Healthiest way to prepare chicken?
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Chicken from a local farm is still "chicken today."
I'm taking the other poster to mean "grocery store" chicken when she says chicken "today", you know, like Perdue. The local farms that are producing the organic, free-range, non-grain fed chickens, are not producing the quantities to be sold in mass markets and thus aren't available to a large part of the population.1 -
WholeFoods4Lyfe wrote: »Chicken from a local farm is still "chicken today."
I'm taking the other poster to mean "grocery store" chicken when she says chicken "today", you know, like Perdue. The local farms that are producing the organic, free-range, non-grain fed chickens, are not producing the quantities to be sold in mass markets and thus aren't available to a large part of the population.
It's not that hard to find where I am if you want it (it's what I normally eat), but I suppose I'm not that far from farm country. I thought the other poster was making some kind of general statement about today vs. the past.
Re veg and fruit, I think local and in season tends to taste better (I don't think organic makes a difference), but if anything I think a lot more tasty options are available in much of the year than used to be the case. Perhaps I am scarred by too many canned veg growing up.0 -
this is actually discussed in The Dorito Effect - which was a fairly interested book at food production over time - the theory is that the push to get bigger chickens for sale etc resulted in reduced taste or the need to increase spices over time1 -
air fryer in the winter, grill in the summer0
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WholeFoods4Lyfe wrote: »Chicken from a local farm is still "chicken today."
I'm taking the other poster to mean "grocery store" chicken when she says chicken "today", you know, like Perdue. The local farms that are producing the organic, free-range, non-grain fed chickens, are not producing the quantities to be sold in mass markets and thus aren't available to a large part of the population.
@ OP - I poach or roast chicken - if you have access to a convection roast button on your stove- game changer! It stays really moist. Whole birds also cook a lot faster in convection roast mode.
Everyone else in the great chicken debate:
Check out this article - it talks about the “dilution effect” in mass production over the years.
The article talks about seniors remembering how chicken breeds tasting different. Worth a read. I can’t say whether of not they taste different then a chicken 50 years ago- but I typically poach/convection roast chicken and different breeds of chicken do taste different. If you get a chance to do a taste test / try it out!
I believe most supermarket chicken is a Cornish Cross or broiler chicken.. if your butcher stocks bresse breed chickens - or freedom ranger- They almost taste a bit sweet to me.
These are much slower growing chickens and smaller/ so they don’t make as much money for the mass producers. But IMHO - worth a try if you have a local producer!
The article-
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2015/04/26/why-nothing-especially-chicken-tastes-like-it-used-to/amp/0 -
Then you have never had free range non-cornish slow grow older chicken.
I raised my own chicken for a few years for eggs but when they got older and the eggs stopped coming we would not waste the meat. The meat was WAY more flavorful even the breast was more like grocery store leg because hey they would fly about and use those muscles. They don't fly far or long but they like to fly over to a spot in the yard 20 feet way or something. If a cat scares them they fly a little bit and they usually fly down from their roost every morning. All that movement changes the muscle developement and makes tastier meat or a least stronger flavors. If you like the white barely there taste of breast meat from the store then you'd dislike slow grow chicken. Also the meat industry has a 4 way cross that is called the cornish cross which produce an 8 pound chicken in 8 weeks which grows so fast it often times has heart attacks or trouble walking by 8 weeks. Chickens raised at home are often other vareties. Just like different fish taste different so do different chickens.3 -
Make sure it's cooked all the way through, otherwise, cook it however you like it best. I throw mine in the crockpot with some seasoning and broth from previous chicken cooks and cook on low for 8 hours.0
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Safari_Gal wrote: »I typically poach/convection roast chicken and different breeds of chicken do taste different. If you get a chance to do a taste test / try it out!
They do, and different breeds of pork, same (although I think the tastier breeds of pork are often a big higher cal). (But again, this is a difference between different chickens available now.)1 -
Safari_Gal wrote: »I typically poach/convection roast chicken and different breeds of chicken do taste different. If you get a chance to do a taste test / try it out!
They do, and different breeds of pork, same (although I think the tastier breeds of pork are often a big higher cal). (But again, this is a difference between different chickens available now.)
Just not fair that the tastier breeds are higher cal!! 😊1 -
You know, we fry chicken and the way we do it is only around 400 calories. It's an estimate since I don't know exactly how much oil is absorbed, but there are ways to approximate that.
