My Zaycon Experience

A couple of days ago I picked up 40lbs of chicken from the Zaycon Chicken Event that came to Hinesville.  The price was to good to pass up at $1.89lb before tax for fresh all natural hormone free boneless skinless chicken breasts.  It comes in 40lb increments, meaning it is a lot of fresh chicken.  The process was pretty painless.  You register here and place an order for an event in your area (next up is bacon and sausage).  On the pick up day I went to the Liberty movie theater off of Ogelthorpe Hwy and parked in the small section behind Krystal's.  The pick up said between 1 and 1:15 and I arrived at 12:55.  I parked in that area because many others were sitting in their cars, so I figured that was where I needed to go.

The truck didn't arrive until about 1:10 but traffic happens and that wasn't that far off.  The white box truck pulled into the main section of the parking lot and everyone started their cars and proceeded to line them up in a line leading to the truck.  The delivery driver armed with a tablet would walk up to the vehicle, get the name, and then check off the person from his list and get the order out.  I didn't even have to get out of my car.  He very nicely loaded my box into the back and we were on our way.  My total time from my house and back was less than 45 minutes and 15 to 20 minutes of that was the drive.

When I arrived home, I opened the back of the car to get my box and this is what I found.  1 box placed on top of a plastic garbage bag just in case their was any leaking.

I carried the 40lb box into the house and took a look.

It was all sealed in a thick blue plastic bag.  Once I cut it open, I could see the huge breasts and several smaller bags in the box.  I set out to package them with my food sealer so they could be frozen.  Each breast weighed about a pound or more, so I decided to do individual breasts in the vacuum pack to hopefully make it easier later on.  Unfortunately as I set to work, aside from the bag full of juice and the fact I hate handling raw meat, I found they still required quite a bit of trimming for fat, some skin, and even a little cartilage and bones.  It ended up being a lot of work and all of that juice was very cold and even a little on the slushy side.  I didn't take a picture of the stuff I trimmed off but I was left with 3lbs of liquid and leftover yuck.  I weighed just the waste without the juice because that was to be expected and it was 2lbs.  So overall my cost was 38lbs of chicken for 77.87 after taxes for a total of  about $2.05lb after tax.  That is still a really good price for chicken.

I ended up with 30 individually vacuum packed breasts and 4 1lb vacuum packed bags of chunks of chicken after they were trimmed.   I am not skilled at trimming meat and had quite a few pieces that were good cuts of meat tossed in a bowl that was chunked and measured out for those 4 bags and some of the breasts are a bit misshapen or have rough cuts to them.  

vacuum packed frozen

vacuumed sitting on spiral notebook for size

I have only gotten to use one of these breasts so far and it was enough for this entire dish. Which made enough for 2 adults, 2 kids, and I had a bowl for my lunch today.  Overall it is financially a good deal but the chicken event  definitely isn't for everyone.

Pros:

• Great Price
• Bulk Buying
• Natural Hormone Free Chicken
• Large Breasts
• Simple Ordering
• Simple Pick up
• Juicy - I didn't save the juice in the box but the one I thawed out for dinner had plenty of juice in the package as well.
• Flavorful

Cons:

•  Limited Pick Up Window
• Time Consuming To Package
• Had A Lot of Waste To Trim
• Used An Entire Roll Of Food Saver Bags
• Handling Lots Of Raw Meat And By Products

So the question is would I order again?  I'm honestly not sure.  I think it will depend on how we feel about the flavor as we eat it.  Even with the food saver bags it is cheaper than I can get for pumped full of hormone meat here and far cheaper than the natural hormone free but it is time consuming.  It took my entire afternoon to process it and I really don't like handling raw meat.  If there had been no additional trimming needed, it would be a definite yes.  Lets face it, sometimes convenience wins out and if you have young children to care for or are very busy this may not be possible to deal with.  Fortunately, I have enough chicken for many meals and there is no rush to decide if I will participate in the next one.  I will let you know if I plan to jump in again.  I will say the delivery was so easy, I am considering the drive to Pooler to try the bacon and sausage event that is next month.

~Jennifer

Contribution Day

Today is one of my favorite days.  It is basket contribution day with Bountiful Baskets.  Hinesville Willowbrook Plaza location in Georgia is an A week, so today is the day to contribute for Saturday's pick up.  I can't wait to find out what will actually be in the basket and there are some wonderful add ons to pick as well.  This weeks add on choices are:

 Rainbow Carrots - 25 lb. Product of Arizona-$16.00 ea

Pineapple - Approx 21 Lb. - $14.50 ea

Blackberry - 12 - 6 oz clamshells - $14.25

Asian Pack - This is a fun pack full of Asian-themed items! We're hoping for: won ton wrappers, Napa cabbage, bok choy, basil, cilantro, yellow onion, green onion, garlic, ginger, snow peas, celery, lemongrass, lemons, turmeric, chile de arbol - $12.50

Assorted Tortilla Pack - 2 dz 6 in. Flour, 1 dz 12 in. Flour, 2 dz 6 in. corn, 1 dz 8 in. whole wheat, 1 dz 8 in. flour. - $12.00

Organic Raw FILTERED Apple Cider Vinegar Half Gallon Jug - $11.00

5 Loaves - 1 Garlic Rosemary Baguette, 2 Savory 9 Grain, and 2 English Muffin Bread - $10.00

Cherry Pecan Granola - 28 oz. - Ingredients: Rolled oats, honey, coconut oil, cherries, pecans, pumpkin seeds, flax and more - $10.00

Sourdough Bread - 5 - 20 oz. loaves - $10.00

Hard White Wheat - 25 lb bag from Washington/Idaho - $15.00

ORGANIC Multigrain Bread with Omega-3 - 5 loaves - Contains Wheat and manufactured in a facility with nuts - $12.00

How could you go wrong with choices like that for those prices?  I know I am going to snag some of those blackberries and properly a couple of other things as well.  Make sure you put in your contribution here and we will see you Saturday.