Oddly, the “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” jingle came to mind while I was dicing up every last bit of meat I could extract from the thighs and wings of a $5 Costco rotisserie chicken that my wife had bought a few days ago. This was the second pass at the carcass, the first harvest consisting of the breast and tenders, to feed four people.

Like an iconic commercial jingle engrains itself in the mind, Costco rotisserie chicken has become ubiquitous in the American shopping cart. The company even turned beef country into chicken land in Nebraska — building a network of broiler farmers from scratch to feed a 400,000-square-foot processing plant — to help fill it. Some state officials want a second one.

But, putting that amazing transformation in Nebraska and the economics aside, I’m interested in the various ways that every one of you uses this product. I would bet that those far more skilled with a knife and more industrious in mindset could make it stretch even further. And what a wonderful thing in the current economic climes.

The pile of bones and scraps isn’t so appealing to my wife and kids, who might look at me with contorted faces while I’m trying to get the most of that Costco carcass and making a greasy mess of my hands. Enough already, their expressions more or less convey.

But I am coming at it from a different angle. I’m not only the house cook, but also the one who knows what it took to get that chicken to my carving board. Raised by baby boomers, I have never been one to waste food. But my appreciation for the involved process of producing it grows even more as I extend my time covering this industry. It’s going on 15 years.

In that span of time I’ve seen a staggering amount of changes, from the increasing willingness of companies to even talk to the press, to the transition from commodity to value-added products, to the awareness around sustainability and transparency, to the production of (eek!) plant-based products. All along the industry has expanded the portfolio of its products and offered more and more choices, be that at the grocery store, the restaurant, the c-store — or even the vending machine.

Also in that time span, I’ve enjoyed the fruits of an up economy, putting the pricier natural/organic claims-based meats in my cart (happy wife, happy life), and I’ve adjusted for a down economy, focusing more on price to stretch the dollar.

The latter is the trend, given that COVID-19 has eliminated nearly half of my household’s income. So I can say personally that I’m thankful for the choice, and I’m thankful for that flexibility, that the industry provides.

I’m thankful I can drive minutes away and buy a $5 chicken at Costco. Now I just need some ideas beyond breast/rice/veggies and enchiladas and soup.

Please share your favorite uses.

What would you do with a Costco rotisserie chicken?

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