Organic chicken

selina884
selina884 Posts: 826 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I don't consume organic chicken, however I am interested although the price is off putting.

I consume regular chicken and I am disgusted with my personal findings that "regular" chicken can hold up to 40% water. (yes full of ****e, excuse my french but its annoying) Really? So I am essentially paying half of the price to drain the excess water down my drain. Great.

Also - taste is VILE. Perhaps it's all the butchers I go to, but I find I can't enjoy a simple plain chicken breast.

I can only assume that organic holds less water weight and tastes much better?

So to those who have consumed both - is organic really better? (despite the evident nutritious benefits of organic which need not be discussed) and is the price justified?

Replies

  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    I can't usually afford the organic either, but I have been able to find natural , a very broad term, but it does taste better.
    and the price hasn't been quite so bad, but I think you live in the UK, so any store suggestions wouldn't be useful.
  • RM10003
    RM10003 Posts: 316 Member
    Whole Foods here carries something called "air chilled"--so not pumped full of water or sodium. It's not organic, so it's cheaper, but it is antibiotic free. Perhaps something like that, or the "natural" mentioned previously, would be the happy medium?
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I can't stand organic because they do not 'brine' the meat. That is the extra 'water' and sodium that is added to regular chicken you buy. It makes it tender and juicier. A regular, organic chicken is tough, really tough. I suppose I could brine my own, but I'm too lazy.
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
    I've never had a tough organic chicken. YMMV. I usually only buy the organic when it's on sale.

    The chicken breast with rib meat I buy is 1.88/lb with supposedly 15% broth added, when the organic isn't on sale it's about 7/lb. Even at the farmers market it's 3/lb for whole chicken.

    I find if you are going to cook fresh/never frozen chicken the organic tastes better. If you buy in bulk and freeze it, the broth added works much better.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I find organic much tastier than cheap water filled chicken, but it is more expensive. I have never had a tough organic chicken, I wonder if you over cooked it as they do need a slightly shorter cooking time, but if you are cooking it completely plain then that could be why you found it tough.

    I try to always buy organic chicken - but sometimes money doesn't allow it.

    I'm in the UK and I find the Sainburys chickens good - even just stepping up from the basic range they are much tastier. I also shop at Booths as there is one near my workplace and their organic chickens are divine. You can really taste the difference, but they are only in the north in a few locations.

    I suggest buying one and trying it to see. I only ever buy whole chickens (unless they are reduced) as that works out the cheapest - you can learn to portion them yourself if you want chicken breasts - uTube is great here.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,264 Member
    I can't stand organic because they do not 'brine' the meat. That is the extra 'water' and sodium that is added to regular chicken you buy. It makes it tender and juicier. A regular, organic chicken is tough, really tough. I suppose I could brine my own, but I'm too lazy.
    Yes brining is for people that tend to overcook and the price you pay is for the extra weight of the water. If a chicken is roasted or cooked properly you save money and the flavor is better.
  • kats26eyes
    kats26eyes Posts: 13
    I know organic chicken can be expensive, but I would encourage anyone to buy it when you can. I tend to buy a whole organic chicken and yes, I tear it a part and chop it up and do all that good stuff. It's sometimes cheaper to buy it whole and do it yourself than it is to buy already done for you.

    The taste of organic chicken is far way better than regular chicken as I find it tastes more natural. I used to be the same way though with buying cheap water filled chicken, but when I got a hold of the organic chicken I was willing to fork out the extra cash just to have good chicken. Again depending on how often you shop for food and meat will really depend on how much you spend. It's well worth it though.

    Give it a try and see what you think.
  • sunnyhlw77
    sunnyhlw77 Posts: 204 Member
    I get most of my chickens from the local hutterite colonies, its as organic as you can get, it far surpasses anything in the supermarket anywhere. It also does not have the water injected nor is it brined which is good because no one needs the added sodium. It makes the best roasted chicken, the most flavourful broths, it actually tastes like chicken if that makes sense. I make sure I use the entire bird to get the most out of my money. In our area they are running about $10 for a 6 to 7lb bird and I can get them fresh for a day or two after butchering or frozen within the week. That's a lot of chicken for my husband and I so we also sometimes cut them in half (half is about the size of a rotissierre chicken at the Coop).
  • averytds
    averytds Posts: 64 Member
    We raise our own and the first go round I was disappointed because it just tasted like chicken. People had been telling me forever how much better it would be than store bought. I didn't "get it" until I had some regular store bought chicken at a later date. It was tasteless and well, mushy. Free-ranged birds, the meat is firmer. Meat instead of mush. Not tough, just a different texture.

    If the organic chicken is raised and processed identically, but just fed organic ration, the taste and texture should be the same. Not worth the money IMHO. If you can find someone who ranges birds, try craigslist or do your own, around $7/whole here, that I would pay extra for.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    I get the 1kg bags from Marks and Spencers of normal chicken breasts, and there is not 40% water in those, they are 100% chicken. I sometimes get their organic breasts too, no difference, other than price. I also get frozen free range chicken breasts from Waitrose, again, not noticed any water content so no idea where you are buying your meat from.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I get the 1kg bags from Marks and Spencers of normal chicken breasts, and there is not 40% water in those, they are 100% chicken. I sometimes get their organic breasts too, no difference, other than price. I also get frozen free range chicken breasts from Waitrose, again, not noticed any water content so no idea where you are buying your meat from.

    The cheapest ranges at Tesco, asda etc all inject with water. You are going more up market with M&S :laugh:
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    Free-range organic chicken tastes and looks different to the bog standard chicken (and will have had a happier life) but it I don't tend to see if for much below £8 for a medium bird.

    My top tip is to forget the whole chicken altogether and go for whole Guinea Fowl instead - far *far* tastier.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    Free-range organic chicken tastes and looks different to the bog standard chicken (and will have had a happier life) but it I don't tend to see if for much below £8 for a medium bird.

    My top tip is to forget the whole chicken altogether and go for whole Guinea Fowl instead - far *far* tastier.

    I've never had guinea fowl - I'll have to try it.

    I can stretch a chicken out to about 5 meals - so I'm happy with paying a bit more for tasty chicken if it goes that far :bigsmile:

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