Gladys Markey notices them in York's Central Market at the beginning of the month -- senior citizens and other customers living on a fixed income, hoping to stretch their food budget.

One of their first purchases: a whole chicken. No skinless breasts. No legs or thighs. The entire bird.

"It's so much cheaper; you might as well buy the whole chicken," said Markey, who works at the JL Miller Sons butcher stand. "I always do."

Hard times require resourcefulness. With most people looking for ways to save money, cutting up a whole chicken offers a cheaper way to keep protein in your diet, even on a shoestring budget.

"And it's something everyone can do," said David Albright, executive chef and co-owner of The Left Bank Restaurant & Bar, 120 N. George St. in York.

From-scratch eateries, such as The Left Bank, break down whole chickens every week as a cost-saving technique.

The key, Albright explained, is finding the right joints in the bird and slicing between them. Otherwise, you'll run into bone, leaving you with the wrong cuts of meat and a dulled knife.

Once you have the chicken broken down, every piece of bone, skin and fat is worth saving. Albright preserves the bird's bones, neck, giblets and other scraps to make stock. The hunks of meat around the chicken's back taste delicious in a pot pie, Markey said. And they can be picked off the bone easily after boiling in water.

Albright uses tenderloins -- the tiny flab of meat attached to the underside of the breast -- and leftover scraps of white meat to make a lean chicken pear and dried cherry sausage. He also uses it in an almond crusted chicken dish with smoked gouda and gnocchi in cremini stew. But a home cook could use it in any creamy or buttery pasta dish, he said.

Even if you use fattier dark meat to make your own sausage at home, it will still be healthier than the links sold at most supermarkets, Albright said, because there won't be extra preservatives or additives.

"You know what's in the sausage," he said. "At the grocery store, there (are) all kinds of ingredients with unpronounceable names."

Finding creative uses for all the byproducts maximizes savings. The average person -- who consumed about 85 pounds of chicken last year -- could save about $100 annually chopping up whole chickens instead of buying bone-in breasts, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.

The government doesn't track the price of boneless breasts, but a trip to any grocery store or butcher provides sufficient evidence of the potential savings. A skinless breast can be $3 to $4 more per pound than a whole.

"If you buy pieces, every time someone puts a knife to it, you're adding that surcharge," Albright said.

Thanks to higher feed prices, the cost of chicken increased sharply in the past five years, said Gregory Martin, a poultry educator for the Penn State Agricultural Extension in the south-central region. But it's still the cheapest way to eat meat, especially if you're willing to forgo the convenience of someone cutting your chicken.

"In hard times," Martin said, "people go back to staples."

wmalcolm@ydr.com; 771-2101

Chicken pear dried cherry sausage

uncooked white chicken scraps (or dark meat if desired)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of oil or butter (enough to lightly coat the pan)

4 ounces of pears per pound of meat

4 ounces dried cherries or cranberries per pound of meat

Plastic wrap or collagen sausage casing if desired

Chop the pear into small pieces. Heat oil or butter in skillet. Caramelize the pears by heating them until golden brown. Put the pears in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes or more. After seasoning with salt and pepper, run the chicken pieces through a food processor (or through a grinder if you have one). Make sure the caramelized pears are sufficiently chilled. If warm, they will start to cook the sausage. Fold the pears and the cherries (or cranberries) into the sausage meat. To make the sausage skinless, form it into a link shape and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate to let the shape set.

Courtesy of David Albright, co-owner and executive chef of The Left Bank Restaurant & Bar

Basic chicken stock

Leftover bones and pieces from chicken

Water

1 medium onion

1 medium carrot

2 celery stalks

15 coarsely ground black peppercorns

1/2 of a bay leaf

Remove as much fat from the chicken bones as possible. Do this by slicing off the chicken fat with a standard, sharp kitchen knife. Place the bones in a large stockpot. Pour water into the pot until the bones are completely immersed. Turn the stove on to a high temperature, and watch the stock carefully to ensure that it does not come to a boil at any point. When the stock appears to be about to come to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Slice the onion into large chunks. Peel and slice the carrots. Slice the celery into pieces. Combine the onions, carrots, and celery in a mixing bowl. Add the coarsely ground peppercorns and the 1/2 bay leaf to the bowl. Looking at the simmering stock, you will notice a yellow layer of fat has risen to the surface. Use a ladle to skim this layer off. Discard the unwanted fat. After the stock has simmered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, add the vegetables to the pot. Bring the stock back to a simmer. While the stock simmers for the final 45 minute stretch, constantly skim the fat off the surface as it becomes visible. Strain the stock through a fine colander. The finished stock should be a light tan color, translucent, and have little or no fat floating on the surface. The stock is now ready for use.
From allrecipes.com

Quick and Easy Chicken Chili

1 15.5-ounce can corn

1 15.5-ounce can white hominy

2 15.5-ounce cans pinto beans

2 15.5-ounce cans kidney beans

1 12-ounce jar salsa

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 cup water

1 pound shredded cooked chicken

Stir together the corn, hominy, pinto beans, and kidney beans in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Stir in the salsa, chili powder, cumin, and water; return to a boil. Cook another 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken to serve.
From allrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Latin Chicken

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 pounds skinless chicken thighs

salt and ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

2 15.5-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

1 cup hot salsa

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

3 large cloves garlic, chopped

lime wedges, for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet; season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro over the chicken thighs. Brown the chicken in the frying pan, three to five minutes each side. Arrange the chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the sweet potatoes, red bell pepper and black beans on top of the chicken. Mix together the chicken broth, 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, salsa, cumin, allspice and garlic together in a bowl. Pour into the slow cooker. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 4 hours. Garnish with lime wedges to serve.

From allrecipes.com

KNOW YOUR BIRDS

Chickens are categorized by size into several different types:
---Game hen: Between 2 and 2.5 pounds; young and tender; roasted, it makes a good meal for one.
---Fryer: Between 3 and 4 pounds; still tender.
---Broiler: Between 4 and 5 pounds; less tender; often used for fried chicken pieces.
---Roaster: More than 5 pounds; less tender; best size to use for maximum savings if breaking down a whole bird.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

MEAT CONSUMPTION

Americans cut their meat consumption in 2008:
--- Beef: 65.2 pounds per person in 2007 decreased to 62.7 pounds in 2008
--- Pork: 50.8 pounds per person in 2007 decreased to 49.3 pounds in 2008
--- Chicken: 85.0 pounds per person in 2007 decreased to 84.4 pounds in 2008
--- Turkey: 17.5 pounds per person in 2007 increased to 17.8 pounds in 2008

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture