juices. With these birds, I like to open the package in the
sink (it’ll save you a world of mess) and give the bird a
quick once-over under cold running water to rinse away any
of pinkish-red juices. Then it gets a thorough wipe down
with paper towels, and into the fridge it goes (uncovered).
Chicken that has been wrapped sometimes develops a very
slight off odor even when it’s perfectly safe to eat. In these
cases, I also rinse it off before carefully drying and cooking
it.
CHICKEN PARTS
Q: Now that I’ve skipped ahead and read through the
handy illustrated guide (here), I’m confident that I can
break down my own chicken if I have to. But what if I still
want to buy chicken parts? What should I look for?
Chicken parts can be a convenient way to get dinner on the
table faster and more neatly, albeit a bit less frugally. But
remember this: chicken producers love boneless, skinless
breasts, and as a general rule, what’s good for the producer
is bad for the consumer. By selling boneless, skinless
breasts, not only do they get to charge you a gigantic
premium for what’s essentially two minutes or less of work
(pulling off the skin, cutting the breasts off the bone), but
they can also transform those free rib cages into pricey
packaged chicken stock.
Even if you’re of the rare breed that doesn’t like chicken
skin, you should buy and cook chicken with the skin on.
Why? It’s a matter of moisture loss. Aside from cutlets and
stuffed breasts, and, of course, chopped or ground meat for