Making or buying is really an issue of timing and convenience for our family. If we're at the store, it's close to dinner, and they are pulling some out of the oven... chicken's for dinner. For $6.00 you really can't beat it for a fast meal. I then take the carcass and make chicken stock, so it's a really good deal when all is done. We're less stressed trying to get dinner on the table, and we get some good food.
Saying that, we don't buy our chickens from any store we're in. There is a corner market that makes them fresh and only uses the chickens they sell in the refrigerated section and make their own rubs, injections.

Here's my thought- I don't want to over-think chicken. That said, I roast my own. It seems like every other week or so my local supermarket chain (Vons) has whole chickens on sale for around four bucks and change each. I buy two and roast them together. I season the birds using different combinations of the holy trinity of herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage), balsamic vinegar, garlic and salt and pepper. I get at least 6 or 8 meals out of the two chickens.

I do it myself if I have time, but I buy them out of convenience pretty often

Up until recently, roast chicken has been one of the most affordable and delicious meals for my husband and I, for all the reasons listed above (at LEAST two complete meals and usually far more, plus great stock).

But I live in a town with very little selection in terms of grocers - there are King Soopers, which focuses way more on processed food and doesn't make sense for my cooking habits and a couple of Sprouts grocers and a Whole Foods.

Whole Paycheck is totally out, so Sprouts it is. And a 3-4 lb whole chicken is $7-8 - absolute robbery. I'm used to being able to shop around and have discount stores like Aldi (fantastic for basics and protein)...at this rate, I will have to go vegetarian by NECESSITY. :( It's still a good deal, all told, but our grocery budget just keeps climbing. sigh.

I guess I never thought to check the ingredients list, but I do love these chickens. I'm an omnivore, but I never really learned to handle meat other than bacon and I'm frankly a little intimidated by it. One chicken can be a weeks worth of protein, PLUS stock, and they're $5-6 in my area. I think they're the ultimate convenience food.

I never buy rotisserie chicken from a store.... it tastes much better when you make it at home....http://7th-taste.com/2011/01/01/provencal-rotisserie-chicken-rose-wine-from-bandol-provence/

In Switzerland, there weren't many options for take-out -- the limited take out there starts late, and is very expensive (a Chinese take-away is easily over $100); oftentimes, we'd do what other Genevans did, and go to Chez Ma Cousine for roast chicken. A chain where you can eat in or take out, they have fabulous roast chicken, served with roast potato wedges and bitter greens topped with a sharp mustard-based vinaigrette. Thus, a whole chicken would be a complete meal, but would come to a very reasonable total of about $30.

Once a week, there would be a roast chicken truck that would come to the neighbourhood, selling whole rotisserie chickens with special spices; I forget the cost, but think it was around $20/chicken.

Yes, salaries are higher in Switzerland, as are costs, but those prices reflect the cost of fair wages, benefits, and the production of free-range hormone, antibiotic and GMO-free food. All this to say, I find a $4 or $6 roast chicken to be shockingly cheap, and a cause for concern, not celebration.

mschatelaine, thank you for that perspective. Can I ask how much a chicken would be if you bought it from the supermarket and made it yourself? I'm wondering if the prices would be similar to what I see in New York or not.

I've gone both routes - buying it from the grocery store and making it in the crockpot. there is something to say about the convenience of picking it up already cooked and ready to go especially when getting home at 7pm. I also make stock for soup from it and oftentimes one chicken will last 4-5 days for the two of us.

Most rotisserie chicken I've tried have been clearly soaked in the nastis are way overcooked. We generally cook or own. In a pinch, we'll use Whole Foods because at least the bird is better quality.

$5 for a roast chicken is not a cause for celebration.

i often buy these from safeway and kingsoopers, often the night i go grocery shopping its coming out of cooking time, so i will often opt for a rotisserie chicken that night. Often they sell the chickens with sides as a meal deal but the sides seem really processed and gross so I pass on them. Its easy enough to make a simple salad, and maybe a quick steamed or sauteed veg dish on the side. Leftovers are great for many things like others have said.

Its totally a convenience food, but its probably better than frozen pizza or one of those skillet meals.

