Perdue Wings Weighed: Only 80% of the Label Was Chicken
A 2.00-pound pack of Perdue chicken wings held just 1.61 pounds of chicken, 1.43 after trimming the tips, so the real price was $6.98 a pound, not $4.99.
I weighed a pack of Perdue whole chicken wings labeled 2.00 pounds and found only 1.61 pounds of chicken. After trimming off the wing tips, just 1.43 pounds was usable. That turned a $4.99-a-pound sticker price into about $6.98 a pound for the chicken I actually cooked.
When you buy fresh chicken, it's easy to assume the weight on the label is the chicken you're bringing home. Perdue chicken has always felt a bit suspicious to me. Every time I opened a package there seemed to be a huge liquid-filled pad underneath, and I wondered how much of it I was really paying for. So I finally decided to figure it out.
| Measurement | Weight | Share of the 2.00 lb label |
|---|---|---|
| Label weight | 2.00 lb | 100% |
| Unopened package on my scale | 2.09 lb | |
| Wings alone | 1.61 lb | about 80% |
| Empty tray and soaked pad | 0.48 lb | |
| Wings after trimming the tips | 1.43 lb | about 72% |
The Sticker Price
I picked up a package of Perdue whole chicken wings at my local Kroger. The label said an even 2.00 pounds at $4.99 a pound, for a total of $9.98.
Before opening anything, I weighed the whole unopened package. The scale read 2.0936 pounds. That made sense, since the tray and packaging add a little weight on top of the labeled amount.
How Much Was Liquid?
Next, I took the wings out of the tray and weighed the chicken by itself: 1.61 pounds of wings. Out of the 2.00 pounds on the label, only about 80% was actually chicken.
Then I weighed the empty tray with its thick absorbent pad: 0.48 pounds of waste. The 0.39 pounds between the label and the chicken, about 20% of what I paid for, went to the pad, the tray and the liquid! (The scale readings were a few hundredths of a pound off from adding up exactly, which was likely just drippings left behind.)
You might expect a small difference, but one fifth of the label weight not being chicken is seriously sus.
Why Is There So Much Liquid in Packaged Chicken?
Part of it can be water the chicken absorbs during processing, such as when it's chilled after slaughter. Under federal labeling rules (9 CFR 441.10), raw poultry that retains water from processing has to say so on the label, with a statement like "up to X% retained water," unless it's under half a percent. It's worth looking for that line on the package before comparing prices per pound.
Trimming the Wings
Then I took it a step further. Whole wings include the tips, which aren't used when cooking standard flats and drumettes. So I trimmed off the tips and weighed what was left: 1.43 pounds of trimmed wings.
WOW. That means only 72% of the weight printed on the label was usable chicken (never mind the weight of the bones!). It was also 89% of the weight of the whole wings before trimming. In other words, 11% of the wing weight was just tips.
The Real Price per Pound
If you pay $9.98 for what ends up being 1.43 pounds of usable wings, the effective price is $6.98 a pound. That's almost $2 a pound more than the sticker price, an increase of about 40%.
Corrected September 2026: an earlier version of this post said $6.97 and 39%. $9.98 / 1.43 works out to $6.98, which is 39.9% more than $4.99.
Most shoppers have a general sense that packaging and trimming affect the final yield, but these numbers are eye-opening. The next time you see a deal on chicken, especially whole wings, remember how much of the listed weight you're actually getting as meat. You might still buy it, but at least you'll know the real value behind the price tag.
If you're hunting for cheaper meat, here's how I find deals in the Kroger clearance and markdown sections. And not every bargain is a bargain: my $7.19-a-pound Utility grade ribeye is proof.
Frequently asked questions
- How much of a package of chicken wings is actually chicken?
- In my Perdue pack, 1.61 of the 2.00 labeled pounds was chicken, about 80%. The rest went to the tray, the absorbent pad and the liquid soaked into it.
- How much do wing tips weigh?
- In my pack, trimming the tips took the wings from 1.61 pounds to 1.43 pounds, so the tips were about 11% of the wing weight.
- Why is there so much liquid in packaged chicken?
- Some of it is water the chicken absorbs during processing. Federal rules require raw poultry that retains water from processing to say on the label how much, with a statement like 'up to X% retained water,' unless it's under half a percent.
- How do you calculate the real price per pound of chicken?
- Divide what you paid by the weight of the usable meat. I paid $9.98 and ended up with 1.43 pounds of trimmed wings, so $9.98 / 1.43 = about $6.98 a pound instead of the $4.99 on the label.
