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10 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Costco Chicken
A lot of people have walked into their nearest Costco store and smelt that glorious rotisserie chicken scent. Then, as they follow the scent around the store, the chickens can be seen; shining brightly and rotating slowly, the Costco rotisserie chicken is legendary. If there was ever a reason to become a Costco member, then it’s for their world-famous chicken. However, before you start filling out the membership form, check out our 10 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Costco Chicken.
10. There are always leftovers
Is there anything better than bringing home a freshly cooked Costco rotisserie chicken? Actually there is; waking up the next day to find leftover chicken in the refrigerator. That’s the best way to start the day! We know that a lot of people, us included, don’t often leave any leftovers when they tuck into a tasty chicken, but sometimes there’s just too much chicken that we have to put it away for later. This is no bad thing at all, especially as a Costco shopping trip isn’t a daily thing for most people. Putting some leftovers aside is a great way to stretch it out. ‘But what about re-heating it?” That is a common complaint from a lot of people who refrigerate Costco chicken. Reheat it wrong and you may ruin the great taste of the chicken. The trick is to always use the oven and never the microwave for a re-heat. Add a bit of liquid, water or stock, then you have the perfect Costco rotisserie chicken ready whenever you want. That comes straight from the Costco’s mouth. A good excuse to buy multiple chickens on the next Costco trip.
9. Why Eating Costco Chicken Skin is Actually Good for You
The Costco rotisserie chicken is a great take-out alternative for a lot of people; the juicy chicken meat and golden, crispy skin is enough to make anyone’s mouth water. That alone is going to get us all excited! But hold on, now there is even more good news. The chicken skin was always deemed bad for us, so much so that most people throw the skin away. Well not anymore. According to a recent article by Jeanette Wang at the South China Morning Post, doctors have been getting it wrong for all this time. Eating chicken skin isn’t the culprit for bad health, quite the contrary. Chicken skin contains a lot of mono and polyunsaturated fats which are actually the good fats. When eaten in properly, these fats have been known to lower cholesterol and even reduce the chances of heart disease. We know that a Costco rotisserie chicken is worth it, no matter how good or bad it is for us. But in the light of this recent scientific data, we can enjoy the tasty goodness even more.
8. But Don’t Over-Stuff Yourself with Costco Chicken Skin Just Yet
We know. We’re not trying to be confusing, honestly. Chicken skin may well be good for you, and it is, but it’s all about moderation. In the light of recent data from the Harvard School of Public Health, going on a chicken skin binge can be bad for your health and even sanity over the long run. Here’s the science bit; Chicken skin does contain ‘good’ fats but it also contains lots of omega-6 fatty acids that are inflammation-causing. So in the long-run, ingesting way too many Costco chicken skins can do the opposite of healthy and lead unfortunately to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. However, as with all these studies that come out, damning our favorite foods and drinks, it’s all good if you have it in moderation. The moral of the tale of the chicken skin is; you can eat it but just not too often, which is just how we like our Costco rotisserie chicken. We may not be able to eat it every day, but when we get it we can eat the whole thing. Which, after all, is the magic of a Costco chicken – To keep it as that special treat
7. The Costco Chicken is Gluten Free, Yay!
When it comes to food, it can be difficult for a lot of people to do their grocery shopping. With so many allergies around; dairy, gluten, nuts, etc. It can make even the most simple of tasks that little bit trickier, as we have to search the back of each food packet to find out exactly what’s in it. There is however some relief. That’s right, Costco rotisserie chicken is completely gluten-free. This fact may not come as a complete surprise to a lot of people, but there are still a lot of supermarkets out there that use gluten seasoning and marinades for their chickens. Costco, thankfully, avoids all gluten products so that more people can enjoy their rotisserie chicken. The other positive thing when it comes to ingredients is that Costco also avoids using MSG with its rotisserie chicken as well. Usually, MSG is used to improve the flavor of a product and add that ‘umami’ taste to it. Fortunately, this rotisserie chicken needs no such help tasting delicious. Which is just as well as many people have been known to allergic to MSG.
6. Even the bones are good
We’ve all had that satisfying feeling once we’ve finished our Costco chicken; that warm glow inside that fills our very being. Once we’ve finished devouring that tasty Costco rotisserie chicken, it’s time for the cleanup. That part is simple; as we didn’t cook it there isn’t much to clean. So we go and throw away the carcass. But wait! Just before we do that, the Costco chicken has one more tasty gift to give us.; the bones. There are many recipes out there for stock that require the carcass of a chicken. According to many top chefs, the best carcass and bones to use are chickens that have, not only been cooked but have been cooked on a rotisserie. The result is apparently a much richer and darker base stock which packs a lot more flavor into your dish. None of us needs an excuse to rush out and buy a Costco rotisserie chicken, but now we know we can enjoy that flavor with another meal, we are already in the car!
