I agree, I have almost a hard time finding breast with bone in. Seems thighs with bones are easier to find though. The taste of a freshly cut and fried chicken is of course w/o compare to even the pieces with bones in it (bought already cut up).

I don't eat fried chicken, but no problem finding bone-in breasts or thighs around here.

I noticed that a couple of years ago when I got a craving. I don't think my kids have ever had real fried chicken. I certainly don't make it. I bet my mil could make it.

Today chicken, on the bone or not, doesn't taste like the chicken I had as a kid. Can't put my finger on why, but it just doesn't.

I can't help but wonder where you live. Whole chickens are in every grocery store here and bone in chicken is on the menu anywhere serving chicken on their menus.

If you order chicken and waffles in a restaurant, you'll get bone in pieces of fried chicken. ;-)

I don't make fried chicken but unless we're cooking up a batch of wings and drums, every chicken dish that I make is from a whole bird.

You have to make the soup with a whole chicken, with any trace of liver removed from the cavity so as not to foul the broth.

Yes and the boys school menu has some type of this pressed together breaded chicken, nuggets, patties, strips 11 times out of twenty days. its not even chicken chicken...its like ground something pressed together and breaded. My boys pack those days. They won't eat fake chicken which is what they call it..they won't eat McDonalds nuggets either. Raise a kid on real chicken and this is what happens raise them on nuggets and welll.

And a real bone in chicken is cheaper than that processed stuff

Rhizo of course I can buy chickens at the grocery. Heck I am near enough to rural to find a fresh chicken if I really wanted one. I also know where to find real chicken and waffles in restaurants.

I was referring to the trend away from bone in chicken. I mean sheesh Denny's and Ihop are pushing chicken and waffles. Fast food places aren't far behind. The bad kind. I can get fried chicken at a few local moms and pops but most restaurants, even so called upscale ones push boneless. I don't order chicken in restaurants. Well the exception would be a chicken sandwich in a little Italian place that does a nice sandwich with basil. fresh diced tomato. and garlic.

It's like tacos and burritos. Sure I eat at Taco Bell. But when I want real tacos I want street tacos and I get those off a truck.

schoolhouse, I agree. It is what they have bred them to become (breast-heavy) and what they are fed. Zacky (if I recall correctly) was one chicken producer in CA that had tasty chicken. But then they had some financial problems and sold to tasteless-chicken producer, Foster Farms.

I still find and cook plenty of whole chickens and pieces with bones. Costco's rotisserie chicken is whole and sells like crazy. I rarely buy chicken when eating out, but I believe many restaurants go for the easier-to-store boneless, especially the breasts, because they cook quickly.

I have to say that I love the lightly floured and fried white breast meat chicken nuggets I make at home from time to time and eat the nuggets dipped in ranch dressing.

My grocery carries a brand called Smart Chicken. Air-dried and no antibiotics or whatever it is that makes them organic. I buy their thighs, skin on with bones, to make fried chicken. They are gamier and stringier than other brands, but taste more like the chicken of yesteryear. Pricey but worth it to me. I save the bones in the freezer for stock.

My mother used to make fried chicken almost every Sunday and I still crave it! She told me "It's a science." I believe that. Her mother had to kill her own chickens, and in her later years would return purplish bones to the little store up the street, saying, "Johnny, you told me this was fresh! The color of these bones proves it was frozen! I want my money back."

What a long way we have come. I am glad I don't have to kill and pluck my chicken.

dbarron, Why does a whole chicken versus parts make a difference?

My Mom used to boil the chicken pieces, then pat them dry, coat with flour and fry. I think she did this mostly for the broth too, as she would add homemade noodles to that or pot pie or dumplings. Mmmm....now I'm craving fried chicken too!

SE Kansas is the fried chicken capitol of the US! LOL! We have a lot of fried chicken restaurants -- dating from the 30s to th 50s . . . and they all serve real homemade onion rings too! And they all have bones! (And one restaurant even serves backs!) I remember when I was first married, you had two choices of chicken -- all with bones and all with skin -- whole or cut up -- the cut up was pricier than the whole and you still had to cut the wings from the breast and separate the leg and the thigh so I always bought the whole. But now, there are more boneless skinless chicken to buy that whole chickens and there is not one package of a whole chicken cut up in the stores anymore. You can buy pieces (wings, thighs, breasts and legs) and then there are those awful frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts. I prefer chicken breasts with skin and bone and you do pay a pretty price for them.

I agree that the chicken you get now a days doesn't have any taste. When I make any kind of chicken, be it soup or fried or baked, I usually have to add chicken base to it. Even if it is in the breading flour..

I think Gold n Plump still has the most taste though.

