The even higher prices of chicken wings

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boykjo

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Apr 28, 2010
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Went to Sam's club today and strolled around for a while and decided to do some chicken wings over a fire pit with some oak and hickory today. When i got home I lightly salted the wings and threw them in a 3 gallon freezer bag to set a while. I noticed the package the chicken came in felt like an anchor... I supposedly bought  7.54 lbs.  I weighed the zip lock bag and there was only 6.50 lbs. That brought the wings from 2.17 per lb to 2.51 per lb which was an extra cost of 2.25 I paid for water weight........ It amazes me that the chicken wing has become the most expensive part of the chicken. I remember they used to give them away at the store. It wasn't long ago I was getting them at Kmart for .99 lb....Looks like those days are over and I bet soon we'll be paying over 4.00 per lb


Thanks for listening

Joe
 
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I agree Joe, it's crazy! I get split breasts on sale for .99/lb and leg quarters for.79/lb and wings which have hardly any meat are 1.99/lb regular here and I catch them on sale for 1.19/lb sometimes. Popularity drives prices.

That sucks about all the water in the pack though, 1 lb of water, that's a pint of water!
 
Joe, morning..... Holy cow.... did they advertise 16% added stuff ???  They must have been glazed/frozen and repacked....  Dave
 
I hear ya on the crazy prices, in my area wings are $4 a pound and up, a good sale for nice pork ribs is $3 and I paid $6 a pound for brisket yesterday 

Funny thing is, within a 20 mile radius of where I live there are 6 feedlots and many cattle farmers, probably pushing 200,000 head
 
I hear ya on the crazy prices, in my area wings are $4 a pound and up, a good sale for nice pork ribs is $3 and I paid $6 a pound for brisket yesterday 

Funny thing is, within a 20 mile radius of where I live there are 6 feedlots and many cattle farmers, probably pushing 200,000 head
LOL sounds like you need to go for a little walk one night when no one is looking! lol jk
 
I was in Kansas a couple of years ago for a two week class. I meet a guy that lives there and in the jaw-jacking that we were doing, he mentioned that his girlfriends job at the local chicken processing plant was to stuff the inside of whole birds with shaved ice just before packaging. That water gets a nice profit at the scales.

Brad
 
Joe, morning..... Holy cow.... did they advertise 16% added stuff ???  They must have been glazed/frozen and repacked....  Dave
I think what he's talking about is the absorptive pad placed under the wings when they are packaged. I goes in dry, but by the time you open the package they have soaked up a considerable amount of liquid.    I have always thought wings are the best part on the bird and use to buy them in Chinatown for 20 cents a pound. Now on the news yesterday I heard the McDonald's is thinking about selling wings also. With all this genetic engineering why can't some one develop a "helicopter chicken" that has eight wings?
 
We usually buy chicken wings on sale and freeze them, unless I get a wild hair and just go get some in the middle of an all day smoke.

I've also noticed a lot of water in chicken products.   If they can live with it, I can live without it.   They're the only ones that have to answer for it in the long run.

Wes
 
My Dad was a cattle farmer....amongst other stuff on the farm. Y'all don't want me to get on my soap box about costs of goods and the amount of monies the farmers don't get. I have noticed a change in quality too. I will check out prices when I go shopping this weekend to see where we compare.
 
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My Dad was a cattle farmer....amongst other stuff on the farm. Y'all don't want me to get on my soap box about costs of goods and the amount of monies the farmers don't get. I have noticed a change in quality too. I will check out prices when I go shopping this weekend to see where we compare.
No one in their right mind would ever think it's the American farmer is either getting rich or the reason food costs are as high as they are. Cooperate farms, high cost of transportation, and retail profits are the culprits draining our wallets. Corporate farms are also ruining the quality and variety of the foods we eat. After spending 34 years in retail food sales, i have seen a multitude of down hill changes in both.             Sorry....just a pet peeve of mine...I'll go take my meds now.     
icon_evil.gif
Take meds...
icon_eek.gif
 
