.99 a kilo for chicken thigh
There was a time when chicken breast was more expensive than thigh, now it is reversed
The Indian restaurants over here used to cook with the thighs, now with the breasts, they are trying to go with the cheaper option I guess
What do you guys prefer to use in your curries?
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What do you guys prefer to use in your curries?
For me, breast every time (currently
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Hey Phil :)
Yes we like to use chicken breast, but for certain curries we use the thigh as we find that the thigh does not seem as dry...although at the restaurant we frequent, their chicken breast curries are never dry
Free range would taste fabulous :)
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i have just used the below website for ordering chicken breasts - ?5 per Kilo, delivery on Wednesday, will let you know what they are like
http://www.musclefood.com/chicken-breast-fillets-bulk.html/ (http://www.musclefood.com/chicken-breast-fillets-bulk.html/)
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i have just used the below website for ordering chicken breasts - ?5 per Kilo, delivery on Wednesday, will let you know what they are like -- http://www.musclefood.com/chicken-breast-fillets-bulk.html/ (http://www.musclefood.com/chicken-breast-fillets-bulk.html/)
When they go free-range, I'll consider them :
No bullsh1t muscle food review!
Our chicken is not free range at the moment, but we have plans to introduce a free range option soon - although this will obviously cost a little more.
Above all, we care about the quality and taste of the meat! Look out for our free range options coming soon!
Any questions feel free to PM me, thanks guys!
http://www.musclefood.com/leeds (http://www.musclefood.com/leeds)
** Phil.
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Smithfield market. Prices just gone up.
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I use chicken thighs from lidl at ?2.69 for 1KG.
I just peel the skin off and the bone in each thigh adds to the taste of the curry.
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Is it the texture or the flavour of the skin that you dislike, Little Badger ? I quite like both, so if I cook thighs I leave the skin on.
** Phil.
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Is it the texture or the flavour of the skin that you dislike, Little Badger ? I quite like both, so if I cook thighs I leave the skin on.
** Phil.
Hi Phil,
I'm a bodybuilder and so remove the skin to kep the fat content of the meal down.
My mother used to leave the skin on when she cooked. Sometimes I would eat it and sometimes I would take it off.
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OK, understood. I'm afraid my belly is the only part of my body that I build, so chicken skin isn't a problem for me :)
** Phil.
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I use the chicken breast from Farm Foods - 3 x 1kg bags for a tenner (?3.33 per kilo)! The chicken has added water content and tastes very slightly salty, so they must be processing it in a brine solution. It's perfectly fine for curry. I tried the Morrisons' cheap equivalent to this a while back and it was rank by comparison.
The morrisons near me is pretty rank for chicken, also looks and feels a little harder as if its been stood in open air longer, kind of a plasticy feel.
Aldi I've found is best of the supermarkets for chicken.
Also Morrisons, Tesco, Asda are a bit pricey on too many things. I would urge people check out Aldi or look for some asian shops. Even stuff like chillies or flour has a huge mark up at these three stores. more bemusing is many poor people go to these shops.
packs of bird eye chillies are getting pricey and you get less in a pack that I don't even by these at the main stores on a whim anymore. I can get the equilavnt of 4x 1 quid packets worth for 30-40p at the asian store.
Since I do a lot of curries a week I always get 20KG bags of rice. I save over a tenner plus its much better rice. With the cost of chillies and many other things it runs into hundreds of pounds saved a year.
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I can agree with the above comment.
The main Asian Grocer in Bristol is Sweet Mart and they do all their fresh produce very cheap. A massive bag of chillies, garlic and ginger is just ?1 each.
Two large bunches of coriander is ?1.
But then for birds eye chillies, prawns I would recommend the Asian (Chinese) store Wai Yee Hong.
http://www.waiyeehong.com/ (http://www.waiyeehong.com/)
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Keep your eyes open for farmers markets and food festivals in your area and get to know your local smallholders selling at them. You can get very good quality meats often for less than you would pay at the butchers or supermarket. They tend to specialise in proper breeds aswell. Even my local prison rears/grows top notch produce that it sells through its farm shop. Food for thought maybe...
Much as I like farmers' markets for the atmosphere and the "step back in time" experience, I have yet to encountered one where the meat is not over-priced w.r.t. the local butchers. Perhaps there are places in the country where it is more economical to sell from a stall than a shop, but here in deepest Kent that would appear not to be the case.
** Phil.
Sometimes they are expensive but I do find them to be considerably cheaper at times also. It all depends on the vendor. Usually what they sell is quality and you'll have a better idea of its origins. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for...