Watchmelol....when we take our daughter into the doctors in Pittsburgh there's a little Mexican grocery store not far from the hospital. ..parking is a nightmare but so worth it. They have the taco stand set up outside which is sooo amazing. My kids LOVE them. Of course they are nothing like what most Americans think of as tacos LOL...While hubs and the kids happily munch on tacos I go into the store and happily look at the imported Mexican laundry detergent. .yes I've been known to buy the detergent instead of the taco lol.

Yum

Elizabeth, I stopped using a whole chicken, unless it's the carcass from a roasted or rotisserie bird. My first choice is usually bone-in, skin-on breasts that I roast for use in soups or enchiladas.

I am very aware that chicken breasts with the bone in have a bit more flavor, but geese, they're a nuisance to eat. I think that is one reason restaurants have gone to boneless - patron may end with the entire thing in her lap if not careful!

I first learned to bone chicken breasts watching Julia Child back in the 1960's. That was how she preferred them for many of her recipes. I guess I felt (and still do!) that if it's good enough for Julia's highly refined palate, it's good enough for me!

But having said that, I would NEVER fry chicken using boneless breasts. I'd cut it up myself, leaving the wishbone etc.

Flavor is not a priority for the large industrial. factory like chicken producers that dominate production in the US. Companies like Tyson, Pilgrim, Perdue, Foster Farms (in CA), etc. There are a number of contributing factors for the loss of flavor. Ever-faster growing breeds are favored and they are often raised in tight surroundings with limited or no outdoor access. Another problem is that the large processing plants cool the recently slaughtered meat by immersing it in cold but chlorinated water. Just as when used to produce broth, putting meat into water causes flavor to leach out as water is absorbed. You'll often find on labels a comment like "contains up to X % water by weight".

As mentioned above, air-cooled (rather than cold water dunked) chicken tastes significantly better and like chicken of old. Another flavor booster is when chickens spend significant time outdoors, to peck in the dirt, eat bugs, etc., like chickens always used to. Look for "pasture-raised" and or organic air-chilled products, the taste difference to the mass produced stuff is pronounced. Watchme, in our area, Mary's brand makes delicious chicken. And yes, bone in skin on (even if removed before eating) will always have more flavor.

Fried food whether chicken or other things isn't that popular in my area and I try to avoid eating anything fried. One exception is Korean chicken, a specialty of that cuisine, a bit of which I may have very infrequently.

Modern chickens grow fast on inexpensive feeds in factory conditions. They are very young when they reach " market size ". I don't know if its the breed or what they eat, or their age that determines the flavor. Maybe it's all of it together.

Mamapinky, those tacos look amazing. A long time ago there was a Romanian commentator on NPR. He said you had to be very rich in America to eat chicken as good as a peasant in Eastern Europe.

I fry chicken....buy one whole and cut it up. Sometimes buy chicken breasts to make chicken salad and always buy the ones with skin and ribs. I don't particularly care for fried chicken from fast food places....although in Alvin, nearest little town to me, there are five within a half mile radius...Chicken Express, Popeye's, Church's, Hartz, and KFC. Once in awhile, if I am hungry and in a hurry, I will eat a wing from Church's.

I prefer my own tacos too, but Jody would have me frying chicken 3 times a week, if I would do it.

There's a local place that specializes in chicken, fish, a few sandwiches, etc. I usually get the chicken tenders but they're nothing like the frozen things in stores or what Ihop passes of on their "chicken and waffles"! It's full chicken breasts where the meat is pulled off the bone in-house, then breaded and deep fried and then topped with lemon pepper. They use real potatoes to make their fries too. Crisp and hot. And they know how to do it right. It's not as greasy as you'd expect. It's fried properly. Might not be gourmet food, maybe more gourmand, but whatever, it's terrific. I consider it sort of a "mom & pop" place although it's owned by, well I don't know the politically correct term for it these days, lets just say it's owned by people for whom English is a second language. Wonderful stuff. Don't eat it too often but savor it when I do. And I get 2 large to 3 moderate meals out of a large order. Prices are reasonable. It includes a dab of coleslaw too so that would make it healthy. I don't know what kind of chickens they get but there is a good flavor to them.

LOL, cynic, more gourmand than gourmet :-)

Hate bones on anything, being afraid to choke on them. happy about boneless trend

Eat slower.

Yes, bones in most anything (but fish) don't give me any cause for concern. Note that is bones in normal form, and not slivers of bones.

Here in Texas we have Chicken Fried Steak and Chicken Fried Chicken....

Imagine that to a noob transplant...idk...

My children grew up in Northern California where there is not much fried food. This summer we went on an epic American road trip and they discovered fried okra, fried catfish, chicken fried steak, southern fried shrimp and home made fried chicken.

Their verdict on Southern fried foods? "Can we learn how to make food like that at home?" and "Who wants Japanese tempura when you can have southern fried, Gulf shrimp instead?"

