Rotisserie chickens offer an allure beyond that of the hypnotism of golden brown meat slowly spinning on a spit at the supermarket. Grab it and add a few sides and you've got the centerpiece of a tasty meal.
But you may be spending more bucks on rotisserie chickens than you realize.
Per unit, it costs the same as raw chicken and it's ready to serve, a fact that has apparently befuddled home cooks for ages.
But the data miners at content marketing site Priceonomics cut a little deeper into this meat.
First they found that rotisserie chickens typically only weigh 2-2.5 lbs, while broiler chickens costing the same price weigh 4-4.5 lbs. So, though you're paying the same and getting more convenience with rotisserie chickens, you're getting less bird.
The researchers also bought a rotisserie chicken and a raw chicken from seven different supermarkets. They took steps to make them more equal, like draining the rotisserie chicken of collected fluids and taking the giblets out of the raw chicken.
After weighing them and tallying up the costs, the homemade chicken typically cost $1 less per pound, and up to nearly $2 when the broilers go on sale.
"For the most part, consumers are not getting the bargain with rotisserie chicken that they think," wrote Karin Klein on Priceonomics. "But for people in a rush — or who don’t like to cook or hate leftovers — it’s the right item at the right price."
