Turns Out Costco’s Rotisserie Chicken Has a Shelf Life of Only 2 Hours
The $5 price tag isn’t the only reason to buy one.
There’s no denying the popularity of the Costco rotisserie chicken. The wholesale club reportedly sells over 100 million rotisserie chickens annually, and for good reason. It’s juicy, well-seasoned, and costs under $5 per chicken (for decades!).
And despite some reports of off-flavors or even possible illness, there’s not much that can curb shoppers' enthusiasm for the bird. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to Costco’s apparent devotion to keeping the chicken fresh.
Why Costco’s Rotisserie Chicken Has a Short Shelf Life
The rotisserie chickens at Costco are sold in a container that’s time-stamped, indicating the time the chicken came out of the rotisserie. The reason? After two hours, the chickens are pulled from the shelf to guarantee that shoppers are getting a rotisserie chicken at peak freshness.
That nugget of information comes courtesy of David and Susan Schwartz, who literally wrote the book on shopping at Costco (and thus have become personal heroes of mine). According to the Schwartz’s, that decision came from Tim Rose, a founding Costco officer who was responsible for bringing fresh food to the wholesale club.
If you’re wondering what happens to the chickens no longer at “peak perfection,” the Schwartz’s have an answer for you. In "The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z," they say that, “...the meat is ‘harvested’ for other uses, like soup or salad.” They also note that you’ll sometimes find vacuum-sealed bags of picked rotisserie chicken breast ready to take home from the deli section.
For example, this past September Costco released a new wrap sold in the refrigerated section of the store. The wrap uses the store’s rotisserie chicken as the primary filling, just as "The Joy of Costco" indicates.
The reason for the chicken turnover all comes down to quality. The author duo says that chickens older than two hours are still safe to eat, albeit less tasty than those that are fresher. But, the dedication to quality is what makes Costco a cut above the rest.
Read the original article on All Recipes.