Well, I might be a bit biased, growing up here, but I agree with them. Southern food is the best :)

And that includes the local specialties as well as general fried food. We also have a reputation for good breads, including biscuits. And who doesn't like red beans and rice, or jambalaya? Think of old fashioned potlucks, with Aunt Tillie's baked beans, pineapple upside down cake, homemade banana ice cream, served with some fried frog legs? :)

It seems the South is about food...really.

I think Watchme is right...my guess is that for whatever reason, people doing the cooking in families with kids, either prefer the convenience of cooking chicken without bones, or don't know how to bone a chicken, but the result is that kids don't know what to do with bones in their food. My daughter was on a field trip that included a dinner in one of these themed places (where guests are supposed to eat with their hands) that served everyone a half chicken, biscuit and corn on the cob. Between the kids who couldn't eat the corn due to braces, and the kids who couldn't / wouldn't / were grossed out by or didn't know how to deal with a half chicken, there were a LOT of hungry kids. And I've been surprised to meet parents who have never made chicken soup (like from a carcass). So there seems to be a generation (maybe when convenience foods became popular) that is not familiar with boning a chicken? I would guess someone who has never done that might be kind of squeamish about it?

"Well, I might be a bit biased, growing up here, but I agree with them. Southern food is the best"

If you take a look around, you'll find that there's a large swath of the South where lifestyle-influenced health problems are at epidemic levels compared to the rest of the US. One of the causes is Southern food. It's too often fried or greasy and too often carbohydrate (and calorie) heavy, leading to obesity and also heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other problems.

Like most things, a little of anything once in awhile is fine. But a steady diet of the wrong stuff, prepared the wrong way, has adverse health consequences.

Oh you're quite right...but it *does* taste good. Who wants to live forever? Besides, even frying can be done more healthy with less oils and more healthy oils than the original pork fat that was used. For the most part, we've modernized too.

I am no expert in the field of weight, but I am pretty sure Southerners ate fried food long before weight became such an epidemic issue all across the US. It's a mystery to me how we came to where we are in the weight issues affecting so many people, but it is not just a Southern problem.

I'm no saint, dbarron, we all have our occasional splurges with things we shouldn't eat. For me, it's chili dogs from my favorite hot dog stand in Hollywood, a treat since childhood. Now, it's my splurge once a year or less. Otherwise, I do try to watch what and how much I eat, it's a daily struggle for me as for many.

You're right, Rita, obesity isn't just a Southern problem But there are regions of the Deep South identified by public health authorities where the the rates of these diseases are well beyond anything seen elsewhere and lifestyle habits (including obesity, food and smoking, ) are thought to be among the root causes.

How about City Chicken? :-)

I was scrolling down reading, thinking I'd post about buying Mary's air dried chicken, but see Elmer beat me to it. I always buy organic chicken (and other meat), but I find Mary's heads above the rest I buy. I usually buy bone-in skin-on thighs to cook for my underweight picky eater grandson (whose parents don't cook or provide healthy food for him) and Mary's are the best. One time I cooked them for him and his friend who was here for a play date and she said, "This is the best chicken I ever had." I'd just browned it and then added some water to braise it, so no special preparation. It really was the bone-in, skin-on option that made it so tasty.

I'd LOVE to find a place that has great fried chicken, on the bone. Ezell's in Seattle is pretty famous, one of Oprah's favorite things, so I tried it once. It was from one of their chain outlets, though, not the original location and I found it unimpressive.

Corporate controlled, mass produced meat isn't the same quality as meat raised more naturally. Too many pennies pinched for short-range profit, no regard for long-term health of the breed. We've been on this path away from "Mother Nature" for too long.

As much as you possibly can, visit the farm, ask the supermarket where they got their product from, buy local when it makes sense! (I'm so lucky, Polyface Farms counts as local for me. Joel Salatin, the owner, has several books. The politics might not be your ideal, but boy his beef, pork, chicken, and vegetables are unbeatable.)

When I was a kid, my Dad would buy whole chickens when they were cheap. He'd spread newspapers on the kitchen table, sharpen his knife, and cut them into pieces for cooking. One sister and I were fascinated by the process. Two older sisters were grossed out. To this day, they can barely stand bone-in chicken, even if it's cooked and all they have to do is eat it. Weird -- all four of us were raised the same.

My mother grew up in Arkansas and we visited it every summer for a month. My grandmother was a true "southern cook" - lots of fried chicken, fried pork chops, milk gravy over homemade biscuits, fried okra (SO good!), cakes, pies, jams and jellies. And yes, she was fat and she died of congestive heart failure...at age 89, having lived alone in her house till her final visit to a hospital.

Southern food is wonderful but it is fattening, although my grandmother and one uncle-by-marriage were the only fat ones in the family. Of course, my grandfather died of a heart attack at age 72, but he was thin as a rail, even eating his wife's cooking! Go figure.

