I use the rule of thumb that a quarter of a chicken is the meat for one person for one meal. I.e., I get (the meat of) four meals from a whole chicken, or I can feed four people from one chicken.
(Any broth or stock I get out of the carcass is a bonus. Stock is not a condiment, not a major meal component.)
Thus I comparison shop in units of $/quarter chicken.
By using this heuristic, you get away from trying to compare amounts of chicken by weight, which is what makes the bone-in-vs-bone-out problem hard.
For instance, a chicken breast (half the front of the chicken) with bone in is a quarter of a chicken. A chicken breast with the bone out is a quarter of a chicken. The difference in price can then be evaluated entirely in terms of whether someone else getting that bone out for you is worth that difference.
I estimate a thigh+drumstick == three drumsticks, for calculation purposes.
Meanwhile, you need to evaluate the time value of any processing. If you're just roasting chicken quarters, and don't care if they have bone-in when they hit the table, don't pay extra to get them out. As per above, generally the more processing the store/butcher does, the more it costs, because you're paying for labor.
OTOH, I have dishes where I need the bone out. That means I or somebody needs to invest the time to do that. I can either pay cash (higher price) or pay time (my own labor).
ETA: Oh, doing it this way, you don't care the price-per-pound. You need to know the price per chunk-of-chicken. In your drumstick examples, the price-per-pound isn't as interesting as (1) the price per package and (2) the number of drumsticks per package. If (I have no idea, I'm making this up) a package of 6 drumsticks is $4, then the 1/4 chicken equivalent price is $2. If two boneless breasts are $6, their 1/4 chicken price is $3, and thus less good a buy, all other things being equal.
I use the rule of thumb that a quarter of a chicken is the meat for one person for one meal. I.e., I get (the meat of) four meals from a whole chicken, or I can feed four people from one chicken.
That is a clever way to think about it. I'll have to come up with a similar formula for other types of meat.
(Any broth or stock I get out of the carcass is a bonus. Stock is not a condiment, not a major meal component.)
Thus I comparison shop in units of $/quarter chicken.
By using this heuristic, you get away from trying to compare amounts of chicken by weight, which is what makes the bone-in-vs-bone-out problem hard.
For instance, a chicken breast (half the front of the chicken) with bone in is a quarter of a chicken. A chicken breast with the bone out is a quarter of a chicken. The difference in price can then be evaluated entirely in terms of whether someone else getting that bone out for you is worth that difference.
I estimate a thigh+drumstick == three drumsticks, for calculation purposes.
Meanwhile, you need to evaluate the time value of any processing. If you're just roasting chicken quarters, and don't care if they have bone-in when they hit the table, don't pay extra to get them out. As per above, generally the more processing the store/butcher does, the more it costs, because you're paying for labor.
OTOH, I have dishes where I need the bone out. That means I or somebody needs to invest the time to do that. I can either pay cash (higher price) or pay time (my own labor).
ETA: Oh, doing it this way, you don't care the price-per-pound. You need to know the price per chunk-of-chicken. In your drumstick examples, the price-per-pound isn't as interesting as (1) the price per package and (2) the number of drumsticks per package. If (I have no idea, I'm making this up) a package of 6 drumsticks is $4, then the 1/4 chicken equivalent price is $2. If two boneless breasts are $6, their 1/4 chicken price is $3, and thus less good a buy, all other things being equal.
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That is a clever way to think about it. I'll have to come up with a similar formula for other types of meat.
Thanks!
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