Last night was the inaugural Zaycon Foods event for the Tampa area that I have been talking about so much lately.  As you can see from the photos below and from the video above, there was quite a crowd on hand when we showed up!  Yet for all of the cars, we got through the line surprisingly quick.  There were probably about 15 cars in line or so when we showed up, and within less than 10 minutes, they had our cases of chicken loaded into our trunk and we were off!

By the time we ran two quick errands and got home and settled in, it was about 9:15. My husband worked on cutting and trimming 80 lbs of chicken (yes, we did get two cases), which took him into the second half of TLC’s Extreme Couponing’s second season premier show before he finished up.  We’re pretty particular about the fat and skin being gone, so we estimated that roughly 10 lbs of our eighty was trimmed off.  Still, 70 lbs equals to about $1.70/lb, which is obviously much better than any grocery store!  And now 70 lbs – marked with the date 9/28 on the outside – are stocked in our freezers, ready to go.

However, it’s a pretty big mess and a very slimy process.  For us?  Definitely worth it.

What about you?  For those who picked up your chicken last night, did you find it was worth it?  What were the pros and cons of purchasing through Zaycon?  At one point last night we got a good laugh when my husband wondered out-loud how many kindred spirits he had across the Tampa Bay area who were cutting chicken with him.  Care to share your story?  Leave a comment and let other readers know what you thought of the whole process.  I will also make sure I give feedback to Zaycon as well.  Supposedly they’re lining up a beef and/or bacon drop off for their next stop on the east coast.

**AND – if you haven’t signed up to receive Zaycon Foods’ newsletter, you should sign up!  They will email you once they are holding an event in your area (they hold events like the one last night across the country and sell discounted chicken breasts, bacon, ground beef and even produce)!  To sign up, go HERE.