I haven't eaten fried pork chops with milk gravy in years, but OMG it IS good. About once a year, I fry chicken. I just don't eat it every Sunday the way I did growing up.

I think the downfall of the south where weight is concerned is soda. Remember, Coca Cola started in Atlanta. Southerners LOVE their soda pop and drink it in huge quantities. Many are Baptists who don't drink and they like the "lift" they get from all that caffeine.

Living in KY, I see a LOT of obesity and poor lifestyle choices. When I go to pulmonary rehab at a local hospital, if I go early, I see the healthcare workers arriving for work in the morning...a 32 oz soda in their hand. And yes, they are very heavy.

Exactly my point HB. "Child friendly" processed food has taken over even what adults are getting used to. I've been surprised that I have eaten out with so many adults who never order a thing that has a bone or requires competent use of a knife and fork. Some don't even order boneless cuts of chops or steak. If it can't be cut with a fork or table knife they don't eat it. If it has to be shelled at the table or eaten out of the shell they don't eat it. A fish bone is a foreign object to them. LOL

Don't southerners also drink sweet tea......loaded with sugar?

I'm from the south, and it would be inappropriate to drink sweet tea in the morning. But it would be totally okay to have a giant Coke with breakfast. Many of the coffee drinkers also load it down with so much sugar and cream that I doubt they can taste the coffee. I drink black coffee (college roommates influence), and when I lived in the south that definitely put me in the minority. But I do love my sweet tea!

Child friendly chicken..lol....its more like parent easy and fast..no prep work at all. Wonder if these people feeding kids all this processed knows how much cheaper and how quick they could do a whole roasted chicken. .open it..pull the bag out...plop in roaster..s&p...2 hours later a perfectly delish cooked chicken. Just recently my sons gf and I were taking about a similar subject...when I ask her if she ever roasts a chicken she said...omg I'm only off work on w-ends and I'm sure not spending all day preparing and cooking a chicken when nuggets can be out of the freezer and on my plate in 10 minutes.

Unrelated to chicken, but I can never find anything to eat in the south as a vegetarian! We visited New Orleans a few years ago and I had a difficult time finding anything I could eat near our hotel. I had to settle for Italian, which was disappointing as I can get that anywhere.

I had to go to a Cracker Barrel in Alabama and thought I'd be safe with french toast but it was covered in bacon grease, lol. I had to throw it away.

I can go to 'almost' any restaurant and be able to order a big salad. Certainly every nice restaurant. And the trend in fast food places is a variety of salads in different sizes. If the ingredients in a salad aren't exactly what you want, ASK for substitutions! "Can I have extra cucumbers, tomatoes, and broccoli instead of the chicken strips?"

With all due respect, Chi, the Cracker Barrel is the last place that I would expect to be able to find a vegetarian meal of any kind. Even their vegetable sides are cooked with ham or bacon, or their drippings. The chain does state that on the menu in a disclaimer. It's not a place where vegans or vegetarians should attempt to enjoy a meal.

I agree, Rhizo. It definitely wasn't my idea to go there but I wasn't going to make a fuss.

Yes salads are usually an option but that gets old quick 2x a day. We were on a road trip so I ate a lot of them between California and Florida! I did try to research but usually the places were too far out of the way to justify it. I tend to feel guilty if my choices inconvenience others.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Marion Cunningham, the modern author of the Fannie Farmer cookbooks. She said the food industry has spent decades convincing people that cooking was drudgery and to turn the task over to an industry that cares nothing about its consumers' health.

I am not someone who enjoys cooking recreationally. But since I do enjoy eating and have four children, I learned to cook. Fannie Farmer was my mother's go-to and mine as well (along with The Way to Cook by Julia Child.)

I must note that it is almost the same price to buy an organic roasted chicken from Whole Foods as it costs to by a raw chicken. It used to be $14 for the roasted organic and $12 for the raw. I think the price has dropped since the Amazon takeover. I am not sure. I am still away from home.

I will note I've never ever eaten a chicken nugget nor McNugget. No desire to.

I usually buy my chicken on the bone, it really does taste better. Some recipes call for boneless skinless chicken thighs, I'll make those, too.

Occasionally I will buy whole chickens from a local farm. So much flavor! I enjoy making stock or bone broth from the carcass. Oh, and yes, when I can find them, I add in chicken feet to the stock.

Being afraid of the bones makes no sense to me! And bone in is as easy to cook as the no-bone... So it takes a little longer - I simply do other things while waiting.

Fried chicken? I'll batter pieces with crumbled rolled oats (sometimes breadcrumbs, but i prefer the oat flavor), and bake (instead of frying in oil).

I avoid ordering chicken out. Sometimes wings, but usually there's something more interesting than chicken breast on the menu.