I rarely roast my own; never seems to come out just right. Way back when I started buying roast chickens from the grocery store and using them to make broth, the fat was almost a fluorescent orange. Fortunately that now only happens when I use Portuguese roast chicken (they use paprika in their rub). Price here is between 8 and 10$ a bird.

Montreal has amazing roast chicken and cheap roast chicken, but never bad roast chicken. Every mom and pop deli sells roast chicken with their own spice rub or herbs, most grocery stores sell a plain version, and we have 2 chains of restaurants that specialize in rotisserie (St-Hubert's, and Au Coq), and many rotisserie restaurants in the city that don't really serve anything else. The local newspaper even calls it the Sunday-night standby.

I agree with @MSCHATELAINE that a chicken that cheap has got some major hidden social and environmental costs. That said, I will confess to buying the occasional one from Costco (I'm talking like once or twice a year) because my husband loves them.

Rotisserie chicken is pretty much the only way I like chicken, probably because the skin, fat, and bone. I agree completely with mschatelaine about hidden costs of cheap chickens though, and I am leery of the supermarket chickens with their 50 ingredient long list. While I rarely go to Whole Foods, I will pick up one of their little rotisserie chickens for $8 sometimes. It will feed my husband and me 1-2 meals, so it's not a bad deal.

@Rinipaul, a "poulet fermier" cost about $18-20 -- free range, meaty. Chickens there are different then here -- they don't have the large breasts we are used to, as legs and thighs are more valued. So $30 for a cooked chicken with sides was actually quite reasonable.

You could also buy the famed Poulet de Bresse, Bresse being a 2 hour drive away. Depending on the source and size, it would run you from $25 to almost $60, averaging around $45. These are very special chickens and call for special recipes.

For all those whom are not informed Costco sells 50 million rotisserie chickens per annum. Big business over a 1/4 billion dollars in one item.. They and Pilgrims Pride have a significant stake in their chicken so members become repeat and volume buyers.

What they do not tell you is their vendor Pilgrim Pride's pump injects all these birds with phosphates, sodium derivatives, and other chemicals not discernible or understood to the average member. Your paying for a host of chemicals so that Pilgrims pride can maintain their business with costco for the purpose of measurably advancing the weights, and marketable appearance to golden brown after they roast these feed lot housed poultry. It is very important if anyone in your family or pets has food sensitivities or any allergies for that matter than you have a right to inquire about which and the % of chemicals that are infused into these birds before you buy, and certainly prior to all ingestion.

The solution Pilgrim Pride uses has some nasty items; yeast extract, oleoresin, sodium tripolyphosphate and other "imitation natural flavorings," most of which go towards giving the chicken that crisp, golden skin. Sodium tripolyphosphate can give you a severe migraine that may become lethal if you are allergic. It is utilized in many foods and the severity of food sensitivity largely remains unregulated by the FDA. You'll find it in crabmeat to prevent the bacterial growth known as shingles, and imitation crab meat (kani kama) which is used in various sushi rolls, including California rolls. Oleoresin is an artificial mixture of essential oils and a resin which is added to their solutions for oil and water solubility much like a marinate.The main reason is to improve the quality of and changes of meat and poultry by irradiation via rotisserie. "A dietary yeast extract could be an effective alternative to antibiotics for poultry producers, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture." Pilgrims pride does not need a staff of Vets for their business with costco due to their protocols.

There is no 3rd party unbiased certification to this business so they can collectively shape shift the supply chain and biology to suit their botton line without concern or governance for your health or weighted value exchange.

costco gets you on the perceived value of convenience, and volume of the chicken for their price. These birds are supposed to weigh 3 to 4 lbs and they are required by law, but if you request to weigh them you will discover many come in under 3lbs costco will fight you every step of the way as weights and measures disclosure is governed by your state "so make sure that you are consistently getting what your paying for"...

costco knows this case-ready product has an unpriced variable weight 'which is left for the retailer to provide final labeling' Don't take this item or their word for granted remember its a 1/4 billion dollar business to them and their wallets are open for deposit.

Buyer beware !!