Everyone is looking for ways to cut costs on their grocery bill due to the high price of meat these days. One strategy I like to use is to purchase a whole chicken rather than just the parts. In the majority of supermarkets, you’ll find six main cuts of chicken.
Whole chickens, breasts, legs, drumsticks, wings, and thighs. The breasts are typically the most expensive cuts on their own, and a whole chicken can usually be had for about the same price as just two breast pieces. I’ll describe what you can do with each bird part and the best ways to prepare it in this post.
Why Are Whole Chicken Legs Cheaper Than Drumsticks & Thighs?
As we have just mentioned, chicken legs get a lot of negative press, as being unhealthy, which in turn makes them an unpopular choice for shoppers.
Most chicken suppliers can afford to sell the legs at a much lower price to entice sales of these less popular portions because they will have made their profit on selling the popular chicken breasts.
When selling whole legs for less money than paying a butcher to separate the leg from the thigh and then going through the trouble of boning and skinning the thighs
Whole chicken legs are frequently available in grocery stores for a fraction of the cost of purchasing the drumstick and thigh portions separately. Since it is very simple to separate the two yourself at home, be sure to take advantage of these discounts. You can cut your food budget in half with just a sharp knife!
It is crucial that you exercise caution when handling raw chicken in the kitchen to prevent cross contamination. Visit our article on Cross Contamination in the Kitchen to learn more about the dangers and how to avoid them.
Cooking Time For Chicken Legs, Thighs & Drumsticks
Personally, I believe that when cooking these chicken portions, it is preferable to leave the skin on the meat. As a result, the meat will stay moist and avoid drying out thanks to the natural fat from the skin.
You can easily remove the skin after cooking if you’re on a healthy diet or want to consume less fat.
Leg portions typically take a little longer to cook than breast portions, and if you want the meat to fall off the bone, longer, slower cooking is sometimes beneficial.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to cooking so that it can come to room temperature. This will help the meat cook more evenly.
Season the chicken and place in the centre of the oven for approx 35 – 45 minutes. The internal temeperature should be at least 165oF/75oC when probed with a digital meat probe ( approx $10 from Amazon), and the juices should run clear.
Whole legs may require slightly longer than the thighs/drumstick portions.
Here is a collection of Chicken Leg Recipes for you to try!
The wing tips, those minuscule, pointy pieces with an end that resembles a feather, are placed last. Although they are primarily made of skin, bone, and cartilage and contain little to no meat, some people enjoy nibbling on the chicken wing tips because they enjoy eating chicken skin. Nowadays, it’s harder to find chicken wings with the wing tips still attached, probably because consumers don’t really use them as much.
The entirety of a wing is uneven in shape and thickness, and it doesn’t rest flat on a surface. However, by cutting it up, each piece fits more easily on the grill or in the cooking pan. They are simpler to flip and move around for even cooking, and more of the surface area can brown. Additionally, it implies that individuals may opt to only eat their preferred portions (flats forever!).
The wingette, or flat, is the term for the center of the wing. I like to refer to it as flat because that is exactly how it is shaped. It is entirely covered in skin, has tender dark meat, and two thin bones that run parallel to one another down the length of the flat.
Without a doubt, the chicken wing is my favorite part. They’re enjoyable to eat and oh-so-satisfying to a dark-meat lover like me, whether I’m nibbling on one as I carve up a whole roasted chicken or feasting on a messy pile of saucy buffalo wings. Whole chicken wings are actually made up of three parts if you look closely. Do you know what they are called?.
Since there are only two wings per chicken, I think of them as a bit of a delicacy, but they are incredibly flavorful. They can be found in almost any grocery store, but they are typically sold already butchered into smaller pieces. Even though I’ve had success at Whole Foods, those looking for whole, intact wings may need to visit a butcher shop or place a special order.
FAQ
Is a chicken drumstick a thigh?
The drumstick and the thigh are the two parts of a chicken leg. The thigh is the upper part of the leg, while the drumstick is the calf portion.
What is drumstick and thigh called?
Chicken legs include the drumstick and thigh. Although some people use the term “leg” to refer to the drumstick alone, the two chicken pieces are frequently referred to as a “leg quarter” and occasionally a “hindquarter” when they are kept together.
Is a drumstick a chicken leg or wing?
Drumette is the topmost part of a full chicken wing. While a drumstick is just the bottom portion of the chicken leg that is separated from the thigh of the chicken, it is smaller, contains more dark meat, and is juicer than the rest of the wing.
Why is a chicken leg called a drumstick?
Because it resembled the percussion drumsticks that people in the 1500s were familiar with, the modern word drumstick—as in turkey drumstick—was given that name in the 16th century.
