What Makes Costco Rotisserie Chicken So Good? (2024)

FAQs

Why do Costco rotisserie chickens taste so good? ›

At high concentrations, salt greatly enhances the experience of umami. Consequently, large amounts of salt are often added to savory food products and commercially prepared rotisserie chickens are no different. For example, a three-ounce serving of Costco's famous rotisserie contains 460 milligrams of salt.

The reason Costco's chicken is so juicy is because of a salt solution pumped inside, which is basically like super-brining.

Many of the ingredients found on the label of a Costco rotisserie chicken are injected into the flesh of the bird. This is typically done to add flavor.

While the skin's flavor is developed during cooking, its unique texture is obtained afterward when the chicken sits in its packaging pre-sale. During this time, the condensation that forms inside the packaging softens the once-crisp skin giving it the soft, sticky texture beloved by all rotisserie chicken connoisseurs.

Overall, the Costco bird was tasty but not quite right.

This chicken also leaked more extra juices to the bottom of the container than any of the other birds. Price-wise, the Costco chicken will never be beaten. Taste- and texture-wise, however, it wasn't the best rotisserie chicken I've had.

It's worth noting that Costco calls the dish "Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken" and has the "seasoning" ingredients listed on the label: salt, sodium phosphates, hydrolyzed casein, modified cornstarch, sugar, dextrose, chicken broth, isolated soy protein lecithin and mono-and-diglycerides.

Chemical changes occur during cooking. Oven gases in a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give it a pink tinge. Often meat of younger birds shows the most pink because their thinner skins permit oven gases to reach the flesh.

It's not the healthiest rotisserie chicken available

Costco isn't the only store selling rotisserie chicken, of course — and while their birds may be popular, they're not the healthiest you can buy. Consumer Reports called out chickens from Costco and Sam's Club for excessively high sodium.

Among many individual claims of cruelty, the lawsuit alleges that Costco "fails to provide any realistic method for its disabled birds to reach food and water, or to receive individualized veterinary care." The filing also suggests that birds sometimes become so heavy that they lose feathers on their underside or fall ...

As is the case at most grocery chains, Costco's rotisserie chickens are a loss leader. “Very few people simply buy the chicken and leave,” John Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School, told The Hustle. “They probably shop for other items that provide higher profit margins.”

Does Costco put sugar in their rotisserie chicken? ›

The ingredients are simple—but the spices are still a mystery. According to the label, Costco's rotisserie chicken is made with 10 ingredients: whole chicken, water, and seasonings (salt, sodium phosphate, modified food starch, potato dextrin, carrageenan, sugar, dextrose, spice extractives).

Costco Raises Its Own Chickens

The plant enables the company to manage the chickens from farm to production and ensures that the birds are grown to the correct size, typically around 3 pounds.

To get its signature, addictive flavor, Costco injects its chickens with a salt solution. Similar to marinating or brining, this salt solution infuses the chicken with a salty taste in every bite, inside and out.

Supplying Costco stores with whole chickens is no small feat. Lincoln Premium Poultry have set a whopping 500,000 chickens per month as its target in providing chickens to the wholesaler. With figures like that, it's no surprise that Costco opted to take full control of its rotisserie chicken production process.

Costco Raises Its Own Chickens

The plant enables the company to manage the chickens from farm to production and ensures that the birds are grown to the correct size, typically around 3 pounds. The plant has also given Costco a few headaches, as the company was accused of subjecting chickens to inhumane conditions.

It's not the healthiest rotisserie chicken available

Costco isn't the only store selling rotisserie chicken, of course — and while their birds may be popular, they're not the healthiest you can buy. Consumer Reports called out chickens from Costco and Sam's Club for excessively high sodium.