No one in their right mind would ever think it's the American farmer is either getting rich or the reason food costs are as high as they are. Cooperate farms, high cost of transportation, and retail profits are the culprits draining our wallets. Corporate farms are also ruining the quality and variety of the foods we eat. After spending 34 years in retail food sales, i have seen a multitude of down hill changes in both.             Sorry....just a pet peeve of mine...I'll go take my meds now.      :icon_evil: Take meds... :icon_eek:

I totally agree with you. My soap box too.....we were a family farm. Dad also raised cotton....I work with textiles. Arrrgh! (Yes I did take my BPressure pills! :devil:)
Talking with some folks in the know....and I am not pointing fingers.....a lot of the commodity traders hoard things to make prices go up.

I know rising costs are a hot spot and I apologize if I stirred the pot!
 
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Due to me being the main earner for a family of 4 for so long, I have learned to be fairly frugal about what I buy. For many years I only shop the sales and only bought what that particular stores had on sale. Having 4 stores within 3 miles of the house this gave me an advantage to work them pretty good…..  The last time I bought chicken pieces I paid .89 cent a pound…… Legs, thighs, breast, and wings…..I buy them by the flat. I wrap the entire package with meat paper just to help protect it as much as I can from freezer burn, but it will not be in the freezer for more that 3 months…..I will rotate it out as fast as I can…..If nothing else I will smoke it and use it for seasonings….Smoke some breast a while back.. I wound up smoking to much so I refroze it…..then my wife took it out and made smoked chicken salad with it…….  MMMmmm!!!!  Some good stuff there !!!!
 
That is how you want to shop. #1 buy only on sale. This applies to meat and produce. When on sale produce is usually in season and the freshest, the meat is fresher  with a better turn over.Buy and freeze whenever possible.  #2 Any shelf stable product, try to by a six month supply. #3 Check  all the sales ads in your area. My wife has done this for over 27 years and i doubt if the supermarkets have made more than 1% profit on her when she shops. #4 local farmers markets, many possibilities there.
 
Linguica and Shoney Boy....yall have made some great points.  Hubby and I have been talking about how to reduce food costs each month.  We have 5 people in the house...sometimes 6 when the grand is with us.  Cutting costs is a good thing.  Going to have a garden this summer too...and have a friend who runs a produce stand.  I will pay more attention to the prices on chicken this weekend...to see what ours locally are running.
 
I was in Kansas a couple of years ago for a two week class. I meet a guy that lives there and in the jaw-jacking that we were doing, he mentioned that his girlfriends job at the local chicken processing plant was to stuff the inside of whole birds with shaved ice just before packaging. That water gets a nice profit at the scales.

Brad
Several years ago a butcher got caught by the state inspectors adding extra water to the meats and padding the weight. Its been many years ago but I beleive he got jail time and a hefty fine!  
 
I hadn't bought just wings in a long time before this weekend and I was astounded that I had to pay 2.19 a pound for wings, mostly bone...
 
I was in Kansas a couple of years ago for a two week class. I meet a guy that lives there and in the jaw-jacking that we were doing, he mentioned that his girlfriends job at the local chicken processing plant was to stuff the inside of whole birds with shaved ice just before packaging. That water gets a nice profit at the scales.

Brad
Several years ago a butcher got caught by the state inspectors adding extra water to the meats and padding the weight. Its been many years ago but I beleive he got jail time and a hefty fine!  
At the cattle yards the cows have huge salt blocks and all the water the want before weighing and loading into cattle cars.
 
At the cattle yards the cows have huge salt blocks and all the water the want before weighing and loading into cattle cars.
From class and with out getting to graphic, I learned that this is because of the way the animal has to be processed at the slaughter house......It's easier to process an animal on an empty stomach.......than a full one......ShoneyBoy
 
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