When we got home yesterday, I decided to have a quick trip to Kroger to get some essentials. Walking through the meat department (my favorite other than beer) I saw that whole chickens were on sale. Looked good to me.

So today I set about cooking it. One thing about packaged chickens is that they have a lot of liquid included. As you can see in todays's photo, up to 15% chicken broth as well as carrageenan and salt. So you are asking yourself about the deadly effects of carrageenan. If you ever read that idiot Food Babe you will find that it is a carcinogen according to her. She is a dope. Her schtick is twisting facts to make a story. She is the modern epitome of a yellow journalist. Anyway, I digress. Carrageenan is derived from red edible seaweeds. It is everywhere. It is a polysaccharide and like many of these things it is water soulble and used as a thickener. That is its function in the added juices of this chicken. I did an experiment and drained the juice to see how much is there. There were about 10 ounces which is 12% on the weight of the chicken. Actually there is more in there, but it has been absorbed by the meat. After rinsing the chicken and setting it on a board, liquid continued to slowly exude from the beast.

So is all that liquid good or bad. I think it is good. For one thing it protects the bird from freezer burn. These things are distributed frozen. The other thing it does is effectively brine the chicken. I have brined fresh chickens in the past. That helps moisturize the meat and can add flavor. With this packaging, I don't have to mess around with brining. I like it.

So I decided that I needed to cook it on the grill. The best way to prepare it in my estimation is to spatchcock or butterfly it. That makes it flat and of even thickness more or less. That way all the parts cook at about the same rate. So onto the grill at 350F for about an hour or so. Add some BBQ sauce about half way through. Voila! Very tasty chicken. I prepared a crunchy broccoli salad and roasted potatoes to go with it. A glass of Stella Artois and a feast was had. Life is good.