Whole Chicken vs. Chicken Breasts

Which is more economical, practical and produces the most meat and broth?

I started with a 3 lb. bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts which cost 7 cents less than a 6.9 lb whole chicken.

I put the frozen chicken breasts into a crockpot and set it on low to cook overnight.
The frozen whole chicken was placed in another crockpot on med. heat to cook overnight.
Since they were both ice glazed, no water was added.

The chicken breasts produced 4 cups of chopped white meat.

The remains of the pot were poured through a strainer.

About 1 1/2 cups of broth came off the chicken breasts.

I took all of the meat, skin and remaining fat off the bones of the whole chicken. It took about 4 1/2 minutes.

After pouring the contents of the 2nd pot through a strainer, I had 4 cups of broth which were much darker and richer than the broth from the chicken breasts. I also had over 8 cups of white and dark meat from the whole chicken.

Conclusion: I got twice the meat and broth from the whole chicken for about the same price. It took 3 minutes more of my time.

Since the broth was richer, I could use it for more meals - thinning it out for sauces, gravies or soups.
There is also more nutritional value in cooking meat with the bones as I addressed in my previous video on turkey and dumplings.

Using this crockpot method, there was very little handling of raw meat, if that is a drawback for you.