Whole Chicken

One whole chicken will yield two wings, two single lobe breasts, two leg quarters, two chicken tenders and a backbone. If you aren’t going to use all the pieces, they freeze well. The bones and fat in a whole bird provide more flavour than cooking something like say, a boneless skinless chicken breast on it's own. Even a bone in, skin on chicken breast is better flavour and juiciness than cooking just the breast.

The two qualities that make any cut of meat truly great, juicy and flavourful, are qualities that whole roast chickens have more of than any one piece. Most of this comes from fat, which adds both moisture and flavour to meat. If you make your own at home, rotisserie or roasted whole chickens would be fine to eat regularly. The ones prepared at the grocery stores, however, have a lot of salt added (may have been brined and more salt added to the skin and cavity).