Stupid big chicken

[frigilux]

I can deal with meat if it comes on a plastic-wrapped styrofoam tray. I’d be vegetarian again in less than one second if I had to do the butchering. I know that’s lame and probably hypocritical, but it’s the truth.

My dad helped someone butcher chickens when I was a tyke and took me along to see the process. I came completely freaking unglued. Even as a little kid I personified animals to a degree and anything with a face was a pet.

[this post was last edited: 9/13/2019-19:04]

 

[mark_wpduet]

Same

I can hardly stand to look at raw meat, much less butcher it.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Eddie,

"Intact" chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on) regularly sell here for $1.49 - $1.99, and go on sale regularly for $0.99 - $1.29. Sorry you're having to pay so much more!!

Chuck

 

[sudsmaster]

I lament the breeding of chickens specifically for large breasts, because I much prefer the taste and texture of dark meat. I presume the breeding for big boobies is largely because of the misinformed health kick that says since breast meat has less fat, it must be healthier. I couldn't disagree more. IMHO the thigh is the best part of the chicken (or turkey). Rich, flavorful, and usually quite tender, not dry.

Right now a local market has whole Foster Farms chickens for $.77/lb, two to a bag. I'll probably pick up pair this weekend to rotisserie in my patio gas grill (or in the Little George). All I do (after rinsing and drying) is to put some non-salt organic herbal seasoning in the body cavity, mount the bird(s) on the spit, coat them evenly with good quality oil (olive or avocado), and slow rotisserie roast them. Yum!

 

[combo52]

Reply #33

Hi Rich, I could not agree more, the dark meat has much more flavor and little more fat if you are not eating the skin.

 

Its kind of a big hoax trying to sell Americans on only eating the WHITE meat and mean while selling all the dark meat overseas to people that are willing to pay top dollar for it, I think the whole white meat is better and dark meat is bad for you even has racial connotations to it.

 

John L

 

[sfh074]

Being in the chicken capital of the world .....

just bought chicken leg quarters for 19 cents a pound. Claxton here in GA sells this huge 10 lb bag of leg quarter for normally 39 cents a pound at Food Lion, but every once in a while they have them for 19 cents/lb. We get 3-4 bags and tuck them away and eat dark meat 2-3 times a week. The wife does this Chipotle dry rub after taking the skin off and lets it marinate overnight in the fridge.... then puts them in the smoker. Man, I never get tired of chicken!! Never found a recipe I didn't like. I too think the dark meat is best. And if you read the label, no industrial plumping required like on the dry breast meat!

Another great recipe is to add a whole chicken to the pressure cooker and add different citrus juices and zest. Fall off the bone goodness![this post was last edited: 9/14/2019-11:27]

 

[rp2813]

I overwhelmingly prefer dark meat to white, and after reading the enlightening post above about white meat injections, I have all the more reason not to pursue it.   Skinless thighs are about as healthy as I will get with chicken.

 

The best way I've found to keep white meat moist enough to enjoy is by doing the whole bird on the rotisserie.  Whether on my old Roto-Broil or my current vintage GE, the entire chicken roasts and self-bastes to juicy perfection.

 

[frigilux]

I use thighs for nearly everything these days, including chicken salad for sandwiches.

The trick with breasts is to get them off heat as soon as they reach 165 degrees. Tent with foil and let sit for 5 minutes so the proteins relax enough to hang on to internal moisture. Juicy and delicious every time.

I had a devil of a time getting used to cooking pork loin and chops to only 145 degrees—there’s still some pink in the meat. As with chicken, tent with foil and let chops sit for 5 minutes; larger cuts like loin for 15. Again, nice and juicy.

Finally: I read the title of this thread as “Stupid-big chicken”—with emphasis on the word ‘stupid.’ I hear the locals say things like that. It’s “stupid-cold out today” or “I polished the car ‘til it was stupid-shiny.” Don’t know whether or not that’s what Tom (cuffs054) was aiming for.[this post was last edited: 9/14/2019-15:46]

 

[ea56]

I don’t like dark meat poultry, especially turkey and never have. I prefer white meat poultry, the flavor is milder. I can enjoy a chicken thigh once in a while, like when I make Chicken Cacciatore. But for anything else I prefer chicken breast, its just a matter of flavor and texture. And I really prefer chicken breasts with the skin on at least, better yet on the bone too. It is moister and has more flavor.

Boneless skinless chicken breast have to be cooked carefully with attention to seasoning in order to get the best flavor and texture, especially the humongous chicken breasts of today that sparked this thread in the first place.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 9/14/2019-19:33]

 

[gusherb]

The texture of dark meat is unpalatable to me, too much jelly/slime. I don’t like the plumped white meat either, I was unaware that was even a thing but I’ve definitely encountered that several times before and I won’t eat it when it’s so moist that it appears under cooked. In general I like meats slightly on the dryer side, unless it’s roast beef, smoked brisket or turkey, then the juicier the better.

 

[norgeway]

A chicken IS the stupidest animal ever created,,

Don't believe me, Put something over a chickens head If it cant see light It will lay down and go to sleep It thinks its night Also When you cut their heads off the run around for several minutes Too dumb to know they are dead!!!

 

[tomturbomatic]

WE had a solar eclipse in 1970 that was enough to make it like twilight outside and all of the photocell-controlled signs came on. All of the birds took to the trees and stopped making bird noises for the 5 or 10 minutes of the darkest part of the eclipse, but woke up and resumed their daytime activities with increasing light.

 

[toploader55]

Hey.

As JoAnne Worley would say on Laugh-In...

"Is that a Chicken Joke ?"

 

[turbokinetic]

Chickens....

They may be dumb by some standards, but they are endlessly entertaining. A friend has a group of free roaming chickens at their acreage. It's interesting to see how they arbitrate and determine who gets the next bug that turns up. Definitely where the term "pecking order" comes from!

These are the medium sized brown and beige chickens like you see in kids barnyard books. Not sure the breed.

 

Ever heard of Brahma chickens? If not you should look them up.

 

Many folks get a lot of satisfaction out of raising different "fancy" breeds of chickens.

 

[ea56]

The Walgreens in our little town, just down the road from us, was built 25 years ago on property that used to be a small chicken ranch. The previous owners left the chicken coops and the chickens. The coops are long gone, but the chickens remain.

The employees’ of Walgreens fed the chickens, and to this day they thrive! There are several varieties of chickens that all roam free in the parking lot, the sidewalk and in the street. Everyone loves these chickens, they have become a trademark of Walgreens. They are beautiful and all healthy. At times there are several dozen just roaming around. Tourists are often seen taking photos, they just can’t believe what they are seeing.


https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cotati_Fowl_10222.jpg
Eddie [this post was last edited: 9/15/2019-14:34]

 

[frigilux]

That is awesome! What a unique calling card.

 

[sudsmaster]

When I was in college, one of my housemates built a chicken coop on the side of the house. Unfortunately he didn't take into account the local raccoon population, and one night one or more raccoons decimated his chickens.

 

Another time, decades later, I was visiting a member of our car club at their home in the hills. They had built a chicken coop, but said something had killed all their chickens. I took one look and said, "Raccoons".

 

Hint: chicken wire doesn't keep out raccoons. You have to use something a lot stronger than chicken wire.