We don't do it often but since there's no batter (just marinated chicken with a light coat of potato starch) and we don't use chicken with skin, its light and delicious and goes great with salad.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »I think "healthy" in this context basically means "low calorie". I just stopped asking what people mean by healthy because more often than not, they mean lower in calories. Chicken is nutritious by definition, so there is no healthy or unhealthy way of eating it unless we are talking about calories and it actually means "easy to fit into the diet" vs "hard to fit into a diet".
You're right, of course, @amusedmonkey. When posters, especially new posters, ask about "healthy", they almost always mean "lowest calorie". Although occasionally they are looking for ways to add micronutrients.
That said, I think there's value in asking the question "What do you mean by 'healthy'?" It may help the poster reflect on their goals and strategies, and realize that "lowest calorie" doesn't necessarily mean "healthiest".
I agree. I'm just saying that I personally stopped asking because they often just mean low calorie and I'm burned out on discussing healthy. It's an "it's not you, it's me" kind of situation.
ETA: for the record and just to be clear, I strongly believe in diets being healthy or unhealthy rather than individual foods being healthy or unhealthy.3 -
The healthiest way to prepare chicken is to wash your hands before and after touching raw chicken, consider using food handler's gloves, wash/bleach all utensils and surfaces. Avoid cross-contamination.4
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I don't think I could eat unsalted chicken 🤨
I like the thighs baked with skin on, salt, garlic powder and cayenne. Bake on a rack in a pan skin side up until the skin is really crispy - most of the fat is melted off by then and is under the rack. Sooooo good and thighs stay juicy. They are higher calorie so I have to plan this into a day.
Lower calorie option would be either bake or saute a skinless breast just until done before it dries out. Seasoning varies depending on what it's with or in. Always at least salt before cooking though.0 -
A lot of people's sense of taste weakens with age so a statement of "chicken use to have more flavor" could very well be true for a lot of people. That has nothing to do with the chicken, though.1 -
WholeFoods4Lyfe wrote: »
Chicken today are bred to grow fast and to grow way bigger than they use to. Whether you believe this or not, these genetic changes do affect the overall flavor of the meat. If you want to see for yourself, I highly recommend buying an Organic, Free-Range Chicken that is fed a natural diet and not one of corn, and you will notice 2 things. It's MUCH smaller than a chicken that you can buy in the grocery store, and it just tastes better.
The diet of any meat animal will affect it's taste. That's not a "back then" situation. Chickens were bred en masse and fed a diet of grains even "back then" and there are chickens raised on mixed or free range diets today.
That also has nothing to do with the breeding or any supposed genetic changes. Chicken flesh is chicken flesh.0 -
Safari_Gal wrote: »Safari_Gal wrote: »I typically poach/convection roast chicken and different breeds of chicken do taste different. If you get a chance to do a taste test / try it out!
They do, and different breeds of pork, same (although I think the tastier breeds of pork are often a big higher cal). (But again, this is a difference between different chickens available now.)
Just not fair that the tastier breeds are higher cal!! 😊
That's why they're tastier
Higher fat content.2 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »
A lot of people's sense of taste weakens with age so a statement of "chicken use to have more flavor" could very well be true for a lot of people. That has nothing to do with the chicken, though.
And they only cost a nickel. A NICKEL! But we had to walk through three feet of snow uphill both ways to get them!6 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »
A lot of people's sense of taste weakens with age so a statement of "chicken use to have more flavor" could very well be true for a lot of people. That has nothing to do with the chicken, though.
And they only cost a nickel. A NICKEL! But we had to walk through three feet of snow uphill both ways to get them!
Barefoot!0 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »
A lot of people's sense of taste weakens with age so a statement of "chicken use to have more flavor" could very well be true for a lot of people. That has nothing to do with the chicken, though.
And they only cost a nickel. A NICKEL! But we had to walk through three feet of snow uphill both ways to get them!
Barefoot!
Both ways!0 -
I'd also recommend poaching. We just poached our first chicken breasts this week using the cold start technique and adding aromatics in the water. We were blown away by the flavour and versatility. We used the cooked chicken in salad and as a topping in homemade pizzas, and want to try using some in summer Asian-style soups later this spring.
Would recommend adding poaching to cooking0
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