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[Kristin Meredith]

I was shopping today and was buying a whole chicken for cooking on the test pit.  I decided to also check out some fresh wings because we both love them and I thought they would be good to demonstrate on the pit.

Chicken prices for various pieces (thighs, drumsticks, breast) ranged from $.99 per pound to $1.98 per pound. Price for wings -- $4.99 per pound!!!!!  How can that be???   What are you folks paying for fresh, uncooked wings?

[Bentley]

That has to be Martian's just ripping people off...Now I need to know what some of the more national chains here are charging!  I quit buying them at $2.79/lb...that price is ridicules!

[jdmessner]

I stopped buying chicken wings a while back. It must be a supply and demand thing. Wings are way over priced. The kicker was when I went to purchace boneless wings for a youth group and the small print said it contained no chicken wing meat. I ended up cutting up up thighs seasoning and serving them as I would have for the wings. Nobody seemed to mind.

In SW Michigan grocery store is advertising a family pack of wings for $2.69 a lb. By contrast I bought a case of chicken legs yesterday for .50 cents a lb. Chicken leg quarters were .45 cents a lb.

[pmillen]

It must be a supply and demand thing.

Yep.  They'll raise the price on things that sell out.  They'll raise them until they don't sell out and they age-out.  Then they'll lower the price a little and watch sales.  Their tracking gets more granular by monitoring individuals' purchases via loyalty cards and store-specific credit/debit cards.

In a way, I can't blame them.  It's powerful marketing.  They're in business to maximize profit.

[DaisyCutter]

They are about $2.50 a pound near me. Still too much IMO.

[sleebus.jones]

Price for wings -- $4.99 per pound!!!!!

That's in steak territory!

[Bentley]

It is as much as $3/lb more then ground beef...Now I love a good fried wing...But at that price, a nice Italian Meat Ball sandwich will do much better!

Price for wings -- $4.99 per pound!!!!!

That's in steak territory!

[Bar-B-Lew]

Restaurant Depot is probably less than $2.20/# but you would have to buy 40# box.

[BigDave83]

fresh cut wings are around 2.89# whole wings can be found a bit cheaper at times.
I went a few years ago to the poultry plant not far from me and talked to the owner while they were getting my order he said he never thought wings would be the most expansive part of a chicken, said he couldn't give them away back in the day.

[Bentley]

Much like lobster and skirt steak years ago.  I was watching a PBS show awhile back, I can't remember the entire jist of the show, but it got to Maine and its penal system.  It seems in the 1930's that the inmates in the State Corrections institutions had to petition the state legislature to stop the commissary from serving lobster more then 3 times a week!

...he never thought wings would be the most expansive part of a chicken, said he couldn't give them away back in the day.

[Bar-B-Lew]

you may be better off deep frying chicken legs and treat them like big chicken wings

I usually buy the 10# bag of frozen Tyson wings at Sam's if I don't get a 10# bag of fresh ones from my brothers meat order for his business.  I throw them on the smoker frozen.

[smokin soon]

I buy the 10# bags of glazed frozen from Smart & Final. You can take out what you need. I also put them on the pit frozen, season when thawed out and crank it up.

[David]

It is called  charging what the market will bear.    They have done the same thing with  BB ribs   they use to be a cheap thing to buy  until they got popular to bbq  now they are a lot higher.

[LowSlowJoe]

Yeah, I rarely buy wings...  just aren't a good value.   I won't even consider paying more than about $3/lb, and even then they are about double what I really would want to pay for them.   

I think at Costco, they are about $2.99/lb , where thighs are like $1.79 or something like that.   Most of the time, I just wait for a 'managers special' at my local store and buy thighs for $0.99/lb. 


Heck, I can still get my tried and true Tri-tip at a local meat market for like $3.99/lb...  No way I'm buying wings at that price or higher.

Of course, I am cheap, and lately I get annoyed when I go into McD's or some other fast food place and realize I can't get a basic meal for under $7.50.  Seems like just a few months ago I could buy a meal for $5.   Heck, a breakfast meal is like $5 now,  used to be able to get them for under $3. 

Grumble, grumble, grumble... what's this world coming to, can't feed yourself on a budget any more.

[SurfAndTurf]

I'm a wing fanatic! Our little sports bar serves 10 bone-in (real) wings for $11.99

Even at $3/lb I think I can do better than that at home