5. Keeping it simple
With most foods that we buy from the store, the packet is covered in a long list of ingredients. Sometimes the list is so long that it can feel like reading a completed novel! Not only that, but there is also nutritional information, tables, and warnings of anything that might cause the customer any kind of allergic reaction. All of these are a good thing, obviously, but sometimes trying to find healthy options, or just options that will please everyone, can be a big chore. We have to pick up every single item, look at the long list of information and hope that there isn’t anything that is going to be a problem for us or the people we love. It may, therefore, be surprising, and pleasing, to know that the Costco rotisserie chicken is rather simple in comparison. Whole chicken, water and seasoning. That’s it. The seasoning itself does have it’s own list of ingredients, but that only adds an extra eight ingredients to the list. The only other thing that Costco does to their chickens, is to injected with a brine or saline solution. That may not sound very nice, but it’s harmless and keeps the chicken tasty and juicy for longer. If we compare that to any other processed food, then a Costco chicken is looking even more appetizing.
4. It’s good for the Paleo diet too
There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of different diet and terms are thrown around over the years. The Atkins diet was the first really big diet to take hold of the world. Since then there have been many; ketogenic, 5:2 diet, the Zone diet and the Dukan diet to name just a few. One of the newest diets around and possibly the diet of the moment is the Paleo diet. Essentially the Paleo diet is to cut out carbs, but more than that it’s to not eat any processed foods or sugars. The idea is to eat the main food, groups that our ancestors have been eating for generations. Fish, meat, fruit, nuts, etc. These are the best groups to stick to. Certain studies have shown great improvement to health, lifestyle and weight loss with this diet. Whether you are a fan of this diet or not, is completely up to each individual. The main point is that with this diet, and in fact many others, the Costco rotisserie chicken can be enjoyed guilt-free. The other reason that the Costco rotisserie chicken fits in so nicely with this diet, is because of the way it’s cooked. Using a rotisserie instead of an oven or grill is better for the bird, and it’s flavor. Not to mention that it sticks with the themes and follows how our ancestors would cook it.
3. Loyal fanbase
In the world we live in today, it’s easy to raise our voice and tell the world exactly what we love and what we don’t. Whether it’s music, movies, politics or even the weather, social media has a platform for that voice. There is a lot of debate in the world to whether this is a good thing or not; has it become too easy for people to force their opinions on people? Do the bullies have too much power and is it too easy to use the ‘mob mentality’ to get their point across? Or, is the world better as everyone can have their voices heard? These and many arguments are constant when it comes to social media and the internet. We’re not here to solve that issue, we’re here to talk about chicken. Sop given our obsession with social media, it’s no surprise that the great Costco rotisserie chicken has it’s own die-hard fanbase. Facebook has a devoted fan page for the golden chicken in which people can share their love of the bird and share recipes with one and other. However, this chicken loving fanbase can get angry when they want to, especially if Costco changes anything with their beloved chicken. In 2017 the suppliers of the Costco chickens started to use only one-quarter of the marinade that they usually use, and the fans weren’t. Hundreds of people took to the facebook fan page and showed just how upset they were. Costco replied and looked into the matter. Power to the people.
2. Costco loses money on the chicken
Ok, so this is a bit cheeky on our part, which is why we’ve worded it perfectly. It is quite a well-known fact that Costco undercut the price of their chicken in order to attract people. There’s no shame in that at all, especially when you are one of the biggest wholesalers on the planet. However, what people get slightly wrong is that Costco, as a company, doesn’t lose any money. Because of the nature of their store, no one ‘pops’ into Costco for just a chicken after all. They know that people are going to spend money, a lot of money in some cases, on other items. Given the fact that Costco pretty much sells anything you could want; from Hot Dogs to iPads. Coffee to tires and everything in between, Costco can quite happily sell their chickens for less, even if that means making a loss because they know they will more than make up for it with other products. But for us chicken lovers, it’s a win-win situation as the price of rotisserie chicken should stay low for a long time. Because of this low price, the Costco company moves over 150,000 birds every single day. That’s about 60 million a year! This is an unbelievable number of birds, although it’s not really that surprising to us.
1. The Costco Chicken Is the Eight Greatest Wonder of the World
There is no doubt about it, the Costco rotisserie chicken will always be an enormous source of awe and wonder among food lovers everywhere. It doesn’t matter where you come from or who you are, chicken is there for you. Even one of the richest and most powerful people in the world is an advocate of chicken. Bill Gates was quoted as saying; ‘the lowly chicken is the biggest solution to world hunger and famine.’ Ok, so he wasn’t specifically talking about Costco chicken. However, as the world moves forward to solve it’s hunger problems, the chicken could be the key and the king of the chickens has to be Costco. The Costco chicken is free from artificial food colors or flavors, antibiotics, gluten, and most importantly, preservatives. Wouldn’t the world be slightly better and happier if everyone could eat Costco rotisserie chicken? The simple fact is that Costco chicken rotisserie chicken has become a much-loved item across the entire world. It’s cheap, it’s tasty and you get a lot of bird for your buck. As with anything in the world, there are good points and bad points; healthy pros and unhealthy cons. But as far as the rotisserie chicken is concerned, it truly is one of the great wonders of the world and will continue to be so.