Bell and Evans Chickens

I keep seeing reference to this brand. Today, I was looking at Ina Garten's recipe for Lemon Chicken over Croutons and she had a notation that she uses Bell and Evans chickens. Have any of you tried them and are they any better than the Rocky/Rosie brand we can get in CA, which are organic?

Karen,

I had not tried them myself, but my cousin and her husband (both chefs) swear by them, and will not buy any other brand of chicken. They are organic and supposedly take great. My cousin even buys the Bell and Evans chicken nuggets for her young boys.

Big time aficionado here in Ohio. Get them regularly at our local Giant Eagle (Pittsburgh-based) supermarkets.

If I remember correctly they are raised right next door to me in Pennsylvania. Check out their web site for the full story but I'm sure they are not laced with antibiotics, are not immobilized in cages, eat good stuff, and I know they are never frozen.

They ship to the grocers on a more frequent schedule than usual because they are not frozen so you automatically get a fresher bird at the store.

Great real chicken flavor in my opinion. I've not had many competitors, except Empire kosher chickens, which are great too... though I have to buy them frozen - but I can't recommend the Bell and Evans enough.

Not sure if this is the case everywhere, but here in Texas the Whole Foods brand fresh chicken is from Bell & Evans.

The air chilled chickens are always better than the dunk and freeze varieties from the grocery store, and as an added bonus, are not as much more expensive a you think. Not dunking them in the water/anti-bacterial solution and not packing them with a diaper in the tray results in much less liquid weight that drains down the sink or evaporates.

The taste and texture is outstanding. Another similar brand is Smart Chicken.

I buy them because the alternatives are Purdue or some generic with the supermarket's label on it. I've been happy with them so far.

-Paul W.