If you closed your eyes and tried to picture the most beloved Costco products of all time, there's a high chance that the retailer's rotisserie chickens would be among the first to come to mind. Those golden brown birds are legendary in the Costco community for their many uses, convenience, and seemingly inflation-proof price of $4.99.
Sure, like any wildly popular phenomenon, the Costco rotisserie chicken (140 calories per serving) isn't without its critics. Many customers have complained about an unpleasant "chemical" taste in the affordable poultry. Celebrity chef David Chang also declared them "not good" in an episode of his podcast The Dave Chang Showin 2023.
But these detractors haven't deterred devotees from gobbling up the birds in mind-boggling numbers. Costco sold 137 million rotisserie chickens in 2023—20 million more thanin 2022.
Costco shoppers have developed special tricks for finding rotisserie chickens with great flavor, texture, and bang for your buck. We've rounded up the best of those tricks below using the knowledge that these Costco experts have been kind enough to share online.
Just remember that one person's idea of a perfect Costco rotisserie chicken may differ from another. Luckily, these tips can help you find birds with a wide range of tantalizing attributes so you can pick and choose the ones that appeal most to you.
Use the lid to gauge its size
Costco's rotisserie chickens are already a great deal thanks to their stubbornly low price of $4.99. Still, many shoppers like to squeeze even more value out of their purchase by only purchasing the largest chickens since the size can vary slightly.
One surefire way to quickly find the most massive rotisserie chickens amid the Costco hustle and bustle is to use the container lid to gauge its size.As one Reddit user explained in a thread last year: "A rotisserie guy working behind the counter once told me to always grab one that's touching the top of the container. An instant judge of getting a bigger chicken."
Those who shop for larger families say these extra-large birds really come in handy.
"For our family of 5, size DOES matter when it comes to affordability. So, I usually look for the biggest one that also looks nice and seasoned," a Redditor wrote.
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Check the time stamps
Costco doesn't play around when it comes to selling fresh rotisserie chicken. To ensure customers only get the freshest and safest-to-eat birds, the retailer will only keep chickens on shelves for two hours before repurposing them in other Costco items.
But if you want your chickens as fresh from the oven as possible, look for a time stamp on the packaging. As Costco superfans David Schwartz and Susan Schwartz explained in their 2023 book about the warehouse club, The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z, these time stamps show when the birds were taken out of the oven. Deli workers use the time stamps to keep track of which chickens have hit their two-hour limit, but customers also use them to find the freshest birds available.
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Choose smaller, browned chickens for better flavor
If taste, rather than size, is your top priority when grabbing a Costco rotisserie chicken, you might want to avoid the most massive birds.
Instead, Redditors say it's the more petite chickens that are superior when it comes to taste: "I know everyone likes the big frankenchicken but the small birds are so much more flavorful," one wrote.
Since more browning means more flavor, customers also recommend choosing chickens cooked to a deeper color for the best taste.
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Pick lighter chickens for a juicier texture
While Costco's deeply browned chickens may be the best for flavor, customers say they can sometimes be lacking in the juiciness department. So if texture is the most important quality of a rotisserie chicken in your book, you'll want to search for paler birds.
As one Redditor explained: "I'm probably in the minority here but I picked the lightest in color chickens. I feel they are juicer. I find the darker ones are much drier."
Opting for chickens that haven't gotten too dark has another benefit: they're better for warming up at home.
"I tend to not go for the super burnt ones because the skin will burn more if I end up reheating it (household of 2, takes a while to finish one)," a shopper said.
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Bide your time for a fresh batch
Costco's deli sections are always cranking out batches of rotisserie chickens at a breakneck pace. So if you're having trouble finding a bird you want on the warming shelves, take a peek into the kitchen to see if they're preparing to put out a fresh batch.
And if they are, you can hang out nearby and wait until the fresh chickens have been added to the display. Just a little patience can get you first pick of the batch.
"If I see the worker is about to bring out a new batch, I will wait. It's a great day if I get first selection from a new batch of chickens," a Costco shopper wrote.
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Grab smaller chickens to ensure they're fully cooked
There's nothing more disappointing than carving up a Costco rotisserie chicken only to find it's undercooked and therefore probably best avoided. Unfortunately, it's an issue that many members say that they've had to deal with at least once in their lives.
Refraining from grabbing the largest chickens you can find, however, could help you avoid any underdone birds. Instead, shoppers suggest opting for a bird that's more middle of the pack in terms of size.
"We've gotten more than one chicken that isn't fully cooked inside by trying to grab the biggest ones. Now I go for midsize," a Redditor shared.
A fellow Costco shopper had a similar takeaway: "I find the largest birds are a little undercooked and the meat doesn't pull away from the bone easily. So I choose a medium sized bird with darker skin."
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Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a News Writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.Read more about Zoe
