So is anyone else frustrated about the lack of chicken sales lately?  I remember when I first started couponing it seemed like Publix had boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.99/lb  once every 6 weeks.  Now it’s more like once every 3 or 4 months!  Well thanks to Mike and JC at Zaycon Foods, I think I may have found a great alternative for you all!

Last week Mike (and his very polite and helpful son) delivered 40 lbs – yes, 40! – of boneless skinless chicken breasts to our door for us to do a product review on. Zaycon Foods delivers fresh meats and vegetables in massive quantities direct to the consumer, and we were lucky enough to get a sneak peak for the southwest region of the country!  The chicken delivered to our door was only 3 days old, so it’s very fresh (never frozen). Zaycon makes bulk purchases from local farms in each area where they do an event, which is why it’s so fresh and affordable – usually around $1.50/lb!

How it works is this: they do big events all over the country where they literally bring cases of fresh meats or veggies by the truckload to an area where you live. Once they have enough interest in a certain area, they will email their customer base to let them know. All you have to do is go to their website HERE and register.  Once registered, just wait for the email regarding their event, order your fresh meat or veggies online, and go pick it up by the case!  You don’t even need to get out of your car, which is a plus in this hot summer Florida sun.  😉

So the question is, is this service for you?  Hopefully I can help answer that for you!

This first picture is what the case looks like when you pick it up.  And yes, it’s heavy!

The chicken is sorted into 4 roughly 10 lb bags inside on larger bag which protects the juices from escaping through the box.  Here’s a good look at it.

This is what one bag looks like on a cutting board.  Here’s where I got a little skeeved out, I’m not going to lie.  Although I’ve gotten better with raw meat, this was more of a husband-job, so I did some posting while he did some chicken-trimming.  😉

Inside each 10 lb bag there are full double chicken breasts like you see below.  One of the reasons Zaycon is able to get the meat so cheap is because, A) They buy in bulk, and B) The chicken breasts are not as nicely trimmed like they are at the grocery store.  It took my husband about an hour to trim and cut all the chicken, and then another 15 minutes or so for the two of us to put them neatly into freezer bags (and create space in the freezer!). I know an hour may sound like a lot, but when I buy chicken in bulk at Publix (when it is on sale) I will trim the meat before I freeze it.  (Or should I say, my husband will..) So, for us, trimming 40 lbs of meat in about an hour was not a big deal.

A look after it’s been trimmed… Yes, these chicken breasts are gigantic!

We like to cut ours into strips, so here’s the end result of just 20 lbs of chicken!  Look at all that meat!

But now for the true test….how does the chicken actually taste? Below is a stuffed chicken breast of feta, fresh garlic, basil, green onion, mozzarella, prosciutto, and a little salt and pepper. Yum yum yum!  And your eyes aren’t  deceiving you – that is just ONE breast in the picture below (my husband did clean his plate).   It smelled sooo good and was really tasty too.  So was I impressed with the quality?  Yes!

Zaycon Foods may not be everyone. There’s quite a bit of prep, you’ll have to make sure you’re around for an event, and you’ll need lots of freezer space.  But the great news is, the chicken is fresh, tasty, and best of all, affordable!  Mike mentioned the price does fluctuate, but I think we all can agree that anything under $2/lb is worth stocking up on!

Zaycon will probably be holding an event sometime soon in your area, so make sure you’re the first to know by registering on their site where it says REGISTER on the top of the home page.  You’ll need to put your name, address, phone, and email, primarily so they can remind you of the event and if need be, call you if the event is closing and you still haven’t  picked up your order.  They promise not to sell your email or information to anyone; it’s only for the purpose of contacting you about your order.

I know we have been very happy with this trial run with Zaycon.  Mike personally guaranteed that if you’re unhappy in anyway, they promise to make it right.  So happy saving all and I’ll be sure to post any more updates as they come along!