Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken
If eating clean, all-natural, antibiotic-free chicken is important to you, you must try the new Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken now available at Safeway.
I recently served the Open Nature Air-Chilled Chicken Breasts that I had grilled with a simple olive oil and lemon marinade, and my family said it was absolutely the best chicken they had ever tasted.
I use the same marinade weekly, so I know it was not the method of preparation, it was the chicken.
They went on to say it was the most tender, flavorful, and juicy chicken ever and they devoured every last bite! I had to agree! In fact – now this is the only chicken we buy because it truly is the best chicken on the market.
At $5.99/lb. it does cost more than the conventional chicken, but it is worth it if you like to eat clean, fresh, delicious chicken that is humanely raised with a 100% vegetarian fed diet.
What is Air-Chilling?
As part of processing chicken, the birds have to be cooled to a certain temperature to ensure food safety.
This can be done in one of two ways: immersion in a cold water bath or air-chilling. The most popular method in the U.S. has been to water-chill the birds.
In the U.S. a handful of chicken processors have embraced the air-chilled method, which has been used in Europe for more than 40 years.
Air-chilling is a very clean way to cool the chicken after harvest.
During air-chilling, each bird is individually chilled over the course of about three hours.
Birds are moved into carefully monitored temperature-controlled chambers where purified air cools them. The air-chilling process results in several benefits — namely great-tasting chicken.
Air-chilling the chicken produces tender, succulent meat and keeps the flavor intact.
What Makes Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken Different?
Air-chilled chicken breasts are available at Safeway in the meat department year-round.
- The Open Nature Chicken is 100% natural, antibiotic-free chicken.
- no added hormones or steroids *
- American Humane Certified
- 100% Vegetarian Fed Diet
- non-GMO
- no physical alterations
*Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in raising poultry.
As with all the Open Nature products at Safeway, it has no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives, nitrates, nitrites, antibiotics, no sodium benzoates, no sulfites, no MSG-type ingredients, no high fructose corn syrup, and no unrecognizable ingredients.
Simply look for “air-chilled” on the label. Air-chilled chicken is available for both the Open Nature and O Organics lines at Safeway.
The purpose of the American Humane Certified program is to give consumers access to humanely-raised food choices. Farms that meet the American Humane Association’s criteria may add the American Humane Certified logo to their packaging.
In order to receive the American Humane Certified logo, farms must pass an assessment based on a list of over 200 standards.
The American Humane Association standards specify that animals must be raised in an environment that limits stress, includes the provision of fresh water, a healthy diet, sufficient space, proper facilities, shelter, and a resting area. You can read more about the American Hume Certified Program here.
You can feel good not only about eating clean, 100% natural chicken but also about the welfare of the animals while being raised.
Related Reading: Cracking the Egg Code: Difference Between Cage-Free Eggs, Free-Range Eggs, Organic, and Pasture-Raised Eggs
How to Cook Air-Chilled Chicken
Ready to get in the kitchen? Grab some Open Nature air-chilled chicken from Safeway and try one of these delicious chicken recipes.
Mexican Grilled Chicken Breast Pizza
Skillet Creamy Garlic Lemon Chicken Recipe
Chinese Chicken Mandarin Salad
Grilled Chicken Tacos With Pineapple Salsa
Related Reading: How to Grill Chicken 101 and The Best Grilled Chicken Recipes Using McCormick Grill Mates
Disclosure: I would just like to say, this is NOT a sponsored post and no one at Safeway asked me to write this. I’m sharing this information because you have a choice as to the kind of chicken that you feed your family – so make a clean choice with Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken. Trust me, you may never go back to conventional chicken. What’s more – if enough people make the switch, we will see more sales and discounts on this brand of chicken!
SuperSafeway is a blog devoted to helping you find the best deals at Safeway in the Denver division. Every week we slice and dice the ad and tell you the best deals at Safeway with and without coupons. For more low prices, check out Super Safeway’s weekly ad coupon matchup page. Would you like to stay updated on the best deals? If so, make sure to like Super Safeway on Facebook, join our Facebook group, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our Instagram, or head over to Pinterest. Also, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter.
* Please note – Savings information is based on Colorado pricing and the Safeway Coupon Policy for the Denver Division which includes Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota. Your market may vary. Prices may vary per location*
I recently purchased a couple packages of Open Nature Air Chilled Chicken. I opened it, and noticed that there was a fluid absorption blanket beneath the chicken breasts. Traditionally, these are only necessitated when the chicken contains excessive water content. It is my understanding that due to the way that air-chilled chicken is cooled, the resulting water content would be so low that these fluid-absorbing blankets would therefore not be needed. If this chicken is truly air-chilled, as it is indicated on the packaging, why include these potentially unnecessary absorption blankets?
Hi Matt – Thanks for your question. The response from Safeway’s Meat Sales manager is “although this chicken is air-chilled, and not water chilled, moisture is still part of the chicken, and the poultry pad inside the package, captures that moisture.” Hope this helps!